This thread is so full of bias - I might as well add my own...
Here's some history so all you 18-22 years olds listen to what I say and make a good decision:
I have advanced degrees in electrical engineering and I currently run a small fund (my own business essentially, been trading for about 8 years and managing OPM for the last 6 months). I started my career out of grad. school doing EE stuff and gradually transitioned into finance.
Anyway - if you think that a college degree is worthless, well, in most cases, you're probably right. If you think a BA in Art or, even better, a BA in art history is going to provide a solid foundation for whatever you chose to do, you're in for a surprise. In fact, I'll argue that any "soft major", like history, english or sociology, on it's own, is a complete waste of money and time (unless you chose to go to law school afterwards for professional education - then you need a bachelors in something regardless). But that's beside the point - the point is you can chose to make college a challenging and *very* useful endeavor. It is all about what you make of it.
I choose EE because it was challenging - the math and science is useful and it trains one for analytical thinking and critical problem solving. Two essential skills if you want to accomplish anything in life IMO. Further, it shows drive, motivation and smarts to FINISH a tough degree.
Personally, I do not consider someone intellectually capable unless they've learned basic college level calculus, economics and statistics. That doesn't mean they had to take a structured class to learn such basics - it means that they can either open a text on their own and understand the material and apply it, or, learn it through the school of hard knocks, i.e. trading or starting a business. VERY few people have the ability to self-start and do applied learning on their own. We're talking <.1% of the population... most everyone needs a structured environment for learning.
If you started college and dropped out - you've failed. Period. End of story, don't start arguing about the merits of not having a degree or what not, it just doesn't matter... you gave up and you are already a loser in the eyes of many for the pure fact that you didn't finish what you started. However, choosing a different path right from the start because you are brilliant gets my full respect (like starting MSFT or any good business model for that matter), otherwise, accept the fact that you are not a finisher and that fact will stay with you forever...
Successful people stop doing something because they find something else more fulfilling and challenging, not because they found the classes boring and useless (you choose your major and you choose your classes!, if you find them boring, you made a bad choice - don't just quit and walk away, reevaluate and finish what you started...). Quitters are just that...
If you think a degree is waste of time, then it likely will be for you! Just don't go around trying to convince others of the same thing. I found my education to be very useful - I made the most out of it and it has served me better than I could have ever imagined on a business, trading and personal level. College is what you make of it just like anything else in life. Oh, and if you think it that there is nothing to be gained from college to apply to trading, well, you're just plain stupid. I'm not going to argue it anymore than that - that line of thought is just stupidity stemming from a lack of proper education... just take a class in advanced stats for god's sake...
Anyhow, enough from me - let the non-degree people tear me apart. Oh - and if in the process of tearing me apart, you want to compare trading returns and all talk all that "my dick is bigger than yours" bullshit, well, I can my prove my performance in a matter of seconds, at least be prepared to do the same.
Mike
Here's some history so all you 18-22 years olds listen to what I say and make a good decision:
I have advanced degrees in electrical engineering and I currently run a small fund (my own business essentially, been trading for about 8 years and managing OPM for the last 6 months). I started my career out of grad. school doing EE stuff and gradually transitioned into finance.
Anyway - if you think that a college degree is worthless, well, in most cases, you're probably right. If you think a BA in Art or, even better, a BA in art history is going to provide a solid foundation for whatever you chose to do, you're in for a surprise. In fact, I'll argue that any "soft major", like history, english or sociology, on it's own, is a complete waste of money and time (unless you chose to go to law school afterwards for professional education - then you need a bachelors in something regardless). But that's beside the point - the point is you can chose to make college a challenging and *very* useful endeavor. It is all about what you make of it.
I choose EE because it was challenging - the math and science is useful and it trains one for analytical thinking and critical problem solving. Two essential skills if you want to accomplish anything in life IMO. Further, it shows drive, motivation and smarts to FINISH a tough degree.
Personally, I do not consider someone intellectually capable unless they've learned basic college level calculus, economics and statistics. That doesn't mean they had to take a structured class to learn such basics - it means that they can either open a text on their own and understand the material and apply it, or, learn it through the school of hard knocks, i.e. trading or starting a business. VERY few people have the ability to self-start and do applied learning on their own. We're talking <.1% of the population... most everyone needs a structured environment for learning.
If you started college and dropped out - you've failed. Period. End of story, don't start arguing about the merits of not having a degree or what not, it just doesn't matter... you gave up and you are already a loser in the eyes of many for the pure fact that you didn't finish what you started. However, choosing a different path right from the start because you are brilliant gets my full respect (like starting MSFT or any good business model for that matter), otherwise, accept the fact that you are not a finisher and that fact will stay with you forever...
Successful people stop doing something because they find something else more fulfilling and challenging, not because they found the classes boring and useless (you choose your major and you choose your classes!, if you find them boring, you made a bad choice - don't just quit and walk away, reevaluate and finish what you started...). Quitters are just that...
If you think a degree is waste of time, then it likely will be for you! Just don't go around trying to convince others of the same thing. I found my education to be very useful - I made the most out of it and it has served me better than I could have ever imagined on a business, trading and personal level. College is what you make of it just like anything else in life. Oh, and if you think it that there is nothing to be gained from college to apply to trading, well, you're just plain stupid. I'm not going to argue it anymore than that - that line of thought is just stupidity stemming from a lack of proper education... just take a class in advanced stats for god's sake...
Anyhow, enough from me - let the non-degree people tear me apart. Oh - and if in the process of tearing me apart, you want to compare trading returns and all talk all that "my dick is bigger than yours" bullshit, well, I can my prove my performance in a matter of seconds, at least be prepared to do the same.
Mike
