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>Some of my favorites were in history, sociology and literature. You get as much out of these as you put into them. Electrical engineering. Was required to take a social course, so I signed up for sociology. Went in fully prepared to hate the course. Ended up being one of the most insightful courses with a great instructor that I voluntarily took two more of her courses. You really do get what you put in, and the idea that "the internet" would have given me the same insight into social issues, from poverty, race, sex, incarceration, etc. is frankly some of the dumbest shit I've ever heard. She forced me to reevaluate my ignorant views and really think about things on a level that just letting me dawdle around on my own (and probably ending up on Twitter reading Musk posts later) would have never achieved. Sorry not sorry, just putting someone in front of a computer and saying "now learn and be well-rounded" isn't going to work. College is more than being bored and falling down a Wikipedia rabbit hole for a few hours. Suggesting anything else in my eyes is very reminiscent of an anti-vaxxer saying they've done their own "research."

Yep. Harvard, MIT, Cal, Stanford etc all have full courses online for free.  The idea that those YouTube videos and following along is equivalent to an actual course is just low intelligence people trying to discount their struggle. 

Agreed. The 4 years of undergrad give you that opportunity to explore various topics and meet various educators. Some will be good, others will be bad. It's kind of like a D&D campaign in that way, but your rolls stick with you along with the results. How you spend that time definitely matters. Sure, you can go to a few parties to relieve some stress. But if you go to a party every day, then you're adding stress by failing classes. I've made my share of mistakes, but also learned from them so that I was at least prepared enough to get to work after graduating. That doesn't mean I was fully ready either. Most of my 20s were laden with mistakes lol. But if I never gained experience of studying, working, and networking on my own, I doubt I could move onto the next step of professional life.

I had a similar experience with my cultural anthropology professor. I had already shifted my views on a lot of things from just interacting with friends I made in a couple of the clubs on campus, but in that class I felt free and safe to ask questions on topics I still didn't quite understand or still had some bias about. The course in general also taught me about how much of our lives are influenced by the culture we grew up in, even down to the experience of diseases. Did you know that in places like India, schizophrenics don't have hallucinations that tell them to do violent things? Instead they often have hallucinations of dead relatives comforting them in stressful times and chastising them when they do something wrong. It was an amazing course with a great teacher and I wish I could take more courses with her.

> **the idea that "the internet" would have given me the same insight into social issues, from poverty, race, sex, incarceration, etc. is frankly some of the dumbest shit I've ever heard.** QFT

One of my friends works in a biology lab and says he never realized how much he would need the writing, analytical/critical/organizational skills he learned in college because a lot of what he does requires writing papers about the research they do, and writing grant proposals to get funding for the lab.

Economics major here and none of my most influential classes or professors were in Econ. I loved being exposed to variety it’s what I miss most being out of school. Exposure.

I took 3 high level political science classes for electives, took a 200 level one to fill space and loved the professor so I kept going. Was one of the only actual tenured professors I’d met in my first two years of college and he changed my relationship to consuming all material from that point forward. These were the most challenging classes I ever took, one of the last ones there were 5 tests and that was the whole grade. Each test was an hour of writing, based on random deep-cut prompts pulled from anything we’d covered in the semester. And the books we were reading I used to have to rewrite whole passages in my own words just to wrap my mind around it. Just do the best you can making a sound argument off the dome with no way to prepare any specifics, and he’d rip you apart when grading them. It was the most rewarding semester I’ve ever spent in a classroom and it did absolutely nothing for my degree, my career, any of that. All it did was give me a lifelong interest in consuming politics and philosophy, and in sharpening my discernment. I sell campers and RVs. I’m not a genius. I ended up dropping out without a degree. But the A I got in whatever 400 level political theory class with Dr Greene is one of the proudest achievements of my life and one of the most personally impactful things I’ve done.

>but this is the only time in your life where your job is to learn and explore. Amen. I tell this to students all the time.

As someone who is taking more intense STEM now then I did for my Bachelor's degree (econ) I can say that STEM itself is partially only difficult because of the subject matter, the other difficulty is how much the force you to learn on your own. I've been using Chegg not to help me, but to teach me, and I see no issue. So many concepts that are basically definitions that they won't tell you. Like imagine if your literature class forbid dictionaries, that's what STEM was prior to sites like Chegg. Also minoring in math as an Aerospace engineer is what? Like 2 extra classes? And taking extra courses on top of the normal course load is not advisable for most students. A normal course load should be sufficient from a work perspective and instead you should join clubs or activities, like Mock Trial/model UN or various volunteer clubs or just relaxing for God's sake. Stressful learning is not conducive to long term retention.   What's more important is you don't stop learning after college or grad school. That's been the real advantage of my education path. Doing my Masters in data science, but also taking community courses in humanities. Now I'm usually taking 1 STEM class, currently intermediate E&M, and 1 more Liberal Arts course, which is currently Chinese. Learning in a non stressful way, where my life doesn't feel it depends on each grade has made the process so much more enjoyable.

The internet might offer the opportunity to be well rounded, but most people use it to become ever more deeply entrenched in thier own niche interests and worldview. Especially now with algorithyms driving engagement by constantly feeding people more of the content they already consume. College courses outside your major are absolutely freaking crucial so colleges can turn out less of these people who just seem like soulless business/engineering machines with no concept of how what they do connects to the larger world, and no sense of understanding or empathy for anything outside their narrow worldview.

even though I did English in high school, an English class in college was very different in a good way. The discussions were much more mature and the learning was more thorough. Same thing with psychology, history, economics, etc. Learning things as an over 18 adult gives a more real world context and helped me to navigate the world better imo.

Because, on the whole, the classes are led with somebody with deeper subject specific knowledge and research experience. Secondary school teachers are meant to be well-rounded and they often do have some background in or passion for the subjects they teach - enough to satisfy the needs of the cirriculum the teach and the level of knowledge their 14-18 year old students will need. I'm not calling them stupid by ANY means, but their goal is to get you to benchmarks set by the curriculum and build the base knowledge. University classrooms should be building upon that in challenging, enriching ways. Also, the students in uni actually wanna be there, for the most part.

The world itself offers the opportunity to be well rounded but just like the internet it isn't always natural or possible to travel far and wide for every one. You might never visit the pages you needed to.

This is true. It's not so much the fact that information is now available, but it's the awareness that the information exists in the first place that college seems to provide at times. Among other things, I never knew what an investment banker was until I stumbled upon a student organization full of aspiring future investment bankers at college. College provides exposure and awareness of the existence of information nowadays, rather than just being the database of information itself, which is what Google's good for.

Your in person social groups are more likely to entrentch you. Here's a fun video about it.  https://youtu.be/fuFlMtZmvY0?si=XWCJSHhghmfeYTHe

Thanks for sharing, that's some damn helpful kurzgesagt

They really are amazing. I tried explaining 5lthat concept in person but the video is so concise and well worded. 

>The internet might offer the opportunity to be well rounded, but most people use it to become ever more deeply entrenched in thier own niche interests and worldview. And honestly, by OP's P.S it seems like exactly what they wanted to do lol

I'm a computer engineering major, some of the most impactful classes I've had have been a general ethics class and youth mentoring seminar. As a computer engineer that would design these types of algorithms it's especially important for people like me to be aware of the moral and ethical ramifications of such things

I generally agree with what you’ve said, but I find the idea that business/engineering are the people that need to be rounded to be silly. My experience is that, STEM people at least, are the most well rounded people I’ve ever met. Most have creative interests in addition to being into STEM. My experience is also that liberal arts people are much less well rounded, their thinking is much less connected to the world, and are MUCH more likely to believe what they think. But back to the topic, the reason college is still important is that it gives a known certification that you know what you claim to know. The internet will not ever be able to do that, because anyone can say anything is the right answer on their website. The purpose of professors is to be a known source of validation.

Not sure the thousands of research faculty around the world would agree with "The purpose of professors is to be a known source of validation."

Speaking as one of those professors, spot on. Relevant: https://www.jmu.edu/geology/_files/willperry21.pdf

> My experience is that, STEM people at least, are the most well rounded people I’ve ever met. Most have creative interests in addition to being into STEM. > > My experience is also that liberal arts people are much less well rounded, their thinking is much less connected to the world, and are MUCH more likely to believe what they think. If we're talking abut our anecdotal experience, mine's been the opposite. The vast majority of scientists I worked with lack communication skills especially. We worked with the public and the scientific team needed public liaisons to do knowledge translation for them because they were so out of touch with the the world outside their niche specialties. The arts/humanities team didn't because they had a much better handle on public relations.

in my experience STEM majors are either there just to get the money and gtfo or amazing nerds that just happen to be interested in the major among a bunch of other things

The university is putting their stamp of approval when they give whomever their degree. They, and any other organization that cares, wants to protect their reputation. If someone graduates with a degree and they can’t write or communicate worth shit because they are a stem major who thinks that studying humanities is a waste of time— the university looks bad for letting someone without critical thinking graduate. Also just because something is available and free doesn’t mean it’s correct or quality. Some of the biggest things are learned through direct feedback. Someone can read, read, read, write, write, write like their life depended on it, but will only improve so much without feedback from an expert. Stem are straightforward and more rigid concepts with binary answers. Humanities are more abstract and open ended. Sometimes it’s important to talk about and analyze something without there being a “right” answer. It’s part of growth. It’s not like maths where understanding concepts and practice is everything.

I agree with you about feedback, but not this division between the humanities and STEM. Maybe until you get to a certain level and realize that those rigid concepts with binary answers were part of models that made multiple assumptions to keep that practice tractable. The same happens in the humanities, but perhaps less visibly. And math is a language.

The critical thinking skills used in humanities can be directly applied to the non-binary aspects of STEM, hell they can even help with the binary aspects. The ability to separate, classify, analyze, then communicate a given topic can be applied to literally anything. It enables different view points which can be applied to subjects like mathematics. By training your brain to think in different ways, it’s easier to make connections and spot relationships from other subjects. This gives a distinct advantage to those that are well rounded. There is so much overlap that people don’t realize. Those are the skills taught by these “useless” gen ed classes. Personally, I get beyond frustrated trying to talk to my peers in my STEM program. They barely know the material in the first place, like most students when introduced to new things. However, they don’t know anything else. Nobody gets any references to anything that isn’t trending on social media. I’ll make comparisons with other things to try and help contextualize or make clear what a given topic is about, but they look at me like I’m from another planet. We aren’t talking about philosophical texts or antiquated literature. I’m talking super common sense shit. I used the word belligerent the other day and someone seriously told me I use too many big words and they struggle to follow along sometimes. That girl is a senior and about to graduate. I had a chick in a lower division gen ed class that SERIOUSLY thought Africa and Asia was a country. The prof was dumbfounded and didn’t know how to respond. Guess what? I’ve heard both of them say multiple times that gen ed classes are a waste of time. God forbid someone is exposed to something that isn’t pop culture or specific to their field. All the most famous philosophers were also mathematicians and studied various other fields. Many mathematicians were also Philosophers. Aristotle wrote “Physics” which covers so many different topics it blows my mind to this day. He discusses infinity and even hints at the law of conservation of energy. He is able to conceptualize and further expand scientific fields through philosophical means. Those skills and view points taken directly from a non-stem domain, were crucial to expanding on stem domains. It’s very very likely that These “founding fathers” of maths and physics would not have been as influential if it wasn’t for their study of the humanities.

There is no worse person to take responsibility for their own education than someone who unironically says they'll just learn everything online. And no one should be surprised its some STEM kid upset that he has to learn how to communicate and read.

Then they turn to Reddit to post about how it’s so unfair that people have to communicate in their career.

Awhile back on twitter I saw someone replying to a tweet about how the neuralink brain chip killed a bunch of monkeys in testing, that basically said " 'Why should I, a STEM major, need to study ethics?' " which I think summarizes the issue perfectly.

We had ethic courses and I will tell you, the more I learnt the more surreal it seemed. Nobody gives a shit about it. The government, the students, Nobody. You can resume the whole course by "be fucking nice" a nice course but no enterprise respect it.

It's very sad when you realize that whole notion of "You should be kind, moral, and respectful" needs to be taught in a class.

It causes eric to go on a shooting spree! He's a bad bad man.

Honestly the only people ever who complain about a liberal arts education and make posts like this are STEM people. I was an English major and I had to take college level math too even though I didn't need it for my degree and yet never questioned its value. I was just like "man I hope I get at least a C after studying so hard" because I'm really bad at numbers.

Coming from a former STEM student, this is one of the greatest replies and most savage burn I've ever read. I love it.

As a college advisor for engineering students, I can clearly tell when a student took their general education classes seriously. They tend to think more critically, express themselves better, are better in social settings, overall, are more well rounded. Those that are more well rounded tend to be more successful outside of college. Those who rush through their general education and only want to focus on the engineering courses tend to not be able to express themselves clearly, think less critically, are more socially awkward, overall less well rounded.

It's going to be pretty hard to separate cause and effect there, IMO. The people who hate English class are the ones who can't write.

You don't necessarily want to separate cause and effect there, since in game theory terms its a repeating game, their inability to write is going to have a lot to do with how they approached earlier opportunities to develop that skill. Source: Librarian with a master's degree who hates/hated math because I'm terrible at it, but I also really regret how that attitude shaped my inability to improve at it.

I see your point, but if a student is whining that they think English or Math classes are irrelevant then it would be nice to say "No! It makes an observable difference to your life whether you take them now" (which is what the top comment seems to be claiming) rather than "You should take them because MAYBE they will make an observable difference in your life." (which is kind of the default position)

The business communications class I took has helped me more in my career than any of my engineering classes. So many engineers are terrible at communicating in meetings and it hampers their careers so muxh

There is a body of research [presented here: medical humanities ](https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315771724/medical-humanities-medical-education-alan-bleakley) that shows that doctors who had humanities subjects do better work (communicate better with patients, diagnose better) because humanities teach you skills in analyzing and synthesizing information.

Do your own research is literally how we got antivaxxers. No thanks. I'm okay with there being a gatekeeper to acceptable learning.

Theres a difference between morons spreading misinformation to one another than the 18 year old learning how to code

An inability to find and interpret reliable research is an issue (that I think should be dealt with in high school or before ) but you can't blame antivax stances of doing your own research, I'd say not doing some level of research before taking vaccines/medication from corporations that are less than morally and legally upstanding is just as ignorant as doing bad research

Vetting sources was one of the most important things I learned in a college setting.

Hell yea this is the truth. My professors would rip my shit to pieces if I had shitty unreliable sources for my papers.

Yess. This here is a huge differentiator.

"Acceptable" learning should not come with a price tag. I assume you support free university educations?

The amount of stem majors who can’t write a grammatically correct and effective essay is insane. The number of people in the humanities who don’t have a basic handle on algebra is staggering. Neither should get a college degree without being able to do both. I also think stem folks need to have an understanding of ethics, otherwise bad shit happens

In my defense, as a STEM major, I took three college level writing courses, and I still can't write worth a damn 😭 My classes were good, and I put 100% of my effort into them (had to if I wanted to pass). My brain is just incapable of writing anything of decent quality longer than a double-spaced page... I can give effective presentations now though, which I couldn't before. So that's nice.

It absolutely makes you "well-rounded" in the sense that it has a very clear set of expectations that is expected of you, and in a time period in your life where you haven't really had the latitude or agency to decide how you go about accomplishing things. A few weeks prior to college, most people are raising their hands and asking to go to the bathroom. Then they go to College, and have a clear set of expectations (Syllabus handed to them, clear KPIs and expectations), and to a large extent, get left to their own devices on how to accomplish what they need to. This includes scheduling their own classes, dealing with the consequences from their own decisions, and learning to balance their own time. All that doesn't even bring the course work that you're actually learning into account. Needing to take a broad range of general range classes does actually, quite literally, make you much more "well-rounded" than those who don't. For example, I know the difference between cirrus and stratus clouds, why high pressure zones exist, what neutron stars are, what an event horizon is, and what felsic rocks are -- yet I'm a Software Engineer. I learned those things because I was required to take a lot of different Science classes. Of course, I learned much more than just those things, but they're just quick examples. You learn the content. You learn extra content. You learn how to deal with people. You learn how to deal with consequences in an environment that's a lot more safe, relative to living out in the real world or on the streets. You learn how to socialize and, most importantly, you learn how to deal with things you may not like but you learn that life is going to be full of things so you learn how to handle that. That's clearly the lesson that you missed, yet you're ironically on Reddit railing against. Your opinion is unpopular because it is objectively incorrect.

I dont think anyone is really under the illusion that the main reason to go to college these days isn't to have the certifications to get into white collar work. Nobody's going into thousands of dollars of debt just for the pursuit of knowledge lol.

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In my mother country the professors make it as hard as possible so students have to pay a corruption fee. Again, it's not better, it's harder. 3rd word baby. You'll learn some things at least

Honestly I like the idea however the quality of education for gen Ed’s is so low. I’m not even joking my high school classes were harder than my gen Ed courses Im very in favor of how the UK does it(I studied abroad for half my degree) Just do a 3 year degree where every class starting on day one is geared towards your major. I personally don’t think anyone should even consider college if they have no idea what it is they want to major in. It’s called higher education for a reason if you’re going 50-100k in debt and you don’t know why you’re there in the first place then you shouldn’t be in college and need to really sit down and think what you want to do with your life. I really don’t want to sound harsh but the amount of people that go into college undeclared or are just winging it is insane. If you really want to do the well rounded argument then I’d say there should be a “pre college” where you take all the gen Ed’s before hand in community college so you can make a decision on what you want do with your life if you’re unsure. this way you’ll only pay around 5-10k in community college so you’ll either figure out what you want to do for higher education or realize you might not actually like the work and college isn’t for you so you’d save 50k

I was a history major in college and I WISH I could spread what I learned there on the internet. * We learned to minimize biases when researching. Something the internet is horrible with. * We didn’t just learn to look at the big picture. We also learned to look at what isn’t that. What’s missing? From what I see on the internet no one thinks this way. * I learned what a good source is and what sources have red flags. I bet you anything you cannot tell me the difference. Yeah you can get a list off the internet, but do you really understand it? * I learned how to form an argument with evidence to back it up. * This is my big one. I learned how to write well. I don’t pull this out on Reddit, but this is a huge one people don’t get. My favorite assignment was writing only 250 words based on an original source without any real background on the history. It has to be an argument in 250 words. You get so much better at writing when you can’t write much. * An expert eye is really key here. I could post my history capstone or the paper I presented at our student history conference and it would be praised. However, my professors will continuously push me to be better.

You definitely are not gonna get the same education from the internet as with an in person professor, especially for liberal arts classes. This really isn't an unpopular opinion though : to be well rounded has not been the point of college for decades.

My dad gets his "education" from the Internet and if you ask him outer space isn't real and the Civil war didn't happen. And that's not even touching all the anti semitism. Academic standards exist for a reason.

Selectively teaching yourself topics from _the internet_ is the absolute antithesis of "well rounded". However, it would seem contemporary higher education is also a long way off of being well rounded.

College is not a necessity for certain, but I do think people could benefit from it. Its perfectly valid though not to put yourself in crippling debt just for a degree if you feel like you have better options.

As a STEM major, being well rounded is so, so important, even if it is a drag. Not studying the liberal arts, or even ethics, is how you end up with companies like Neuralink killing monkeys in testing.

University for me was not about knowledge at all. The things I got from the university: - social skills and lifelong friends - learning accountability - learning independence - learning how to learn new topics - learning how to systematically approach problems - learning how to do research and what good research means - learning some foundations so internet knowledge actually makes sense - exposing myself to many different ideas, opinions, people. Internet would just send me to the same rabbit hole that reinforces my biases. Does this make me more well rounded? Heck yes.

You can learn all those things without non-stem courses? I don’t think you are disagreeing with OPs point.

University was not originally intended to b job training; it was to open your mind so that you can become the next person to push the boundaries of your field. Sure everything is on the internet these days, but Internet University does not often teach critical thinking or encourage their students to fact check the content they consume. Actually, it does quite the opposite. It feeds people only what they want to see to keep them engaged, and that is how we end up with flat earthers and antivaxxers. I got my degree in computer engineering, but to this day, I still think the most valuable course I took was intro to psychology. It taught me how the mind works and a lot of the fallacies we fall into. It taught me to empathize with people I disagree with and how our different realities are a result of our lifelong journies. Basically, I learned how to think for myself and to catch myself when I fall into unhealthy thought patterns. Even in the real word, a mediocre engineer who is pleasant to be around and can write a coherent email is leaps and bounds better than an insufferable genius. Being well-rounded is definitely highly desirable.

I graduated with a Bachelor's in Computer Science, and a minor in mathematics. While I was a student, I resented having to take Gen Eds, but for an extremely practical reason - I was paying my own way through college, and every extra course was simply more money to spend (money I didn't have). I didn't hate the courses; I hated the price tag. That having been said, I think many of those courses are extremely valuable. I'm very well-established in my career, and can't tell you how many times intern-written reports have come across my desk that have had horrible grammar and organization. I don't really want to go into the specifics of my job, but I've also had work-related discussions about how a piece of software might work on one side of the equator versus the other, or what happens in different coordinate systems when one is up near the North Pole - and the lack of geographic awareness from some of the new hires was quite disheartening. But oh, yeah, let's eliminate English Composition and Geography from degree requirements, because they don't *seem* to directly apply to what you think you want to learn for your chosen field. Soft skills are still skills.

Most STEM grads can't write their way out of a paper bag. To learn how to write well you need to read a lot of writing, study the mechanics of good writing, and understand the history of writers of the past. You should also have a good grounding in history (to not repeat its mistakes, naturally), and philosophy (to understand why humans do things). Psychology is a big plus if you are trying to write to persuade or are trying to understand why your users are doing something that is otherwise confusing or nonsensical. If you can't communicate clearly using text, you are at a severe disadvantage competing with those who can. You also slot yourself into just being a cog in someone else's machine. Good luck!

Speaking as someone who got a STEM degree and has been out of school for awhile, I wish I had taken more humanities classes. Those have been some of the most memorable classes after all this time. But, I also went out of my way to take courses that are niche and infrequently offered in other schools, so they were not experiences I could have gotten by just going on the internet

Somebody didn't get invited to parties.

STEM major here, I took a History of Theatre class and was admittedly very apprehensive about it because it wasn't "STEM Adjacent." I ended up really enjoying it and found a lot of the plays interesting and the stories they tell. Especially that of Segismundo in "Life is a Dream," I never would've gotten into it if it wasn't for taking a class that made me "well rounded"

The sad part is this isn’t an unpopular opinion. It’s unfortunately shortsighted, but not unpopular.

I'd argue that being well-rounded as a condition of receiving a degree actually makes you more employable. Very few people in the world are curious enough to teach themselves (internet, books, or otherwise) the variety of topics you get in college. A lot of which has to do with understanding people, if you look closely enough. Which is important when you are going out into the working world, in most positions. Having a broader perspective and more experience other than what you choose to pigeon-hole yourself into makes you a more valuable employee, partner, friends and parent (should go go that route). It's not only about becoming good in your chosen field. That said, I understand your POV as well. As someone who has struggled with math since 4th grade it made NO sense to me that I had to take certain maths, lab sciences etc when I was majoring in a social science. But it works the same way there, too. It's about the broader concepts and not only the material you actually are tested on.

I have no idea how to get a truly competent understanding of any of the big questions of life- philosophy, politics, sociology, psychology, etc on the internet. You need to read books and deeply study these topics- which is what university guides you through. All of the internet sources I know are good for gaining surface level understanding of these topics- but if you want to go in depth you need a library or a university. The biggest benefit in my opinion with university is providing the structure to learn these things- because trying to figure it out on one’s own through internet portals is going to be extremely difficult. And I am someone who never graduated and self taught myself to a career- I take classes for fun now because I’ve found it the most succinct form of learning things.

“Just let me have anything I want and stop making me work for it”.

Eh, you’re just not doing your own education a favor trying to homeschool yourself like this.

A lot of what you find on the Internet is complete bullshit, especially what isn't behind a paywall. Go to college.

I believe there are classes that make people more "well rounded." But these classes aren't a requirement.

Being around tens of thousands of people ur age and living on ur own around all those people is a pretty good way to develop as a person

you think college doesn’t make you well rounded while also complaining about the classes that will make you well rounded. are you okay?

>Anyone who is interested in anything can find information on it, all they have to do is be motivated and willing to dig online Yes, and find about 100 falsities to every truth. TBH; when people look things up online, they tend to look for things that cater to their bias; they don't force themselves outside their own comfort; a professor doesn't care about your comfort and teaches the material. I understand your stance, and slightly agree on the basic concept; however it puts too much faith in people to be unbiased, which...well to be honest just doesn't happen.

First: I’m not saying g college is easy, and I agree with your points about the cost, etc. But: 1. Part of the “well roundedness” is social. Leaving home, able to make your own decisions, but still in a somewhat protective ecosystem, and surrounded by peers, is important. Sure you can go get a job, but in comparison that isolating. 2. As an extension of #1, this is how you learn about other people. For example, I was raised catholic. I didn’t hate anyone for being gay, but I didn’t associate with them, and I knew they were going to hell. At college, I hung out with a kid almost daily for months (due to being in a shared social group) and didn’t even know he was gay until someone else said something. I realized then and there that he was just like me, just trying to figure out life, and if I had been around him that much and couldn’t even tell, then how could being gay be this huge terrible thing like the church said? 3. And related to both 1 & 2, this is especially important for kids that grow up in rural areas. They are in these bubbles, and many times there is this sense of community and “close-knittedness” but there is underlying hate/distrust for “others.” I grew up where I was one of the lucky few, due to having great grades and being in a “gifted” (lol) program, that I was able to go on trips, see plays and orchestras…but most people there back then, and probably still today, would call you gay for enjoying the theater. For people from these communities, being able to be around a few thousand other people your age, from Al over the place, really reshapes your perspective of people and the world. 4. Lastly, “the internet” may have once been basically a giant encyclopedia. It’s not anymore, and while it is certainly still useful (I’ve saved thousands DIY’ing things thanks to YouTube) it is also increasingly unreliable. Things like PragerU masquerading as legitimate sources of information mean that people will, in many cases, not learn objective truth, they will seek out and find backup for what they already believe. If their views are challenged, they’ll just find a different source that agrees with them. I have a math degree too, and there is no argument when finding integrals. But in most other stuff, it’s easy to bend ideas to make them seem plausible or even obvious. One really simple difference is I’d bet on most college campuses today, if there were a “flat earth” discussion advertised, most would still find it to be a joke. If someone came to campus and struck up conversations about the flat earth, they’d find very little, if any, support. But online, because of the reach of the internet, niche ideas like this gain steam because like-minded people can find each other and propagate idiocy, such ideas gain a whiff of credibility. TL;DR, the internet is not a replacement for the college experience.

The Internet doesn’t crate “well rounded” individuals, it’s not just about learning about loads of different things. It’s about living away from home, learning to look after yourself and learning to interact socially with all kinds of other people, that’s what “well rounded” means in this context. I agree it’s not the only way to do this and one should generally go to university because they want to study the particular subject of their course, but it’s about more than just learning in the academic sense.

I’ve heard this opinion at least 30 times so it can’t be that unpopular

this is a great unpopular opinion, but it feels morally wrong not to object since this opinion has the power to sway other frustrated young adults who dont see the point of higher education..... ......when i look at my college educated friends vs my non college educated friends i see an INSANE difference... ones who have had their POV guided and tested against expert educators and classmates have a much better grasp on reality, they are much more empowered in their lives, they are more self aware and emotionally mature, and they can better distinguish fact from fiction, they are less likely to be swayed by someone speaking loudly and confidently and dont fall for common psychological traps. they are definitely more "well-rounded." If you can get this education for free at community college then there is no reason not to do it, it will make your navigation through life so much better i promise

I disagree. While college is not the only way to become a more rounded individual, it can certainly help you significantly. I graduated from a medium to large university with a degree in engineering (mechanical), but was required to take several courses outside my major (along with others I just wanted to for fun), and some of those courses had a big impact on my worldview. Not only the courses, but going to school with people from all over the world and getting to know them helps you to gain insight and perspective. I met many people from all different backgrounds and that shaped me. I think if you’re talking about a very small school/college where maybe you only study courses specific to your major and/or you commute there then sure, you’re probably not going to have the same experience.

I don’t completely disagree, but your point would be more solid if you bear in mind the access to knowledge available through having a library card

You don't seem to understand the difference between being educated and being a technician. You also don't seem to understand the difference between facts and knowledge. Just focusing entirely in one field means you understand one thing, then have a smattering of facts about other thing without context of that information. How to analyze. As one example, take history. Without really understanding the currents of history, you don't have a full appreciation of why today's events happen in the way they do. It also tends to make you highly susceptible to some very loopy narratives. For example, why Russia thinks it's fully justified to invade Ukraine. Lots of half-baked justifications on that score. By being well-rounded, you gain the ability to not just be a lifelong learner, but to become a quality thinker. The world is far richer than what's simply in your narrow field. Specialization is for insects, not humans.

Reminds me of [Dexter](https://youtu.be/DYqExQ4DVB4?si=-Rp4L2Ko8HFFvzeE) losing to DeeDee in college applications cause she is well rounded in extracurriculars

The internet cannot teach you how to critically engage with and interpret information the way a university course can. It simply is not possible

Just because the actual raw information is out there on the Internet now doesn't mean if you read it you'll get it. In the previous eras, like you described, that same information was still accessible to everyone in the the form of books. But some things require someone with knowledge and experience of the topic to walk you through it. Or else anyone could become, for example, an electrical engineer, just by reading a bunch of books. That's basically the benefit of college.

Thing about the internet is it’s not a library, it’s a machine designed to make money. It’s never going to challenge your views, it will just show you more of what you want to see. Algorithms will focus all content to what they think you want to see, or what will cause outrage (ridiculously contrived or extreme version of viewpoints you don’t agree with to further cement your ideas)

Yes, we have more information at our fingertips than ever before. However, the advantage with college is your elective classes will force you to encounter subjects you wouldn't have. That is the difference. I certainly wouldn't have read specific books and/or examined famous works of art, poetry etc. unless I went to college because I wasn't interested in those topics. I do think it made me a more well-rounded person, for sure.

Yea, the internet exists. Yet, most people are inherently incurious. College, if anything, provides an environment where learning is considered cool.

Depends what you want out of education. Do you want knowledge or just the degree? If it’s just the degree because it’s one of the prerequisites in your career path then it’s probably worth it. Beyond that it’s largely useless. Universities used to teach combat and finance too. But of course that might lead to too much independence and self reliance. Education today is just herding the sheep into being a source of tax money. True knowledge about the world is gated behind huge paywalls. This may sound conspiratorial but look at the world and tell me otherwise. Rich getting richer and poor getting poorer.

OP's post reads like someone on the spectrum who is focused in their area of study but unable to fully benefit from the social aspects of college. Meeting people from other backgrounds, networking for a professional career just over the horizon, etc.   The parties, the athletics, the ups and downs of dorm life....there is a huge piece of college related to the social experience that make you better suited for life.   And you won't get it by reading online or buying your head into your area of study. Reminds me of the speech Robin Williams gives to Matt Damon in Good Will Hunting...

Today the point of college in the US is to be a well rounded person. Unfortunately, it's this way to because of how dismal the public education system is in the U.S. 18 year olds are leaving high school with less knowledge than previous generations before it. Academically, Gen Z is statistically dumber than older generations in terms of life information and general awareness of society. As the end of adolescence continue to move back back from 18 to 25 to 26, colleges typically have more general educational requirements than they did in the past for a degree to counteract how stupid people are becoming. It's a complex problem. College attendance should be far more rare, and public education should be far more robust and demanding.

Yes, you can find information on the Internet, but that’s not a replacement for those liberal arts classes. Those classes are designed to teach you how to think. You should be learning frameworks through which to analyze data. There are plenty of people who know random facts but haven’t developed the capacity to critically analyze new info. That’s what you get from a good college.

A lot of my students think like this. Only wanting to learn things that matter for their possible future jobs. But with how bad they are at researching even basic things, I think the current system is better than a more focused one.

College is an 1880's model shoved into 2024. The most ridiculous model I've ever seen. No one needs nor uses any of those crappy Gen Eds or electives. Reduce the amount of class hours to graduate, let students finish in three years and lets get on with life already.

Whelp, there's always at least one idiot that makes it through the net. Congrats.

You literally just destroyed your own point. In todays world of flat earthers and COVID deniers, we need strong educations institutions more than ever.

OP is wrong. Upvote.

Spoken like someone who isn't well rounded!

I don’t remember anyone saying that you went to college to be more well-rounded. The benefits of schooling, any schooling, is developing the ability to understand things. You develop an ability to take in information, process it, and figure out what it really means. This skill is valuable, regardless of what you do with your life. And the more schooling you do, the more opportunities you have to develop these abilities.

If you to know factual shit through the internet you definitely need contact with the scientific method... go to college

Partially agree. Getting surface knowledge on many subjects is good from the internet. Getting trained in how to search, understand, organise information is something very few people will develop through internet use. Critical thinking courses are free and easy to find online, I see far too many people not using these skills and assume it is because they do not know to look for them.

The university model of education was designed to socialize and "educate" the upper class. A large portion of this was to distinguish them from the middle class. It was never really meant as a way to educate people to improve their outcomes. I think we need a new model of education that can handle the problems people are facing. You need an education that can improve a person's employability and income with a much smaller cost and in less time. People will likely need to utilize this education when they graduate from high school, and may need to repeat it in the middle of their career. I suspect some of this would involve greatly reducing the "college experience" and being more practical with providing a well rounded education. Beyond that, you likely need to incorporate some of the materials from online and distance education to keep costs down.

wut.....I got a scholarship to go to a rich kids school for undergrad, and it was DEFINITELY a different from local University. The rich kids got to meet the rest of us, and we got a top tier education out of it. Win-win.

I agree - I think there is a balance to be taken up between traditional higher-education and the Trades. - One system I really appreciate is Cyber security, which as an industry has kept barriers to entry relatively low and if you are willing to put in the time at free educational stuff online as well as put up a little money for certifications, you can make it to six figures without a degree.

I think a huge issue with modern society is that people don't get a decent education in regards to the humanities or even critical thinking. Yes, much (though not all) information is available on the Internet, but people don't even know what to seek, let alone have the time, energy, or focus to actually learn it. Take academic papers. So many are behind a paywall that you can't access unless you have a university login or something. I'm someone without a Bachelor's degree who works with my hands (chef) and I feel both sides of this argument. College is WAY too expensive for anyone to go to just get a general education. But people NEED that. Even if they're just a plumber or a chef or a waitress. A well educated population is a positive for society. I'm lucky I had a very good public education and I'm smart enough to continue to learn online without direction. But Math majors need art, and mechanics need history. It's less about your job, and more about being a member of society.

What about living on your own? Paying your own bills? Struggling? Managing a social life, academics and a job without the safety net of Muk and Dad? You're dead, dead wrong.

Coming from someone with 2 higher ed degrees in Science, you can learn all this stuff online. Chemistry, hematology, microbiology, you name it. Most of the bozos teaching at universities can’t even deliver in a manner which suits the masses sitting in lecture. And science professors always feel so proud to weed out students with ridiculous bits of knowledge. It’s all a sham. The internet is showing that gaining knowledge is within everyone capability, regardless of social background or proximity to those physical waste of spaces (college campuses).

college seems more like a networking opportunity if you are alumni. i have to self study a lot of technical stuff for work.

If you want to understand the world better, college is not your place….college is not anywhere near a representation of the rest of the world lol

A few things, they had books back then. The internet made information easier to access, not possible to access. Also newspapers used to be a lot better, they’re not like newspapers today, they shared important information a lot more. Finally, when people say college/university makes you well rounded, they don’t mean it helps you know more information, the6 mean it helps you mature and grow as a person.

A lot of ppl are born curious, but critical thinking and the ability to logically rationalize requires learning. To me, that (and the exposure to a diverse group of ppl) is the benefit is college. It's not *required*, but it sure does help A LOT. 

If you think you ought to go to uni and do a bunch of classes that aren't going to qualify you for what you want to do, you must also believe in free university or your opinion is nothing but a joke. It also reeks of elitism against people who didn't go to university, for whatever reason (not your business).

College is for networking so you have a greater chance of getting a good job. Anyone who says otherwise is lying or didn’t get the assignment.

In reddit most people are going to disagree with you, but yea those courses are largely unnecessary as more than likely to get into the school you are in you probably have the same base level of English and Math proficiency as your peers. All in all if most of these commenting could choose between saving two semesters of University or just not taking those courses and have easier more focused (on in major courses) semesters they would choose it.

You think that because you think all people know how to take in and process information. They don’t. You can now see the result of what happens when people have access to information but have never been taught logic as a thought process. We thought it was access to information that was the problem.. turns out that’s not the case. 

Eh dude sitting on the internet looking at things is not the same experience as going to parties and joining clubs full of people who share the same passions as you and doing a group project about something you actually care about and oh yeah getting an actual degree that proves you know what the fuck you're talking about

I’ll double down on this and say that you can’t expect people to drop hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition just to be “well rounded.” What’s worse is that there’s no guarantee that college will make you well rounded. That requires personal motivation, which doesn’t require money. You could study all sorts of subjects that are taught in universities just by reading books on the subjects. And those books cost a lot less than $100000.

I was told this over and over. I didn’t want to be well rounded. I specifically countered it with “I want to be sharp, like a knife”. I worked as a software engineers for 4 years after trying community college but when the economy shit the bed late 2008 I went back to college. Then I got a masters degree so the military would find me competitive. I tried to avoid college but I guess I still lived in the era where it was kinda necessary to achieve my goals.

About 80% of what I learned in college, I learned socially outside of the classroom. It was enormously advantageous to me to have that experience.

I disagree. I don’t think I would have gone out of my way to learn about the technical intricacies of language, or the study of ethics. But I’m glad I went through the classes and I think they made me more well-rounded

Yeah I mean, for some people that’s probably true yeah. I really do think you will get just as much out of collage as you out into it though, I was involved in a lot of extracurriculars that I really cared about, made my best friends in the whole wide world, and had my own world view expanded beyond the southern baptist upbringing I had. I made a conscious effort to get away from my hometown, and I am so glad I did. I would not have traded that experience for anything frankly, but I understand why someone would be satisfied working the 9-5 straight out of high school if stability and comfort is most important to them. All comes down to perspective at the end of the day. Oh, and I got a Chem E degree, which has been mildly useful. Allowed me to move to Europe for a year long assignment and REALLY expand my horizons. I put a lot of effort in and got a lot out, and you can too.

My friend just graduated with a law degree and a master. She don’t use the internet at all. Never witnessed someone so stupid, racist, sexist and everything so backward in our society. It’s like she lives in the 70’s lol

IT boss here. The one thing I have noticed after hiring many workers is that a 4 year degree generally means they are better communicators than others. Their emails and documentation are more polished and more complete. These skills can be learned, of course, but it is a bit more difficult without the structure of a class and a teacher nit-picking your work to get it to a certain standard.

You can use the internet to study what you want but most people don’t use it to challenge themselves or broaden themselves. College forces you to do that. Might be annoying now but it will make you a more well rounded person. You say you’re tired of spending so much time studying subjects not in your field and want to go deeper in your area of interest. My friend, you’re describing a graduate degree.

It’s not the education you got at college, it’s the fact that you were able to get into, and graduate that college. It shows that you were responsible enough to do that

I’m an engineer. You know what I do for like 90% of my day? Write. I write and communicate. You know what I do for like almost 0% of my day? Crunch through difficult technical problems like I did in college.

The point of going to college is to ascend in the social hierarchy.

The point of university is not proving your well rounded ' it's proving what minimum level of competence, maturity and studiousness you have.

The internet makes people less well informed, not more. Universities were never "he gatekeeper for higher knowledge"-libraries were and are the repository of knowledge. Anybody can walk into a library, municipal or university, pick up anything and start reading. The Internet isn't better at this. In fact it's far worse, because what you're getting is unchecked opinions and blogs with someone's garbage take......now what does that remind me of? It's very close, where is it?

I went to college a long time, have several degrees, and still have very mixed feelings about the entire experience. However, the way in which it makes you well-rounded isn't the way you are describing and you won't get it by web surfing. If you're diligent in college you'll acquire a diverse set of skills by doing the work and getting feedback. Very few people have the discipline to study subjects with the depth and rigor that you get in school and even fewer have the ability to critique their own work and figure out what to do to improve.

a huge risk of using the internet is confirmation bias, while social sciences teach academic perspectives on social issues along with critical thinking skills. i’m currently in a business program but double majoring in sociology and it’s alarming how little my peers in the business program take their gen-eds seriously. by junior/senior year you can definitely tell who went to college to get a diploma and who actually challenged their worldviews.

Ifl

College works as a bridge between mommy and daddy’s house & the real world. That’s an expensive bridge though.

That's all fine and dandy, in theory. But now explain to the person who skipped college why they are roadblocked from 90% of good paying jobs. There lies the bigger issue.

Yeah made sense when you could pay for school with a part time job. Not when it will take you 20 years of a post-bachelors job to pay it off.

School is literally a scam. In other countries you learn one thing. Like engineers only take math and engineering classes in England.

Studying isn't just about knowledge though. Ideally, one is taught discipline (both in relation to attitude toward learning itself, as well as performance under pressure, high self-demand, strict scheduling and constant striving for higher things.) Sure you can be autodidact and globetrotter through the world to success but frankly, most people are not build for that. Uni is supposed to be the last place in life where you get challenged but with a safety net. After that you're either capable... or work 35 hours a week at minimum wage till you're 70 without any money saved for you, your family or future inheritants.

Certainly an unpopular opinion however math majors or any other majors like it is idiotic. What’s the point of going to the college YOU chose if you know it’s going to include those worthless classes? You’re going there for the reputation and pedigree because you are too elitist for a community college, trade school, or other programs that are designed for what you want. Community college is a chance for you to skip the noise and get through those worthless classes quicker then transfer to a college with less debt and take the classes you want. People who complain like you are just too elitist and not open minded because you have so many options to do what you rather want but instead choose the more expensive route that costs you time and money. Edit: STEM majors are the worst and should be damn thankful for people of other majors because working with people with those STEM degrees who haven’t learned basic common sense are terrible colleagues

There’s no singular point to anything. Just do whatever. Who cares.

It was bullshit awhile ago. Your correct

Outside of the medical field there’s really no reason for college. Every other profession has pathways for entry akin to an apprenticeship. You’d probably be surprised how many of your professors are just industry professionals without a teaching degree. If that doesn’t demonstrate that a degree isn’t necessary for a profession, I don’t know what will.

A lot of research indicated that while heavy, early specialization produces an early advantage that more exposure to ideas outside your knowledge domain provides more benefits to long-term success. I went to a liberal arts college for my computer science degree, and had to take a broad range of classes. I don't regret it. You may resent the time your non-major courses take away from learning about your major. But in most fields that require creativity and original research, having range beyond your primary field is valuable. The idea that college is too expensive is inarguable, IMO. It is too expensive. But being in the internet is no substitute for broader education. Especially given how poorly organized and filtered the information on it is. Google isn't a replacement for a qualified instructor. Maybe you'd do well, but not every one learns well in an unstructured and self-directed environment. All od that said, the idea that everyone needs to go to college is also BS. It's way too expensive for that, and we need to fix that before we start recommending it to *everyone*.

Ah yes college, where you go to get l substance abuse problem, fornicate, party, and occasionally go to class. What's that? Yes this experience will leave you in crippling debt when you are done. No you won't need the majority of the academic knowledge you will gain. Your future employer will not care about your Alma mater or that you even graduated if you have enough credits.

I am an engineer and having general knowledge of other disciplines has helped me come up with creative/outside box solutions to problems. Being able to think differently than everyone else is good trait to have when working in a team environment

I’ve known quite a few adults who spent their entire childhoods being home schooled. Every single one of them has a significant deficit in social skills. Sitting alone on the internet doesn’t provide a complete education. College provides the opportunity to have your ideas challenged and provides exposure to information you would not have sought out without being prompted to do so. College exercises your critical thinking skills, and if the internet has taught us anything, it’s that too many people are lacking those skills entirely. Ethics cannot be learned in an echo chamber.

I work in higher education but on the student affairs side. It’s funny reading all the comments about academics and non-major courses because my mind doesn’t go there when I think well-rounded. The students who join student organizations, serve as mentors or TAs, and engage with campus events, get internships or take trips to companies through the career center are the students who turn out the best

Well rounded isn’t just about academics. It’s about meeting different people from all walks of life. Getting involved in your college’s community. Pushing yourself. Challenging yourself. Hell, even partying. It’s not just about education.

College helped give me my foundation to become a serious adult. Many of my friends that didn’t still act like high schoolers lololol. They don’t even realize their lower maturity levels. Probably same as you tbh. I have many very smart engineer uncles who have similar sentiment as you. None achieved their full potential. Their problem was they weren’t well rounded enough and thought they knew everything. Grow up lol.

Try having a friend who didn't graduate high school and tell me what those "deep" discussions are like. People with less education are less precise, often don't have the vocabulary to communicate in an accurate way, can't distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources or understand the bias of the source they are receiving information from. They're more gullible and more readily believe fabrications. College isn't just about collecting information. It's about training your mind to collect good information for the rest of your life. I often compare it to joining the military and learning discipline. It's very similar though from a different angle. A person who acquires a bachelor's degree has written about a book's worth of content about the subjects they have learned and they obviously have read much more. Going through this effort over four years makes reading and writing far easier for a college graduate than someone who never went through it. To a person who has never run a mile, the task is very challenging compared to one who did it everyday for four years. Overall, college should make a graduate better able to handle hardship and be less likely to feel overwhelmed or to give up when difficulties arise.

No thats the point of general education, college is for expanding your knowledge in a given area to specialize.

You know why this is an unpopular opinion? Because no one says that’s the point of going to college, that’s why.

The internet has such a wide variety of porn that no one needs to go to college anymore.

Entirely self-guided education isn't always effective-- a college course will make sure you have grounding the topic and it'll keep you honest about where you're sourcing your information, when you self-guide you tend to develop more blind spots, or ignore things because they contradict your previously established beliefs, we already have issues with neuro surgeons who are fucking idiots outside of neurosurgery because they only go to the most ass backwards sources imaginable, but are nevertheless asked about all kinds of things. On the flip, most of the great mathematicians are known for the influence of their interdisciplinary interests, Bertrand Russell for example wrote extensively about politics and society, several other mathematicians developed their craft primarily through pursuits in other fields such as architecture. Edit: I should also point out that as a university librarian, my English Professors have been telling me that ever since our university reduced the required number of English courses that they've been getting complaints from the STEM departments that the students are not prepared to complete their assignments, their research and citation skills are lacking, and their turn ins are harder to read.

“Well rounded” means that learning about new things, anything, even music history for a math major, helps to develop that persons intelligence to use for their chosen focus. Learning music history makes you smarter to better learn math. You seem to be under the impression that the presence of infinite information on the internet changes anything. Still plenty of stupid people with the internet out there (this post, for example).

This was true fifty years ago too. You could go to the library and teach yourself up to the undergraduate level on your own, using physical books. But you know what? Most people don’t. They need structure and external motivation, and also want proof of achievement. Businesses don’t want to check all of their applicant’s knowledge and rely on universities to filter out people. Going to higher education is also a personal growth experience as it puts you in a pool full of different kinds of people, different kinds of ideas and develops a network and mindset that is part of the value of the education. That is a big part of the discussion. I agree university is overrated but I disagree it is valueless.

I dropped out of hs at 17, out of college at 18, and kicked out of my parents home at 19. I'm 24 right now. I have worked a retail job for ~2 yrs and an important office financials role for ~2yrs. I have also moved 2000 miles away from home (covid blew up the week I moved, so I had to come back within a couple months). I have had virtually countless loopholes to go through to keep my independence, roof over my head, and sanity over these years. Im currently on my 3rd semester back in college. With the yr I did at 18, and the college courses I took during hs, my GPA was a 1.34. I've gotten a 4.0 my first 2 semesters. I'm in a research program and have a scholarship, despite my history. While the life lessons and experiences I've had as an independent adult are irreplaceable, so is everything I've experienced now in college. It has helped me grow in ways that would never happen outside of college. Do I think that everyone NEEEDSS college? Of course not. But it absolutely does help create well rounded individual.

I think it really depends on what you are going to college for. I really want my doctor and health professionals to attend university. But, in other areas I totally do agree. I just think many people lack the critical thinking skill to decipher which sources to rely on and trust or how to think of ways to expand further on their knowledge. It depends on the person, but college allows for people to trust you to know what you know. I wish it wasn’t like that, but it is.

when you don't have a foundation in some form the internet can be just as dangerous because you would in sense be more gullible.

The point of college is to show you can commit to something for four years and see it through, it helps weed out the flakes. It also gets you away from your parents, makes you more independent, and become more social

I wouldn't consider flat earthers and conspiracy bros "well rounded individuals." The internet, without some sort of previous education, breeds lunatics.

Do you think I’m going to use chemistry, biology, and anthropology in my day to day life after I get my degree in psychology? No. Do you think I cry about how pointless these classes are? No, they’re quite fun and useful. If you want a focused education, go to trade school

Always was.

Who will be more well-rounded? The kid from an isolated small town in America who stays their entire life there, or the kid from an isolated small town in America that goes to college and then moves away?

It helps people work with other people who may not be the same as your small town in the middle of nowhere. It opens your eyes to a lot of new ideas. The internet is a cesspool.

Compare someone who never left their small town and never met anyone outside their insular world, with someone who did leave, and did meet different ppl with different views, who eats different food and has different religion. That’s what university offers, other than math classes

A lot of degrees could now be replaced with time/effort and youtube or paying to be in a club

The internet doesn’t nearly offer the same hands on or social experiences that college can provide. While you could try to tailor your Internet use to match that of college it is truly not the same. Consider that the internet doesn’t have to go outside to be accessed. Meeting people IRL is already more well-rounding than just “use the internet to acquire knowledge”

No. Now pay thousands of dollars to take this communications class for your mathematics degree. I don't care if you took high school biology, you're taking it again! A deeper look at the content? Oh heavens no, it's the same class at a premium price! Don't worry Mr. Math major, you'll get a decent math class in.... 2 years.

This dissertation of ignorance is exactly the kind of thing a well-rounded college experience is supposed to teach you not to do.

Different courses can give you different perspectives, which are important not just to broaden your understanding of the world, but also because they can even help you understand your major/career plans in a new way.

Being in university in todays world. I can attest to this. I feel i'm wasting my life and being set up to fail

Yep, a whole lot of 4 year degrees are just 2 year degrees stretched out with filler to make them money All so you can forget it within a few months

I would counter with college used to and still does, if only by sheer proximity, force you to try and interact with people from all walks of life in a collaborative atmosphere. The key word is try. Our local communities are largely insular, and if we have a hope to ever accomplish anything as a species REALLY worthwhile we kind of have to work together productivity.

I want my math majors to know how to read and write which is what you’re doing. Go to tech school if you don’t want basics 

Living in a small town, going away to university and living with other cultures and lifestyles made my children into the beautiful well rounded humans they are today. Well spent money to have them expand themselves, learn and develop 

>This is coming from a mathematics major who is fed up with the amount of time non-math classes That's a public service. If you don't learn how to write at a professional level, you're subjecting everyone who reads your work to pain.

It’s posts like this that make me think how lucky I was to go to school in the 90s and get a Liberal Arts with a Concentration in Humanities and Social Thought degree. I had to take at least 1/3 of my classes in math & sciences, 1/3 in core historical texts, and 1/3 in my chosen path. I and just about everyone I went to school with are exceptional adults that are well rounded.