A good School.

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I do think however that people should choose at least a major and minor, or a double major in college. Get two sets of skills. More than that is just dicking around.

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Well, duh.Just what kind of Liberal Arts college did you go to where people had more than two majors, or no major? I have never heard of that.

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I have not met anyone better prepared for their eventual employment because they spent extra money and time taking a few classes outside their main subject.

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I have been familiar with several Liberal Arts schools, and you choose a major just like at any other school, but the core curriculum is much more diverse and you have more room, requirements, and choice in your schedule for a greater diversity in the classes one takes. You have a certain number of credits in your major that you must earn, and you also have a core of liberal arts credits that everyone takes, and then you have the total number of credits neede to graduate.Seriously, where did you go to college that people didn't have majors at all?

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Honestly, did you need them?

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Define "need".Would I have been able to get a job as an accountant due to my taking Basic Accounting? No, but I was better prepared to understand a financial spreadsheet and inventory systems than someone who hadn't.Would I have been able to design and carry out a Biology experiment and publish the results in a professional journal because of my taking Biology 101 and a year of Mammalian Anatomy and Physiology? No, but it did mean that when the Veterinarian came to the stable, I could have a more intelligent and informed discussion with them regarding the care of the animals I was taking care of than someone who hadn't taken those classes.

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Were they really worth the cost to you?

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Absolutely.

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And in general are you the type of person to have learned about the subjects on your own?

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Sure, I might have.Though without the excellent professors (experts in their fields, at my disposal) to help me understand and the studying for examinations to really push me to understand and remember the information, I'm positive I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near as much from the subjects.

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I actually believe there is no excuse for people in this day and age not to be "rennaissance men". People can and really should be pursuing many different interests, broadening their minds and skills. But I saw little value in this from a liberal arts college.

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And let's not forget that I have to earn a living before I can play "renaissance man". Being a "renaissance man" requires money and a lot of free time, neither of which I have much of, especially the money part.You are arguing an ideal most people never acheive.Most people who study business, let's say (and there are a bunch of those people), and start in on the corporate ladder, get married, pop out a few babies, get a big mortgage, and then they are stuck. They have so many financial obligations that they can't possibly venture outside their field because it would mean a big pay cut that they can't afford until the mortgage is paid off and the kids get through college.Delving really deeply into a subject is what graduate school is for.

We are seriously hijacking proph's thread. And as it is you seem simply to want to fight with me. I am simply giving him my advice based on having been to both kinds of Universities as well as having had diverse (though in depth) coursework in other fields.You totally missed my point regarding liberal arts colleges. That's it exactly and I did not say otherwise. In such a school, as in any other University you may always take more than one major, though it is more usual to find a major and minor. It sounded like you were unfamiliar with double majors, which is suprising to me.In any case, its that last sentence which was the stickler for me. Nice in theory, not so hot in practice. Sure it won't kill you, and it might be nice to be able to talk to a vet more knowledgeably, but is that worth the extra time and money one must invest in college?Coming from a poor guy, and the fact that liberal arts colleges are more expensive than public schools, the answer to me is a resounding no. You can always make yourself knowledgeable on your own time. Hell take cheap ass community college or mail order programs on other subjects. Or just watch a lot of educational programs but make sure to take notes... visit a library?The point is being forced to pay big bucks and spend extra time studying other subjects in a superficial way is not a valuable way to spend time or money.If you got a LA degree, great. So did I. If you think it really helped you, great. I did not. And I have gone on to other Universities and saw that cheaper costs and less time spent in side peripheral courses did not make people less smart or less "liberal".That is my opinion, and my reasons for my opinions.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)

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That's it exactly and I did not say otherwise. In such a school, as in any other University you may always take more than one major, though it is more usual to find a major and minor. It sounded like you were unfamiliar with double majors, which is suprising to me.

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To my mind, you started criticizing some bizarre, "majorless" version of liberal arts education that I had never heard about, which is what I had responded to.

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In any case, its that last sentence which was the stickler for me. Nice in theory, not so hot in practice. Sure it won't kill you, and it might be nice to be able to talk to a vet more knowledgeably, but is that worth the extra time and money one must invest in college?

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Holmes, are you serious?Are you actually questioning the fact that it would be useful to a professional stable manager, who is responsible for the health and welfare of animals, to be able to converse knowlegeably with a vet?Don't you think that the owner of a horse training and boarding business would be consider it a plus in a prospective employee if the prospect can understand the vet and doesn't have to learn much, if anything, on the job??

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The point is being forced to pay big bucks and spend extra time studying other subjects in a superficial way is not a valuable way to spend time or money.

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...and yet, they were valuable to me, and let's also remember that an undergrad degree from a good liberal arts school can get you further (both in employment and in graduate school) than many good state schools.That's because the quality of the instruction (often better instructors and much smaller class size, and a better quality of student admitted), the difficulty of the coursework, and the diversity of the experience are superior to most state schools.Sure, people can read books from a library, but that's not anywhere near the same as being in an intellectually stimulating classroom environment with a gifted professor setting challenging coursework and tough examinations. I am positive that I got a LOT more out of taking Non-Western Civilization with Rob Citino, one of my favorite professors (and currently a prof at EMU), than I would have just reading the books he assigned, because I worked my ass off in his class. To delve that deeply into a subject now, I would have to be independently wealthy....you know, like the "renaissance men" were independently wealthy.I think that if you want an extremely focused education right out of high school, go to a technical or trade school. If you want a well-rounded and diverse undergrad experience that will prepare you for graduate school and for a diverse workplace, then go to a liberal arts school, or go to a state school and try to take as many classes far outside your major as possible.

I never said that. Maybe you pulled it out of what I said, but I don't know how, and it really doesn't matter at this point. This is quite ironic. I know people in that business (though not horses). They went to lib arts colleges and by chance did not get that kind of training anyway. They got their job and learned what they needed to own their own.Do you know how many successful business people never bothered to get a formal education in the very subject they work in?Yes I think it would be beneficial to have the knowledge to talk with a vet in that job, but now let's get back to the point of what I said. There is no reason to have paid for that knowledge while getting your BA in something else entirely... unless you suspect you may want to be that someday? Yeah, that's the spiel that convinced me to skip other universities and attend a LA college. Nice patter, pure snake oil. You can get fantastic jobs from whatever University you go to depending on the connections you make during your education.It is nice to have a well known name on an app for a job or a grad school but it is unlikely to majorly influence anything, unless it helps you network into the job... or unless your school is shitty and its credits don't transfer (but that is another subject).I am not claiming that you should feel bad about your experience or that it was useless or something. But the idea the LA colleges are superior are not convincing. I went to one of the very top rated LA universities (so it's not like mine was shitty) and I enjoyed myself. I have since been to a few non LA universities.In the end I should not have gone to the LA college to save time and money. That is my experience and remains my recommendation to others. Of course if you are wealthy find whatever school you want whether its LA or not. Time and money are not issues at that point.

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holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)