Motivation for college: education or salary?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I graduated from trinity Oxford, then finished another MA at another university where I'm doing my PhD (England).

If you want a job in academia, you gotta go Into academia. I really enjoyed my undergrad and my post grad (less so my phd ). It certainly opened doors. I think the merits of doing a science based undergrad outweigh doing an arts on based on the universal transferable skills. But that said, as bennyboy said earlier on page 2, networking is such a great way to get your foot into the door regardless of your career.

Your lecturers will have networks you can tap into if you play your cards right, especially if you go to a decent university that has decent schools/colleges that attract good academics.

But I also very much agree with this:

People in the US like to brainwash high schoolers into thinking they won't succeed if they don't go to college. Trade schools are looked down upon for whatever reason, while you can make a better living as a carpenter or plumber than half of the business majors in college who won't even get jobs when they graduate.

I went to a school where everyone was expected to go to Uni. I'm not ashamed to admit it; I'm terrible with physical trades, but good with intellectual pursuits prevalent in academia.

If I could choose differently, I'd want to get a trade because in the UK having a trade is a great way to earn a living. If I wanted to re-do my academic career (I don't), I'd have done engineering of any discipline (probably structural or electrical) because that's where the money is and always will be, especially in developing countries where the expertise is lacking and the sector has high demand.

But yeah, trades are definitely the way to earn a transferable and positive living, especially because once you master you can start your own business and earn your own living being your own boss. As with the US (it seems), mastering a trade in the UK has gone out of vogue, and the country has suffered as a result (IMHO).