The word "scam" has specific legal (not to mention moral) connotations that I'm not sure apply to college. But whether or not college is a scam, it is definitely more problematic than it gets credit for. I graduated high school in 2010. I was 18. I had no fucking idea what was going on in the world, or what my place in it was. I had no real sense of purpose. All I knew is that I was really good at singing and kinda starting to be good at piano. I "chose" to go to college in the same way that I chose to go to every grade in school up to that point. It was the next step in the course that I assumed was life. So far in my life, I had gone to school and earned grades. That's it. Never had a job, never made my own money. So I continued to do that because that's what I was comfortable with. My parents did not make me work as long as I was going to school. So I kept going, kept working towards that music education degree. At some point (around the end of my second year) I realized that I was essentially spinning my wheels, and that I needed to start earning an income so I could achieve some independence. Start becoming an actual adult. I decided I wanted to take a year, maybe two years, off to focus solely on working and getting my drivers license (which I still hadn't earned yet as my parents could not afford to put me through drivers ed). I could see that, despite my academic achievements, I was developmentally behind where I needed to be. I essentially had the exact realization that OP had in this post. But my parents insisted that if I quit now I wouldn't go back. I knew that I couldn't handle the stress of both at the same time. I knew my limits. So, faced with the choice, I chose to stay the course. I worked hard at a school. I astounded many of my professors and was very well respected amongst many of my peers. I remember, during my student teaching experience, the professor from the university that had come to observe me said "You represent the very best that our school has to offer. I will be in your corner all the way." I graduated in 2016. My first job (not just my first job out of college but my first job, ever) was teaching. I was experiencing the first time stress that young, new workers face, on top of the stress of a first-year teacher. I imploded. First of all, I was terrible at my job. To be fair, all first year teachers are pretty rough around the edges, but I was especially bad. Once again, I wasn't just a first year teacher, but a first time worker. It was alot. Oh and did I mention that it was my first time having my own money as well. And I did what every young idiot does when they first start earning money. I blew it on stupid bullshit. Didn't save a dime of it. There was a brief period where I was earning 2k a month. I didn't even have to start loan repayments yet. I coulda saved that shit. But I didn't. Cause I was making those dumbass rookie mistakes we all make and then eventually outgrow. But instead of making them at 19 or 20 I was making them at 25. Still couldn't drive yet either btw. The job was a temporary sub job, so after it ended, I wasn't exactly ready to jump back in and be miserable again. I went and did what I should had been doing back when it first occurred to me. I went and got an entry level retail job that was less stress. I did fine there of course. I was earning money regularly, I wasn't overly stressed. But my spending habits continued. And I slowly began to realize that I was spinning my wheels. I worked that job for almost two years. I saved none of the money I made, still lived with my parents and still didn't have my own car or drive. Just before the pandemic hit I had another breakdown because of my situation. I quit the retail job and promised myself that I was going to try to right the ship of my life. I was going to get my license, start subbing again and save money. Then, as luck would have it, along came COVID-19. I stayed unemployed for the entirety of 2020 and over half of 2021. I only just now, in the past couple of months, have started working again. It's a shitty daycare job where I make 10.25 an hour. I'm also working toward my license. I'm 29 years old now. Most of my peers are starting to settle into careers they've been working toward for the better part of a decade now. I'm starting over, essentially from scratch and I'm about to turn 30 in three months. So, after all that, I have to say this: college may be a sound decision when made by a sound and mature mind, but we don't have sound and mature minds when we are 18 or 19. We have so many mistakes to make, so many lessons to learn. And college, useful or not, does not allow us to make them. I have so many wonderful memories and so close friends that I still interact with from my time at college. I made music at a high level of artistry. I learned a great deal and even had some decent field experience towards the end of my run. There are lots of things I look back on with joy and pride during my college years. But, in the end, what would have done me much better would have been to break myself out of the insular world of academia and gotten a job, earned some money, gotten my life in order. Then, once I was more independent, I could have returned to school with a greater appreciation for how serious an undertaking it was. Now, I'm trying to leverage my musical talents for all they're worth, which, unfortunately, where I live, is very little. I'm going to try as hard as I can to get myself standing up straight, get a mode of transportation, save money, get my own place, and hopefully find a way to earn wages that aren't slave-level. I just wish I would have listened to my instincts all those years ago, when my brain tried to tell me "Hey, you're not on the right track yet. Let's try something different." Honestly, the worst part of all of this, is that I've never even experienced love or sex. And now, who would want me? Fuck my life, and fuck anyone who tells you that you should go to college. Listen to yourself. That's what I should have don.