thelegendonline Opinions

How much does college actually matter in life?

By Tiffany Lee

Accompanied by a six-digit price tag and constant parental nagging, undergraduate education must be important.  And yet, these first four years of “adult” life, the next big step, the taste of upper education, don’t guarantee a job, let alone a high paying one.  This lack of profit begs the question: How much does college actually matter?

The average starting salary right out of high school is around $30 thousand.  Not bad, but nearly impossible to live on in the Silicon Valley.  A bachelor’s degree adds on average around $15 thousand, which still doesn’t meet the estimated $64 thousand minimum requirement to live in the valley.  However, these numbers don’t account for the fact that other than the first job, all other jobs are based on previous work experience, not which college you went to.  But just based on money, college matters as much as $15 thousand does.

Excluding computer engineers, people straight out of college tend to struggle when finding a job.  If and when they do, only 27% get one related to their major, according to the Washington Post.  So college does matter about 27% of the time, and as much as $15 thousand does.

So far we’ve calculated how much undergraduate education matters, but we haven’t accounted for its irrelevance compared to graduate school.  For many careers, especially those in the medicinal field, undergraduate school is just the preliminary round.  Graduate school is where you actually get education relevant to your future job.  Neurosurgeons learn how to perform on the brain, and medical students participate in clinical rotations to gain real-world experience.

Disregarding graduate school, the biggest determinant of college value isn’t jobs, or even money.  What matters most is what others think of you.  Parents need to be able to brag about their children’s acceptance to Ivy League schools.  Friends need to hide uncontrollable rushes of envy as their peers display famed letters of acceptance to Harvard.  Relatives who have spent lifetimes asking college-related questions, waiting with baited breath for your answer, need to feel a mix of shock, joy, amazement and jealousy that their kids aren’t you when you finally manage to get accepted into a high ranked school.

So yes, college really does matter.  Sure, it matters 27% of the time and as much as $15 thousand, but most importantly, it increases your chances of feeling some sense of superiority.  You can finally say you’re better than all of your friends.  You can finally name-drop your school into any and every conversation.  The academic elitism given by four years of finding new ways to hide alcohol is truly priceless.

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Examining the exams: SAT vs. ACT

By Walt Leung

SAT or ACT?  A few years ago, this question would have been predominantly one-sided.  Most students would have taken the SAT, and most college admissions officers would have recommended it as well.  However, as of the past few years, the ACT has started to rise in popularity, rivaling the SAT.  This often complicates matters for students; nobody wants to potentially make the wrong choice when it comes to one of the most important tests in high school.  Exacerbating this?  The difference between the SAT and ACT is enormous, and studying together might mean disappointing scores for both.

Structurally, the ACT and SAT are completely different.  The SAT is organized into small chunks; test takers perform small sections of reading, writing, and math at a time.  On the other hand, the ACT is organized linearly; test takers complete an entire subject before moving on.  As a result, sections in the ACT take 35 to 60 minutes each while sections in the SAT only take 10 to 25 minutes each.

Content-wise, many professionals denote the ACT as an achievement test, and the SAT an aptitude test.  The ACT generally focuses on material covered in the classroom, which is why questions tend to be of harder difficulty, but relatively straight-forward.  On the other hand, the SAT focuses on the reasoning aspect, with easier questions but tricky phrasing and more trap answers.

Furthermore, the ACT covers some advanced topics in mathematics, even going into trigonometry, while the SAT stops at Algebra II.  The ACT also has a science section that the SAT lacks.

Score-wise, the ACT is scored on a scale of 1 to 36, with each section having a composite score that is averaged for the total.  The SAT is scored on a scale of 600 to 2400, with each section having a composite score that is added to the total.  Colleges tend to place more emphasis on the total score for the ACT, as opposed to the composite scores for the SAT.  Therefore, students weak in one discipline but stronger in another are often recommended to choose the ACT over the SAT.

Ultimately, most advisors recommend students choose one test that best suits their test taking style and stick with it.  However, the ACT has finally gained its respect in the standardized testing department and is no longer overshadowed by the SAT.