No you are! lol
You obviously know more than I do. I give.
I can’t think of a more demanding field than nursing and there are many excellent RNs that hold just an associate’s degree. The standard of care for a nursing professional is also much higher than someone working in web development.
While I think a 4 year degree is a better alternative, it doesn’t mean that someone with a 4-year degree is going to perform any better than someone with a 2-year degree. I haven’t seen any conclusive studies
showing that.
^While it is true that a four year degree guarantees squat in terms of talent, it does suggest an applicant was willing to invest in themselves and <em>might</em> indicate the kind of love of learning that is required (not to mention the basic written communication skills) to remain competitive in a field that is reliant upon constant change and careful consideration of myriad factors. Most employers today want someone who is good at learning and adapting to change and deploying strong reasoning and observation skills. These traits can or should be more fully developed in someone exposed to a rigorous and broad course of study than someone who elected a strictly vocational, two year pursuit of a program. That said, that is not always the case. There are always outliers. But if you receive applications DAILY from graduates in-field, frankly, you’d not be likely to take a serious look at someone from a two-year vocational program unless their portfolio and deportment were outstanding.
In nursing, it is true you can find employment from a two year program. At the same time, that nurse with an associates degree is less likely to get a job or advance as the nurse coming from a four year program or a nurse practitioner. The nurse practitioner, who is more highly trained, commands a better salary and has more capability to advance. This is why so many US healthcare institutions recruit from Canada, where nursing is now a four year degree.
My comments were intended to help the poster carefully consider whether or not it would be wise to pursue an associates degree instead of a four year course of study if his or her goal was to be employable and later, to advance, in the field of web development. Truthfully, I needn’t have bothered. If the poster simply runs a search on any job board, he or she will see that the BASE requirements are typically at least a bachelors.
What we haven’t heard is what the poster LOVES to do, or whether this inquiry is just about getting a job/any job. If there is an opportunity to encourage a young person to invest in themselves and a field they’re passionate about, I’d rather do that than tell them what they might WANT to hear.
If I was a employer looking for candidates who are adaptaptive with strong reasoning and observation skills, I would look no further than those with a background in either nursing or law, since both of those professions require individuals capable of working under enormous pressure, the ability to reason, astute observation, and require lifelong learning.
Once you meet the RN requirement that’s all that matters. I know of several nurses that are making great money with a two-year degree. Moreover, because of the requirement of continuing education in many states, an RN with either an associate’s or bachelor’s degree will have to meet the same minimum amount of CEUs to maintain their respective RN licensing status. I think more doors open up for RNs at the graduate (master’s) level.
Keep in mind here that I don’t disagree that a bachelor’s degree may be the right choice for some people. Where, I disagree though is that it is a better indicator of learning, reasoning and observation skills, over that of an associate’s degree, as applied to nurses. To adopt your line of thinking would mean that the ratio of negligence among nurses that only possess an associate’s degree would be higher than those nurses with a bachelor’s degree, since they have less skills. If this was so, hospitals would not be hiring RNs with associate degrees.
Spidey made some excellent points. When people think of entrepreneurs they fail to realize that most start out small and grow a business. There will be ups and downs but it is your baby and you created it. As Spidey said be prepared to work long hours but the satisfaction is worth it. I haven’t hired any Ivy grads yet (do my sons count) but we make a decent living.
My mom’s a nurse with a 2-year degree, and she’s never had trouble finding employment (knock on wood). Some community colleges have great transfer programs with cheaply priced 4-year schools, and if you transfer with a 2-year degree, especially if you land a seat in an honors society/some kind of group like that, you could be eligible for some really good transfer scholarships, were you to decide to transfer.
P.S.: hardly anyone can afford college. Good for you for not just jumping into a lifetime of debt because you “can” 
“most start out small and grow a business”
As opposed to?
Um…How about having a lot of cash (your own or someone else’s) and buying a business? Irrelevant to this thread, however.
A caree in xray technology is a great option. My brother in-law did the two year CC then worked while he finished a BS program and the a masters in radiology. Now he teaches students and is working towards being a manager of a radiology department in a southern Calif. hospital.
I don’t know anything about you but my brother went to San Francisco CC for some classes in fire management and EMT then went on to the San Francisco fire academy. He has been a fireman for close to 10years and loves his life.
I hope you find the right path for you.
Paralegal, I just checked on this, and am told the difference in average earnings between an RN (any program) and a nurse practitioner (masters) is about $30,000 a year or about $15. an hour (eg. 56k vs 86k). Another example, assuming you’re a paralegal, would be I suspect that your principal commands a higher billable than you are able to bill out directly. Likewise, if you pursued a law degree, in theory, you could bill at a higher rate (and arguably have WAY more practice overhead to eat up that billable, granted…)
Can the poster find a meaningful vocation from a 2-year associates program? Absolutely. And in some fields that emphasize practical application such as nursing, xray etc., they can also earn a decent wage. (Although I would hazard to say the same is not necessarily true in web development and design.)
However, I was responding to the concept that when you (within reason) invest more in your education on the front end, there is a corresponding increase in your future earning capacity – rather, POTENTIAL, over time, including a corresponding increase in the amount of responsibility you are given or the leadership opportunities for which you would be considered qualified. I have worked with recruitment companies. I can assure you that candidates with less than a minimum of a 4-yr bachelors are routinely (and electronically) screened out.
So my comments are intended to encourage the poster to consider whether or not he or she can truly “afford” school or not, which depends on what he or she wants to DO. …And to clarify that in web development, many employers would not find an associates degree a qualifying degree for consideration. A recruiter would routinely discard the application in this case.
“Um…How about having a lot of cash (your own or someone else’s) and buying a business?”
Personally, I wouldn’t classify anything that didn’t require an independent idea and a large amount of creativity as entrepreneurship. Buying a business is more akin to making an investment for income building. People may call those who work for themselves by providing services “entrepreneurs” but I disagree with that nameplate. Perhaps we could classify it as “personal impact entrepreneurship” (looking for ways to make yourself more money that are not incredibly novel or impacting on the industry involved).
To lump inventors and those who spearhead entire industries in with the guy mowing lawns is far too simplistic and generalized. They are entirely different people, they may have a few similar traits, but in reality that’s as far as it goes. Furthermore, I would argue the small business owner lacks many traits of the high-impact entrepreneur (successful or not).
“many people seem to think that entrepreneurship involves unique magic. It doesn’t.”
I would say you are correct if you are defining an entrepreneur as someone who starts a small business for income replacement.
Also, to clarify, I did not limit myself to only studying entrepreneurship.
Now back to the thread topic…Any more ideas out there for associate’s degrees and possible career choices?
FYI The OP hasn’t been online since Oct. 12, the day before the first reply to this thread, meaning they haven’t read a bit of it.
Wolfmanjack, is there a reason you keep wanting to derail this thread?
This is your third attempt. It is currently a featured thread on the opening CC page, BTW (so clearly I am not the only person who thinks it is a good one).
Do we post online only to respond to the one individual who created a thread? No, that is not the way it works. Sometimes questions are very specific to an individual. This one can be helpful to many. Threads are accessed by many people when they search on a particular issue. This topic is a good one, as there are many people (today more than ever) who can barely afford an associate’s degree.
I apologize I did not realize how much you like this thread.
Apology accepted. Clearly, since you are one of the most recurring posters on this thread, it is you, Wolfmanjack, who really likes this thread a whole bunch (more than you obviously realize).
Stop trying to derail this thread. This person needs our help.
A security analyst with HP. My mom’s boyfriend only has that and he is earning 50k with a pension and health insurance.
Get a loan! Seriously! You will not regret it! You can do it! Also, as mentioned above, state colleges are very affordable and worth the investment!
No college should not be an option at this point.
Invest in yourself! Get a loan!
When people start talking to themselves, they clearly have been pushed too far. Time to stop feeding the ■■■■■ – it never turns out well.
Perhaps it is simply painful to acquire two Ivy League degrees (a dubious claim with the reasoning I have witnessed here), only to discover that there is still a world of opportunity without any degree at all.
……………………….
It used to be possible to get a very low level job on the floor of the NY stock exchange without a four-year degree, and eventually (if you were quick on your feet and good with numbers) become a specialist or trader. There were people making millions who never stepped foot on a college campus. Not sure if it is still possible, but it is worth looking into.
Come to think of it, with the exception of big corporations that have strict hiring policies, it is still possible to grab a very low-level support position and eventually break into sales in almost any industry. Pick the product or service that intrigues you. Just get in the door. In the consumer products industry, for example, that may mean being a “merchandiser” (you go from store to store, “pull” product from the back rooms and put it out onto shelves, then get the store manager to order more). Some top companies might hire you part-time, or you may end up setting for a job with a broker. But if starting a consumer products company some day (want to bring Grandma’s brownie recipe to market?) strikes your fancy, this is an easy way to get paid while learning the industry. If you are dependable and impress people, you may get a shot at a sales job where you get small accounts (calling on people who buy for a number of stores).
Brains and ability requirements won’t change, but if you can build a base of customers and close deals, and prove that you have done this consistently over a period of time, there are few people looking for a sales person who won’t be interested in you whether you have a degree or not. Again, some huge organizations can’t look at you even if they want to. But a lot of small or medium sized ones would be thrilled with a person who is hungry, willing to work hard (for real), and has a proven record of success. When you need numbers/sales (and who doesn’t today), unless Human Resources has your hands tied with their rules book, you are going to hire the person who can bring them in. You are not going to care what school they went to, if any, once you see quantified successes (backed up by references) which knock your socks off.