Your story is an argument that it’s possible (as is the parent comment btw), but it doesn’t demonstrate that it’s likely. We have pretty hard evidence that it’s more difficult to get good jobs without the degree. Not impossible, just more difficult. The number of people without formal degrees occupying good jobs is a minority. Companies often screen for degrees, before you can ever get an interview; credentialism is real. And to parent’s point, some of the best jobs require advanced degrees. Do a little searching for the average pay with and without a degree (the answer shocked me!). Do a little searching for the number of patents filed by people with varying levels of formal education. Poke around for how many senior engineers, managers, and executives get there without formal higher education. There are some, it is possible! But not that likely.
While it might be true that warning someone away from college might be a disservice, it’s also a disservice to not talk about reality and avoid looking at who’s getting the jobs, right? If 90% of the 200k/yr jobs are people with degrees, then what is the practical choice for someone young who wants that and is weighing their options? Instead of telling someone not to go the self-taught route, would you feel more comfortable with telling them you’re roughly ten times more likely to get to $200k/yr mark with a degree than without, but make your own choice?
Personally I suspect the people like you who do best without a degree are often the ones who are going to ignore our advice anyway, and it doesn’t matter if you warn them. People who are super motivated and figure out what to learn and know what they want in life when they’re 18 years old are going to go get it. Most kids aren’t like that, they don’t know what they want yet, and aren’t motivated enough to learn everything they’d get from a 4 years degree on their own. For that majority, it’d be a disservice to recommend anything other than education, no?
While it might be true that warning someone away from college might be a disservice, it’s also a disservice to not talk about reality and avoid looking at who’s getting the jobs, right? If 90% of the 200k/yr jobs are people with degrees, then what is the practical choice for someone young who wants that and is weighing their options? Instead of telling someone not to go the self-taught route, would you feel more comfortable with telling them you’re roughly ten times more likely to get to $200k/yr mark with a degree than without, but make your own choice?
Personally I suspect the people like you who do best without a degree are often the ones who are going to ignore our advice anyway, and it doesn’t matter if you warn them. People who are super motivated and figure out what to learn and know what they want in life when they’re 18 years old are going to go get it. Most kids aren’t like that, they don’t know what they want yet, and aren’t motivated enough to learn everything they’d get from a 4 years degree on their own. For that majority, it’d be a disservice to recommend anything other than education, no?