Calling College a “Scam” used to get you some confused looks around the Dinner Table. Almost $2 Trillion (yes, that’s Trillion with a T) in Student Loan Debt later… it’s a generally accepted fact.

There ARE still a few good reasons to attend a University. Let’s walk through them.

1. Professional Barrier to Entry.

If you want to be a Doctor or Lawyer, you don’t have a choice but to go. There are laws in place that require degrees for both Medicine and Law as well as Professional Entrance exams in fields like Nursing or Engineering that you’re not even eligible to sit for without a College Degree.

2. Smart Kid going for a STEM Degree.

STEM is one of the few fields in Higher Ed that hasn’t been captured by Politics. There is legitimate value in getting a degree in Math, Physics, Comp Sci or Engineering because you learn to THINK and SOLVE PROBLEMS. This makes you valuable to any Employer, anywhere.

That said, since Open Courseware went live on YouTube and other platforms, anyone with a Smartphone and a few spare hours can learn the same stuff for free.

Because of this, you SHOULD weigh the cost of a STEM degree against the value of what you expect to learn. Put simply, if the Cost of your Degree is more than you’ll make in the first 2 years after you graduate…go somewhere Cheaper and thank me later.

3. College is a Rolex to you.

To many who can afford it (and many more who can’t) College is a VERY expensive status symbol. The same way women look at you differently if your Fiancé buys you a 5 karat ROCK instead of a pebble, people DO look at you differently if you went to Harvard instead of the State School the next town over.

The Professional advantage of attending a High Status school is short lived but the Social advantage lasts a lifetime. Definitely take it if you can manage it without going into insane amounts of Debt.

A WORD OF CAUTION: There is a BIG difference between splurging to attend Harvard and splurging to attend a “Little Ivy” Small Private knockoff school. Much like a Cheap Chinese copy of a Chanel Bag at your local Flea Market, it won’t fool anyone smart, *EXCEPT* unlike the Chinese Bag, your Knockoff College will still cost you $100k+.

4. It’s Free.

If it’s free just go. Anything you learn is a Bonus. At minimum you’ll have a fun four years and make some good connections for later.

None of these apply to me. Now What?

Time for some Hard Truths. Most people SHOULD NOT go to College. It is very much possible to live a Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy life without attending college. College is an INVESTMENT not a Theme Park and if you don’t get out of it what you put into it…you got Scammed.

Learning a Trade, joining an Apprenticeship, or Starting a Small Business is a better option for just about everyone in this Category. You’ll make more Money, have more Opportunities and lead a Happier life if you attempt one of these instead of going into $100k of debt for a useless degree.

How can we Help you?

At West Palm Test Prep we specialize in helping Talented Students get into Top Ranked Schools, *WITH SCHOLARSHIPS*. More than that, We want to see our Students grow into the fullest version of themselves and realize every God-given talent they have.

That begins with Test Prep, but it doesn’t end there. We provide College Admissions consulting, Subject Matter Tutoring, Essay Help, Internship Placement and will even edit CV’s for our Students who are applying to Jobs.

Over the years, we’ve amassed vast expertise in these areas and realized that we weren’t helping anyone by keeping that knowledge to ourselves or behind a High Paywall.

This Substack is our way of sharing what we’ve learned with EVERYONE for a low monthly price of $10.

Every week we’ll address a new topic related to College Admissions and Test Prep, provide relevant insight and actionable advice.

You won’t want to miss it.