REASON 11: College Life is Lonely

The solitude of college life.

College brochures love to show cheery pictures of students strolling along campus or gathering together in on the campus square. And it is true that college can give you an opportunity to interact with your peers and meet interesting people. But most of the time, college life isn't the ideal setting for social interaction.

REASON 10: The Stress Will Kill You

Does he look happy to you?

Even if they don't realize it, the number one reason students enroll in college is because they want to avoid stress. The goal is to get that degree, enter the real world, and enjoy a decent salary, a rewarding career, and generally pleasant life.

While that's the goal, it is a goal that most college students will never achieve.

REASON 9: There Are Better Ways to Learn About the World

The best way to learn about the world.

According to the logic of college enthusiasts, the best way to learn about the world isn't to buy a plane ticket and, say, see the world firsthand.  Rather, the path to worldliness requires you to pay tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, to spend your nights reading theoretical texts that explain how the brightest scholars think the world works, and to spit all of this newfound knowledge out for your midterm and final exams.

I don't know about you, but I think that a plane ticket is probably the better way to learn about the world.

REASON 8: You Get No Respect

"R-E-S-P-E-C-T.  You can't get it with a college degree."

While the passion for knowledge is what drives some people to attend college (See Reason 1), the desire for prestige is another strong motivator.  Many college aspirants pursue a bachelor's degree simply because they believe that possessing a degree will make them seem more intelligent, interesting, or ambitious.  Some people hope that by majoring in fields like political science, they'll become the go-to guy whenever their friends want to resolve a heated political argument. 

However, this perception couldn't be further from the truth.  As college is becoming more accessible to the public, the awe factor of attending a four-year university is going down.  The respect that others have for the knowledge you will obtain over those four (or possibly six) years will be nonexistent.  And as a result, it will take far more than a college degree to boost your social status among your peers.

REASON 7: Tunnel Vision

Your future is brighter outside of the tunnel.

By now you've probably heard many people say that a college education opens doors.  In reality, a college education opens the door to a long, never-ending tunnel.  Upon entering college, a student exits a world where possibilities seem never-ending and enter a world where life is limited to a handful of cliche careers and grad school programs.

REASON 6: College Sports

New state-of-the art sports stadium: $250 million

The quality of your education going down the drain: Priceless

Do you care about the quality of academics at your school?  

Did you apply to college to get away from those annoying jocks and cheerleaders in high school?  

Do you spend more time at the library than at the gym?

Do you believe that higher education should be about more than tailgating, bonfires, and fuzzy school mascots?

Then do yourself a favor and don't go to college.

REASON 5: You Don't Know What to Major In

Do you offer Leisure Studies?

Once upon a time, college was a place for self-exploration.  Society realized the futility of asking an eighteen-year old to decide on his or her life-long career, and the job market was forgiving if a graduate's major didn't quite match to a specific occupation.  

Unfortunately, times have changed.