I agree college is important; I read recently that it takes those with a college degree half as much time to find a job after being unemployed. The issue is whether those "brand-name" colleges are really worth it. One can get a good, cheap education by going to community college for one or two years, then transfer to a public university.

I was deeply disappointed when I was getting my Bachelor's degree when I learned about graduate school. People that I knew that wanted to go to graduate school all talked about how you had to be really nice and friendly to several teachers so they'd get good recommendations, it was total kiss-up. These students would act like they were the professor's best friends, and try to spend extra time with them in office hours, and talk about life and hobbies outside of class to pretend to be their friend. When they'd interview at graduate schools, it was much the same. They had to kiss-up so hard-core I realized I could never go to graduate school and maintain my self-respect. It's not so bad getting a 4-year degree if you go to a public...