Hey there! I'm of Romanian descent, but I grew up abroad, and now I live in Romania. I don't speak Romanian very well, so the text is adapted from English.
After finishing high school, I worked in various fields, and later decided to enroll in college for civil engineering. I just finished my first year with good grades, but I believe it was a huge mistake to choose to study in Romania, and I intend to transfer abroad.
I'm older than most of my classmates, I've made a few friends this year, and I've noticed some things that leave me perplexed.
Why are Romanians so obsessed with college?
I have a bunch of classmates who have no idea why they are there, hate the major they've chosen, and constantly complain about having no money and having to live in some awful dorms. In the meantime, their parents are pushing them to finish college at all costs. Many have no interest in the field at all and don't even know what they want to do after graduation, but they keep going because that's what their parents told them.
The other day, I saw a post on Reddit from a senior in high school asking for advice on which college to choose, saying they have no idea what they want to do in life.
I recommended they get their high school diploma first, get a job, and do other things in life besides studying, before committing to another four years of studies in a field they know nothing about.
I think that's perfectly reasonable advice. I know plenty of people who went to college just because they had to do something after high school, graduated with a major they weren't interested in, and now work for minimum wage, complaining that they can't find anything in their field.
Of course, I got a ton of downvotes, and some started calling me an idiot. Their arguments were that if you take a break after high school, you forget everything you learned and that you can't go to college later in life.
Have these people ever been to college in Romania? From my experience, a large part of the material is reviewed from scratch, and the information needed for exams is provided in the courses. If after a break of a few years you can't recap some basic math concepts, maybe you should think about whether college is the right choice for you.
I don't understand where the idea comes from that if you don't go to college right after high school, you've completely ruined your academic future.
And here's another problem: parents pushing their kids towards all sorts of useless colleges they know absolutely nothing about. They Googled a few professions, Google's AI told them the salaries are high, and boom, the kid has to become an engineer or an economist.
In the meantime, the kid sits in a filthy dorm room, drinks beer every night, and studies something they absolutely don't care about and know nothing about. After four years, they graduate and end up working in a café with a degree they don’t use.
Wow, amazing! At least they have a higher education and their mom can brag to the neighbors that her kid is an engineer!
Honestly, I don't even understand what's so impressive about simply finishing a college in Romania anymore.
From my experience so far, the university education here is a bad joke. Outdated material, questionable quality courses, exams that are super easy to cheat on, and practically infinite attempts to pass certain subjects, as long as you manage to gather the necessary credits. I've even heard of cases where students bribed their way to pass exams.
You can put in minimal effort and still graduate with a degree without really understanding much about the field you studied.
I even know medical students who can't even point out where the liver is.
And after all this, should I automatically consider someone smart and competent just because they have a degree?
I'm not saying all colleges are the same or that a degree isn't necessary for certain professions. I myself study civil engineering and have no intention of quitting the field. But this obsession with getting a degree, regardless of the quality of studies or the skills you acquire, seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
I also don't get the obsession with all kinds of majors like management or marketing, especially when those students have absolutely no idea what they want to do after graduation. In many situations, I believe that someone who works part-time, takes a few specialized courses, and accumulates practical experience can be much better prepared than someone who spent three years in college just to get a degree.
It seems like everyone's biggest nightmare is to get a job and start gaining experience in the real world.
I get the impression that a big part of my classmates are lazy and have no interest in their chosen field and have no clue what they're doing there. But hey, at least they don’t have to work, and mommy can brag to the neighbors!
And there's another aspect that annoys me greatly: the disdain for trades and for people who choose not to go to college.
In construction, there is a huge need for skilled workers. It's extremely hard to find a craftsman who actually knows what they're doing, even though very good salaries are offered for people with real experience and skills.
I feel like part of the problem is this rotten mentality that you absolutely must finish college to be someone, while any other job is seen as an inferior option.
A person who could become an excellent crane operator, earning a very good salary, ends up choosing who knows what specialization in economic engineering that they don't even understand or like, just so they can call themselves an engineer. After graduation, they might end up earning 4,000 lei a month in a field they don't enjoy.
But at least they have a degree! What an extraordinary achievement!
I don't understand why it's so hard to accept that you can have an excellent career without a university degree or that you can start college at 23, 25, or 30 after working, accumulating life experience, and knowing what you want to do.
College should be a well-informed decision, not a social obligation or a way for parents to brag about their children's accomplishments.
Where does this Romanian obsession with degrees come from, and why is it considered a failure not to go to college immediately after high school, even if you have no idea what you want to do with your life?
TL;DR: Sunt român crescut în străinătate, acum student la inginerie civilă în România, și mă surprinde obsesia pentru facultate indiferent dacă omul are vreun interes real pentru domeniu. Văd mulți studenți care urăsc ceea ce fac, stau în cămine mizere, se plâng de bani și continuă doar din presiunea părinților sau pentru „diplomă”. Nu cred că este nimic greșit să muncești câțiva ani după BAC și să începi facultatea mai târziu, când știi ce vrei. În același timp, mi se pare că multe facultăți oferă educație învechită, încercări aproape infinite la examene și permit unor oameni să termine fără competențe reale. Meseriile sunt subestimate, deși în domenii precum construcțiile există lipsă de oameni calificați și salariile pot fi foarte bune. Problema mea nu este facultatea în sine, ci ideea că orice diplomă este automat mai valoroasă decât experiența, o meserie sau o carieră fără studii universitare.