Really want to go to University because my friends from highschool have went and make pretty good money

>$250k spent on education

In what country? In Ontario Canada tuition is $7k a year and now it's even free for mature students.
Where does education cost $250, 000? What school is that?

>Corporate finance selfstudy
"Hello I have no experience or degree but I read textbook".

Bunp

Loss of income

It's not a total loss of income as you can still work during school. And what else would you be doing instead, at 18-21? Working at McDonald's lol?

This. It's also extremely more valuable than a piece of paper that literal retards can get. Set yourself apart with excellent work, courage and entrepreneurship user.

If you can't decide between two radically different majors like Finance or Computer Science then you're not informed enough to make the right decision. Look up the relevant courses from something like MIT ocw.mit.edu/index.htm and decide which you'd rather be doing. Or if you are motivated (which I doubt, if you are here asking this question) then just start studying the free online classes and do personal projects to prove you learned something.

>more important
Sure, it is more important.

But why NOT do BOTH? Why are they mutually exclusive? Also "doing your own projects" really only applies to computer science, you cant create a portfolio for medicine, pharmacology, engineering, mathematics etc.

What, how are you going to create your own civil engineering projects? Or your own actuarial science projects? Or your own chemical engineering projects? Hate this stupid FUCKING meme.

I'm in Ontario specifically Toronto. I work at a bank in IT Management. Getting a degree will help you get a job but it doesn't guarantee you anything in this market - everyone goes to school these days. If you go back to school here is what you should be looking to do.

1. Networking. Doesn't matter if you are bad with people. Your goal is to join student business council, business case comps, etc. People who are ambitious do these things and they are practically forced to interact with you in these settings. Some of these people will graduate and your goal is to have them recommend you for jobs when they have jobs and vice versa.

2. Coursework and school. Want to do finance/accounting? Figure out the best school you can get into for those subjects (not everyone can get into Western / Queens) and go there. Same for Comp Sci - different schools are better at different things. Also focus on learning skills. That stats class will look better and be a better talking point in an interview than a Natural Disasters course. Comp Sci is a pretty versatile degree wherever you go - Finance at Guelph while not retarded isn't likely to get you on Bay Street.

3. Co-ops. Remember when I said above to research schools? You should look for schools that offer co-ops or at least a job board. Generally these job boards have decent companies who will only pick from that school - this eliminates outside competition. These internships are great because they allow you to make connections for when you graduate. I had one of these in my third year and it's how I ended up getting my full-time job. Literally don't dress like shit, come in on time / stay a little late, and do whatever they ask and you are golden. You can have a bad co-op, that's why you try to get as many as you can to increase the odds you get a good one.

4. Grades. Not as important as people want you to think but not as unimportant as people want you to think. Grades wont lock you out of every job but getting good grades opens up more doors. Really good companies cut out resumes below a certain thresh-hold - why not get a 3.3 and not have that door closed? Again if you don't get it, not a big deal but don't be surprised if Deloitte or whatever doesn't call you back. At the end of the day connections trump grades any day but if you don't have connections then grades can make the difference.

That's it. If you do those 4 things and aren't retarded you will likely have a job when you finish. Might not be a great job but it's a start.

Wow thank you for this post user.

I'm 21 never graduated hs doing some highschool credits and was really getting anxious about whether it was a good choice. It sounds simple but I guess many people overlook these things.

No worries - I was never told this stuff by my parents but still lucked out. People I know who are very desired these days did all of the things I listed above. Each one of the four is important in it's own way. Try to take it one step at a time.

Also, don't overthink the school. It's not the end of the world if Ryerson or Guelph is the best school you can get into. Your goal is to make up for it by doing all of the things I listed above.

Is it possible to get through school if your parents dont help at all? I'd hate to have to work too much and miss out on networking and all those other things.

WHY THE FUCK DO YOU POST EVERY DAY ABOUT YOUR DUMB SHIT LIFE IN ONTARIO FUCKING CANADA YOU NIGGER

STOP IT I DONT GIVE A FUCK NOBODY GIVES A FUCK

THINK FOR YOURSELF YOU GOD DAMN SHEEP FUCK

FUUUUUUUUUUUCK

Yeah that's where it gets complicated. What are we talking about here when we say no help at all? Like as in they aren't in the picture at all or will they let you live with them?

You have options. OSAP is a start but there is also a new government thing where school is free if you are below a certain income level. Look into that.

I lived with two guys who paid for school all by themselves on OSAP. They both worked in the summer and lived with their folks but that was the extent of how their parents helped them financially. Both had lots of time to network (they didn't) but got good grades and nothing stopped them from having coops.

I personally thought living with roommates was an overrated experience but I did save money. If you could live at home you would save money but may get depressed with having no social life (you would really need to make the student council stuff your life).

tl;dr it's not impossible but you may need to go into debt.

I still live with them now, and they'd probably let me live with them but im extremely far from every college or university except York or uoft or some college in toronto.

If I moved out to go to university they'd likely not help me. The OSAP thing sound good but my parents make way too much money, which they don't share so it doesn't help me one bit.

I could live with my parents but it'd be like a 1 & a half - two hour a day commute to York or UofT which would be bad because they're commuter schools and that's a shit ton of time wasted. If bussing it'd be even worse.

Find local builders in your area and ask them to teach you a trade. Theres crazy money in all of them. Learn the trade then go off by yourself.

This is a proven way ANYONE can turn everything around, quick, provided they have any kind of drive.

Would they really teach you? Feels like this would just lead to them taking advantage of you desu.

Wow - they make enough money to disqualify you from OSAP and wouldn't help you? Tough break but that's their discretion. Bright side is you wont have to pay rent.

I know you likely don't want to hear it but in order for you to succeed your life will likely need to suck pretty bad for about 4-6 years. I'd be working two jobs (don't have to be glamorous) for about a year in order to save up enough money to go back to school. You'll also likely need a job while you are at school - you can do 4 classes at a time to accommodate your schedule. Social life wise, yeah, you're probably boned from having friends outside of school and you likely can't afford the time or money of having a girlfriend.

Commuting sucks but such is life. Try to get a job on campus in between your classes so that you are not commuting from work to school and back.

EVERYTIME YOU POST THIS IT GETS LONGER. SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO TO SCHOOL. AND BACK TO /r9k/ you're a fucking retard for taking Veeky Forums seriously

I dont think that's justified.

Commuting for 1.5 hrs a day by car (unless I somehow carpool) is ridiculous costs not only in time but also gas. And if I take the bus I'm getting rekt on time and money too. At that point I think rent is worth it.

A bus pass is going to be almost 1/3rd of a cost of rent and all those hours commuting could be spent working. Am I wrong or would it just be easier to move out for school?

Would be way easier for you to move out to go to school. Talk to whichever prospective school you want to go to and see if there registrar will meet with you regarding paying for school. I'm sure they have dealt with tons of kids like yourself whose parents make too much to allow you to get OSAP.

Ideally you want to be able to afford all of this while not going into too much debt however it seems unavoidable in your case but yes I would do it if you could make it work without you being homeless.

Honestly osap loans seem very reasonable with how they only accumulate interest 6mo after graduation, only repay when you make over $30k or something etc.

Really I think I just need to figure out the independent student stipulations.

If I can get considered without my parents (I think there's two options - out of highschool fulltime for longer than a year on two occassions, or out of highschool fulltime for over 4 years) then the online osap calculator doesn't even consider your parents income. So ill get almost free tuition and osap loan.

Also I think I can write a letter ezplaining the situation to them. Ill look into it thank you. I'd really love to move out because I dont even get along with my parents at all.

This
If you really don't have motivation or dedication to learn and get lost really easy then school would be a good option.
But 4 years is too fucking long
You live in the age of information, get that shit free.
You can build projects and put them on your resume. Show the employers you know your field. Shoe them examples of problems you can fix and things you can create.

I work private equity and i can 100% say that your resume will be tossed in the trash once they see you don't have a college degree

Why not get both and education AND build projects and put them on your resume?

Also doesnt this only work for programming really? I don't think there's projects you can build for any other field.

Unless you're suggesting manufacturing steroids, mustard gas for chemical engineering portfolio.

Managing multi million dollar funds with no degree

Or building bridges for civil engineering portfolio

How would you even "build a project" for finance? Show them 50% returns for 7 years trading penny stocks?

>50% returns for 7 years trading anything.

If you're making 50% returns for 7 years straight then you might as well start your own hedge fund..