What's more important: A college education, or good ol' common sense?
143712
A college education is no good without common sense.  Common sense is good without a college education, so therefore I say common sense is more important.
810619
A state university will get you a four year degree, which will open up better job opportunities.  There also tends to be a richer campus environment.\n\nA community college is better if you want to save some money while getting your general electives done, or if you just don't feel ready for college yet (socially or academic skills).
1121403
Common sense is no longer common.
365311
I have to disagree with some of our colleagues here at Yahoo Answers who stated that job skills are the most important things to acquire from going to college.\n\nI believe the most important thing is education. And more specifically..... learning how to teach yourself. The subject you major in is somewhat coincidental. A well-educated, well-rounded renaissance person is a blessing for his/her own life and those around them.
726746
Just having a college degree does not give you prestige, nor does it give you common sense. You have to build those things for yourself.
460486
Obtain a college degree!
247349
for a start education makes people aware and not get fooled w.r.t. economic sense
464152
Yes! As you move into your thirties and beyond, having a college degree is going to be more important in your earning power. Research shows that every class you take will improve your earnings, even if you still don't graduate. And continuing education helps keep you healthier and happier. If you have kids, it is so good for their education and motivation to see you studying.\n\nPlus, you don't want to wait until you're in your fifties and have your children complain that since you've been going to college, you only call them when you need money!
686325
Common sense is the ability to make a decision without requiring measurable thought, and that decision being the same as what anyone else would likey make. For example, if there is a pitcher and a glass on the table. It is common sense to pour the water in the glass and then drink from the glass.
278977
Purpose and common sense come to mind.
405633
absolutely....I was a dorm student for the first two years of college....then I became a 'commuter' and used mass transit....I learned more on the LIRR and the NYC subway system about people than any other course!\nI've also travelled to Ireland and up and down the east coast....and I think the word wiser is best to describe the kind of knowledge one attains.
1042257
Depends on what you want to do.\n\nSome professions require a univesrity education (physician, attorney).\n\nOthers don't require it, but universities have convinced people that they do. (Management).\n\nSince people believe a college degree is important, you may lose opportunities if you don't have one.  BUT, there are successful people in many fields who don't have one.  (Bill Gates dropped out of college).\n\nI have to add a response to theycallmewendy's point about not hiring for specific areas.  That's just WRONG.  I have a degree in chemistry and know peers who are computer programmers.  Heck my wife is a computer programmer and her degree is in PSYCHOLOGY.\nProgramming is in fact one field where they value experience over what the diploma says.\nSome fields aren't so open (pharmaceutical manufacturing for instance).  At times it's understanable.\n\nAnyway, a university education should be a personal choice.  Not one forced on you by college deans who want to expand their fiefdoms.
83736
No!  I don't believe that education past secondary schools should be a right. The problem with our present system is everyone "should go to college" this means watering down our system to deal with the "lowest common denominator". Which, in turn, gives people a false sense of their education and knowledgebase. "I hav a colage dregre!"... well, you're still not very smart!
154148
In a way, yes. It is the wisdom of your experiences. If someone doesn't act in their own best interest, or if they don't understand the simplest wisdom, we say they don't have "common sense". Another way of putting it is "They just don't know stuff that normal people should know." The more that you communicate with your local community, the more common wisdom you will have and spread around. As we get more isolated behind books and computers, we lose a lot of our 'common' sense of things that even "common people" would know.
1049060
Satchell Paige once said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there."  The best college depends on what your goals are for your life. One of those should involve what kinds of knowledge and skills you need to be able to engage in the profession of your choice. Meanwhile, U of W is a good place for some general education while you figure out where you want your life to go and how to get it on that path.
990498
I've attended a small, rural, community college; a small, private liberal arts college in a rural community; a medium-sized, suburban, state university; a big, state research university; and a medium-sized, private university in an urban area. All educations are not created equal. \n\nYou do not learn the same thing anywhere. You do not even learn the same thing from different professors who teach the same course in the same university. Moreover, each student brings a different set of knowledge, skills, and experience to each class, so two students in the same class do not learn the same thing.\n\nOn the other hand, a higher price tag does not necessarily mean a better education. You and I both know that a bad student can get a bad education in a good university. And a good student can get a decent education in a bad university. From the disgraceful state of technology resources and libraries that I have seen in community colleges, though, they are going to be very frustrated. And I've seen some community colleges that seem designed to encourage their students to return home immediately after class--no place to hang out. \n\nTo me, what makes some of my educational experiences stand out from the others is the extent to which I was part of a learning community. In the best ones, I learned about a third of what I learned in the classroom from the professors' lectures and the textbook reading. I learned about a third doing my own research. And I learned about a third from my fellow students.\n\nIn college, there was a row of tables with about thirty people where I had lunch and dinner almost every day. We would talk about so many things, often about the classes we were taking. So I learned from classes I didn't even take. I learned from amazing, funny, brilliant, creative classmates that went on to be doctors, ministers, teachers, artists, and musicians. One got a Rhodes Scholarship, one travels on a diplomatic passport and helps the Russians keep track of their plutonium, one works in national security at Los Alamos, one is president of a company that makes computer games, one works in film, and one is an exotic dancer!\n\nIn graduate school, I lived in an international dorm and cooked in a kitchen where I learned from people who came from all over the world. I remember a Cantonese man rescuing my ang choi from the cooking technique I'd been taught by someone from Malaysia! Once I wrote a paper about the Maori people of New Zealand, and asked my Maori friend to read it over. She told me it was b.s.! You can't match that kind of educational experience.\n\nDo your homework. Most colleges and universities have websites. When you find a few that capture your imagination, try to visit them in person, or talk to people on campus. If you find the school that's right for you, it's worth the money. It's worth the money.\n\nAlso, some private colleges and universities have a lot of rich alumni with very happy memories of college, who give tons of money to scholarship funds. As a high school senior weighing a private college's tuition and financial aid package against those from a state-funded university, I found I would pay less to go to the private college. If you're a good student, you may have the same experience.
1130386
Completing my college degree is important to me because I came up from nothing. I did not have good influences in my life, I dropped out of high school and I was on the wrong path in life. Several years later, at an age that most people have already graduated college, I began taking classes. It was to prove to myself, my family, and my community that I was not another statistic. I ended realizing that I am smarter than I ever thought. I am now a sophomore with a 4.0 GPA pursuing my degree in Industrial Engineering and I hope to go on and get my M.B.A. \nAll of that in itself will be a major achievement to me, but I hope to own a Engineering firm someday and also play a major role in my community by helping troubled youth and others who might not otherwise go to college. Bottom line, it has saved my life.