Hi Grant,
I think you’ll find that the answer to this question can vary quite a bit depending upon your specific interests (and who you talk to
). I completed the undergraduate program in Meteorology at Penn State a little over a year ago and can’t say anything bad about it—great overall program and some amazing people to work with.
Whether or not college offers a good value, in my opinion, depends upon the individual as well. Much of what I have a real passion for doing, atmospheric data analysis/visualization coupled with software development, I learned entirely on my own. I always felt that I learned much more by struggling with various references trying to apply a concept in a practical sense opposed to classroom lectures and problem sets that focus on idealized situations.
My personal view is that college is more about learning how to learn and not entirely the discipline that you’re working on a degree in. I find that too much energy is spent testing how well you can regurgitate specific concepts on an exam. The few courses that challenged me to think were always the ones that I walked away from with the most. In the end, it wasn't a bad deal, but I think a lot more could be had for the money if more courses challenged students to think for themselves.
Keith
