I Asked UCLA Students if College is a Scam

Is going to college a scam? In this video, I interview UCLA students about why they're in college, and also explore why I feel like college was a waste of time for me. College has gotten very expensive over the years and is not right for everyone. You'll be surprised at some of the insights I got from current students!

Be sure to watch through the entire video to follow me along as I give you guys a tour of UCLA, talk about my experiences of when I attended, and ask students why they're going to college, if it's worth it, and advice for the younger generation. I hope you guys enjoyed this different style of video than I normally do! My goal with is to be more vulnerable about my past so that you guys can learn from my mistakes and regrets, and try to replicate the things I did correctly to maximize your time in college.

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If you found some value, please SHARE this video with a friend who could benefit, and LIKE and subscribe for more videos like this! I plan to do more interview-style videos in the future because it makes me uncomfortable to go out there and ask people questions, but you know what I always say about getting out of your comfort zone!

Here's to getting out of your comfort zone and growth! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

-Charlie

#COLLEGE #INTERVIEW #UCLA

Timeline:
0:00 - Intro
0:44 - I Regret Going To College...
1:38 - Is College Worth It?
4:35 - My Purpose
5:06 - Does It Come From Your Parents?
6:31 - The Bruin Walk
7:12 - The Best of UCLA
8:27 - My Dorm
8:58 - My Story
10:01 - What I Did Right
10:58 - Final Thoughts
12:50 - Conclusion

Disclaimer: Some of the links above may be affiliate links, which means that if you click on them I may receive a small commission. The commission is paid by the retailers, at no cost to you, and this helps to support our channel and keep our videos free. Thank you!

In addition, I am not a financial advisor. Charlie Chang does not provide tax, legal or accounting advice. The ideas presented in this video are for entertainment purposes only. Please do your own due diligence before making any financial decisions.

[CharlieChang]

What do you guys think? Is college/uni a scam? Let me know in the comments!

[meatisrawwww]

Wish colleges would cut their useless "requirement course" crap. Don't make journalism majors to take calculus courses as requirement. Don't make chemistry majors to take art electives as requirements. Don't make business majors to take philosophy or life science courses as requirements. Hell, stop making history courses basic graduating requirements for every major. We already went through this crap in high school, why do it the same in college? Looking back at my transcript, I can see around 20-30 credit hours worth of courses that has zero bearing on my major. It's fine for students to take those courses outside their majors for their personal interest, but it's just bs to require students to take them as required curriculums, especially when tuition is already so expensive.

[yharles]

Only positive that came from college were the friends that I made. Other than that everything I’ve learned has mostly been from on the job experience lol.

[xpicklepie]

I quit school in 10th grade to work in an autobody shop. Needed the money to survive. No regrets. Though I was paid poorly and endured lots of abuse, I learned a marketable skill. I eventually started buying houses to fix up and rent out. Opportunity is off the beaten path where no one wants to go.
Hustle and ambition beats any college degree.

[daydreamer]

Charlie: “Why are you in college?”
Ryan: “I’m honestly not really sure. It’s just the NORMAL thing for people to do nowadays.”
Charlie: “What do you hope to do after college with your degree?”
Ryan: “I HAVE NO CLUE.”

So he’s going come out with 120k loans, that you could never get rid of and HOPE it works out in the end, even though there’s tons of horror stories of ppl’s lives getting ruined by student loans. I never understood how students and parents allow this to happen. 🤦🏾‍♂️

[ngoctrand.]

“Is college a scam?”

It depends. If you pick the right major and follow the right career path (law, compsci, aerospace, nanotech, medical, etc.) with great ROI then it’s not. Higher education is a looong term investment, and it is not for everyone

The system is rigged but you can also benefit from it with the right strategy. Your answer actually says a lot more about you than it is about the system

[fernendo]

I get super mad when I remember that I fell for this scam. I wasn’t mature and mentally healthy to go but I did because of parents. Only had 20K in debt but the word uni gives me panic attacks.

[arta]

I chose not to go to college. Definitely missed out on meeting new people and getting a higher education. But I’m 23 with 100k+ invested in the stock market, 15k cash, and a fully paid off car worth 20k. All while sending money to my mom periodically to help her out. I also have great friends and got to experience partying with them while they were In school. You don’t need college to be financially successful. It just depends how determined you are.

[strauss]

I went to college and it was a colossal waste of time and money. I now run my own business which I started from the skills I gained independently of college. In my business, I only hire people based on their experience, projects, and portfolios and never look at their degrees.

[chrisulastone]

I couldn't afford college the first time, so I went back as a part-time student at age 38. All of my credits transferred and I'm close to graduating with my bachelor of science in biology, debt-free. Just gotta find a way to make it work for you. It took me forever to get it done but I will say the second time around I did it the right way. It was a great experience, especially as an older student. I gained a lot of transferrable job skills like science writing, calculus, lab techniques, statistics...things I couldn't teach myself. It was worth it for me when the time was right. I appreciate your personal narrative and your acknowledgement that college is great but not for everyone.

[plato]

I relate a lot to how you feel Charlie. I went to UCLA between 2017-2018. I transferred there from CC with a strong drive to get there. I knew out of HS I couldn’t get in, so I took classes at three different CC to get the courses that articulated to UCLA, was active on campus, took Honors classes, and got only two B’s while in CC. Once I finally got to UCLA, however, I completely changed. I realized I wasn’t as smart as I thought I was, I hadn’t thought hard enough on what I’ll do AFTER UCLA and not simply just getting there, and I became very reserved and shy. Although you don’t regret going to college, I do.

I commend you for walking on the campus when you have some thoughts on what you wish you would have prioritized instead. I’ve been to the campus again since graduating (fyi, I felt so undeserving of my degree, I elected not to walk and finished early by taking summer classes because I felt I shouldn’t have got accepted there) and found it hard to not be filled with regret.

I’m now in commercial real estate and it pains me that I spent so much time and energy on my degree which now has NOTHING to do with my job.

For all young adults out there, please do not prioritize the name of the school. I thought going to UCLA alone would open so many doors. It has gotten me nothing more than a passing compliment that I went there. It hasn’t made, at least for me, any more competitive. My advice: think about what you want to DO and not where you WANT to go. I’m positive that I would be somewhere a lot further in life at my current age of 25 if I thought harder about AFTER college and not simply college.

Please don’t think your life is ruined if you don’t go to a big name school. You have complete control of your trajectory. Think long term before going to college is my advice.

[strauss]

Unless you have a very specific goal that can only be achieved through college, do NOT go. The default option should be not going to college unless you have a good reason, not the other way around.

[davidanderson]

When a business scams its customers the consumers can file class action lawsuits for damages. No institution has done more damage than the university system.

[bananabonzai]

It’s not that college is a scam, but rather a matter of you reap what you sow. If you major in an in-demand and high paying major and are diligent in your studies, then it’s totally worth it. If you major in a saturated or low paying major, it’s not worth it. If you go to college and just party all day, it’s both. You reap what you sow.

[Armando_Gutierrez]

I went to UCLA straight out of high school. I left after my first quarter because I didn’t think it was worth the cost. I went to CC and then another UC, majored in Computer Science, and found my wife. I’m doing much better now:)

[demri]

Plot twist: Maybe the whole point of college *IS* to realize that its pointless.
You then understand that ONLY YOU can make your own life. Not some piece of paper or some frat connections or whatever. And paying back the ridiculous debt teaches you money management.

Hey , just thinking positively

[KathyHasRamen]

Definitely had regrets about UCLA and college. I wish I was more outgoing and met more folks instead of focusing on my grades as much. Honestly, I felt like senior year I didn’t want to meet folks cause I was “going to graduation and bounce” anyways. But now looking back, I appreciate the time in the dorms, Wooden Center and all the fun classes too.

[mealson]

Former UCLA Psychobio major here too. College was super hard as a premed and I failed a lot of classes and dealt with mental health issues. After college, I learned more of what I wanted and now have a successful career in software engineering. College was expensive af, but it gave me the life experiences and lessons I needed as a young adult.

[TimTim__]

College is a scam for me. I can see most of the students have talked about building networks, friendships and overall, they mentioned about having experiences in college. But how long does these friendships last? For experiences, I would rather do volunteer work in hospitals, orphanages, religious organizations etc or at least engage in any type of social activities.
Nowadays, even nursing program is offered online. This saves a crazy amount of money and time which is why I choose the non-traditional route.

But yeah! It depends from person to person. The ultimate goal is to make decisions wisely and live peacefully. It’s ok to take the less popular road.

[LegendBiscuits]

The American college system is crazy. I am from Ireland and I have graduated with 0 debt. College costs around 3k per year here but I qualified for the means tested grant, so all of my college fees were paid and I received around €300 a month from the government to help with my living expenses.

After graduating I got a relatively high paying job as a software engineer and more than paid back my college fees after a few years In taxes, so seems like a win-win to me!