Just met a guy who said he has three bachelor's degrees, a graduate certificate, and two master's degrees. Why?

That's nothing. I know of a guy with 64 degrees, many are 2 year degrees but some four year degrees and four or so masters. They range from counseling to law.

Yup, first time through school I earned an associate's degree and then a bachelor's in business administration. Fifteen years in management, hating almost every day of it. Back to school and I took enough accounting classes to sit for the CPA exam. Picked up a second associate's degree along the way. Seven years in corporate accounting and finance with a large international retailer. Not what I wanted to do until I died. So back to school again. This time for a bachelor's degree in physics. Then on to a master's degree in education. Taught high school chemistry and physics for a few years. Now teaching the lab classes in the physics department at a junior college and working on another master's degree. Aerospace this time around. I love it. Just hit the required 18 graduate hours in a closely related discipline to start teaching the lecture portions of the physics classes next semester. I plan on teaching and taking classes to earn new degrees until I am dead or for some reason unable...

You're an outlier, but some people see ongoing education as a hobby and have an intellectual hunger. Good on ya.

But to add to this thread, I've met a lot of people with law degrees that have never benefited from them. For a good 80% of recent law grads, its time and money down the toilet.

Also, a lot of teachers who've got useless masters from diploma mills to get a higher pay grade.

Occasional voice wrote:

Let me guess, he's quick to point this out.

The dumbest people I have known try their damnedest to convince others they are smart. It sounds like this is just the extreme example.

See if he noticeably tries to appear intelligent in conversation or show off what he knows without being prompted. If he does you have a full-blown shithead on your hands and you should avoid him at all costs.

The opposite is true as well. The smartest people I have known don't attempt to appear smart or intelligent in everyday conversation.

The most intelligent people show you how intelligent they are by what they do and how they talk. They have no need to prove their intelligence by boasting about their intellectual abilities.

I just did one career path: college, medical school, then residency. 11+ yr path baby. Don't need none of them women's studies majors or psychology. Got to add (discrete) value to the world son.

Was he bald, wearing glasses, missing a hand, and giving off a mama's boy vibe?

Why not?

Maybe that's what he likes to do. I know a guy who has six cars and spends his time making music (not his profession). I know several guys who retired in their 40s and spend all their time fishing or traveling.

What's so great about the "real world"?

Lots of people spend their time, money, and resources on unnecessary things and try to avoid the "real world". If they have the time and money to do it, more power to them.

My uncle is like this. He was just scared to go into the real world so became a surgeon, got a bachelors degree in physics, another one in history and one in business. He then went to med school AND law school. So he passed his boards and is a lawyer, but has finally actually started working as a doctor.

Nobody likes working

Occasional voice wrote:

Let me guess, he's quick to point this out.

The dumbest people I have known try their damnedest to convince others they are smart. It sounds like this is just the extreme example.

See if he noticeably tries to appear intelligent in conversation or show off what he knows without being prompted. If he does you have a full-blown shithead on your hands and you should avoid him at all costs.

The opposite is true as well. The smartest people I have known don't attempt to appear smart or intelligent in everyday conversation.

This resonates. My wife has worked with people for years (ten or more) and they never knew that she had a Ph.D. (Yale, no less.) It has nothing to do with her work in finance, so she'd never bring it up.

OTOH I've met people who've made it clear (within the first five minutes of our first conversation) that they have a doctorate, even though it be irrelevant to the conversation topic.

For me, it was always just a question of the next thing: A.B. in liberal arts, then DNFed a Ph.D. program in the same area; a few years of working and coaching, then an M.S. in phys ed (to be able to coach as a profession); a couple decades of coaching, then a J.D./M.B.A. to be able to take care of my family. Four degrees, but spread apart...really doesn't seem unusual to me. (Though if I'd had to pay tuition for any of them, I suspect my attitude would be different...)

I could easily see people accumulating a half-dozen degrees over time.

In the world of medicine there are people with tons of degree. One is the aforementioned people that never want to join the work force and keep getting degrees. The other are foreigners who use education to remain in the US legally before settling into a career like medicine. It's not unusual to see someone with a bachelors, MPH, MD, and PhD in the medical world. The MD/PhD was a joint program to go to medical school for free and the MPH was during there research years as a PhD or during residency as a gap year. One example of someone is tons of degrees is Dr. Bennet Omalu.

Doclove wrote:

Nobody likes working

Bingo. I'm early 30s and will wrap up graduate degree #4 next year. Also have CFA qualification, school is awesomeness.

Margaritaville wrote:

I know a guy who has six cars and spends his time making music (not his profession). I know several guys who retired in their 40s and spend all their time fishing or traveling.

What's so great about the "real world"?

Did your friends gain the money to do those things by avoiding the real world? No? That's whats great about it.

People are assuming facts not in evidence. Is he working?

Ok, pretty easy to get 2 bachelors degrees in college. I just needed 3 more classes to pick up a second one.

I have 1 BA and 2 master's degrees (in very different areas). I wanted to change careers so I needed the education.

Not all that hard to go to grad school at night (or online) while working. Maybe the MS led to a better paying job?

Maybe the person just likes learning.

Lastly, what difference does it make in YOUR life?

Even bigger question, why would someone anonymously hate on a person because of their educational background? How big of a loser must that person be?

BonerHawk wrote:

Even bigger question, why would someone anonymously hate on a person because of their educational background? How big of a loser must that person be?

Whoa, who says he anonymously hates him? Sounds like you got your own issues to work out.

Margaritaville wrote:

Why not?

Maybe that's what he likes to do. I know a guy who has six cars and spends his time making music (not his profession). I know several guys who retired in their 40s and spend all their time fishing or traveling.

What's so great about the "real world"?

Lots of people spend their time, money, and resources on unnecessary things and try to avoid the "real world". If they have the time and money to do it, more power to them.

Your name says it all. The idle idol of Baby Boomers is Jimmy Buffett who only went to college long enough to avoid the Vietnam draft and is fond of saying he's never worked a day in his life.

I hated school couldn't wait to get out to the real world.