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Nicholas D Walker
Professor Intawiwat
English 112 54
November 3, 2015
Why Go To College? The Social Norm:
In todays society certain things are considered social norms, like
getting a job, going on your first date or getting your drivers license.
All of these things are pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things but
there is one thing that society looks to more than anything, and thats
going to college. College is the 4-year (sometimes 5 or more) beast
that determines, in todays society, were you will end up in life. This
isnt always the case but through some of the research Ive conducted,
the majority of people need to attend college to get to ware they want
to be in life. Agree with this or not its just simple fact, not only are you
getting an education in academics but in peer relations as well. A
researcher named Alexander Astin states that one of the most
important reasons why people go to college is peer relation
(Merisotis ).
Gaining the social skills necessary to get along in the modern world is a
huge part of the college experience. Is this really more important than
the academic excitement that awaits them? Research points to yes and
because of this our education system has evolved with the trait of
social importance.

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Probably the most important thing, in my opinion that drives
youth to go to college is money. Instilled in us from a young age is the
idea that college equals income, like the point I made in the first
paragraph this isnt always the case but research does not lie. The
average income with a bachelors degree is 33 percent more than
same job with someone that has a high school diploma (Pascarella,
Terenzini 535). I think raw data like this coming in to the 21st century
makes more people actually want to go to college instead of being
forced to go by the expectations of theyre parents. In the book In to
the Wild Christopher McCandless is a perfect example of a student
who goes to college due to expectations and social norms. In the book
he comments several times about graduating college to get away from
his parents, making college Chriss out so to speak and in his case
not caring about money (Krakauer).

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Studies also show that going to college affects not only youre
health but youre mental well-being and social outlook too. College
graduates are close to five times less likely to be jailed or imprisoned
than those who have no college experience (Merisotis). This is just a
small statistic, college graduates are also less likely to smoke
cigarettes, not wear a seatbelt and become obese (Oreopoulos,
Petronijevic). If you ask me it is hard to see things from the other side
when beneficial fact is presented like this. The one big regret students
have about attending college is not looking for a job sooner (Unknown,
NPR Newswire). This really is not a large regret in the grand scheme of
things if you ask me. If the largest regret I have coming out of my

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college experience is not looking for a job sooner I think Im in good
shape. Although a lot of studies I found dont really concentrate on the
personal well-being and happiness factors of students, for being the
least researched I definitely found them to be the most interesting and
the most compelling reason to attend college. The presence of large
groups of people with college educations in comparison to people
without shows that stronger, more engaged communities exist
(Merisotis).
The final subject Ill review is perception, which ties in to just
about everything that Ive talked about throughout this paper.
Perception of ones self in my opinion is the most important driving
factor of why someone would go to college. The social norm of college
itself is instilled with success in our society. Unless you have the social
views of Mr. McCandless, this is probably the way you think of college.
Regardless of youre outlook, through the research Ive conducted
college is a overall good thing. Even though I might come out of it in
substantial debt I think it will better me as an academic and as a
person overall. For me, in this case the social norm definitely is the
right path for me and in a couple years Id like to look back on this
paper and analyze my experience and reflect on what college has done
for me.

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