Having worked with R1-educated EEs who didn't know which end of a soldering iron to hold, I've got to disagree with you there. Abstract knowledge and social si

Having worked with R1-educated EEs who didn't know which end of a soldering iron to hold, I've got to disagree with you there. Abstract knowledge and social signaling can get you a job, but they can't make you useful once you're there. Some educators will feed you a line of BS about learning how to learn so that you can learn on the job, but that's very hard to do if you don't have any actual concrete skills. If, as you imply, you're still in school, I'd recommend you learn to be useful before you get out.