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> I’ve advanced further than everyone I know that went to Harvard in my career and not once did someone wink at the Harvard guy and pass me over. I'm only 27 a

> I’ve advanced further than everyone I know that went to Harvard in my career and not once did someone wink at the Harvard guy and pass me over. I'm only 27 and I definitely have - basically every Harvard CS grad from the year I graduated from my state school makes at least $200k more than me a year if they're in the workforce instead of academia and has a significantly higher net worth as a result!

fnordpiglet 3y ago
Harvard is a pretty mediocre CS school. I would expect MIT, CMU, Stanford, Berkeley, UIUC, and the other (last I looked) 30 better schools for CS to do better on average. I don’t mean this as unkind, but Harvard is very hard to get into and very selective and state schools generally are neither. This often means the people that get in, other than legacy, are very capable people. State schools also have very capable people, but as a percentage it’s the vast majority of Harvard and the vast minority of state school students are equally as capable. This gives a leg up on the first jobs for sure - one, they’re likely to be more capable in general, and they have an achievement on their resume to prove it. Admission to Harvard IS an achievement in life. But these advantages disappear quickly if you’re as capable or more, especially if you’re aggressive in locking in achievements and seeking better opportunities. After maybe 10 years into your career what school you went to matters almost not at all, and it’s entirely based on what you did with that opportunity. Many Harvard grads start strong due to the achievement on their resume then top out quickly in their careers because they’re just not very commercial, and many rely on their brand too much. But you should -still- expect someone capable of getting into Harvard to be just as capable in their careers. That’s simply life. If it weren’t for Harvard, they would find other ways to differentiate. The truth is, labor markets are not egalitarian. They reward people differently for different reasons, and their ability to compensate based on contribution is highly inefficient. That rewards people with achievements like a top school early when nothing else differentiates resumes. But it fades quickly, and it’s up to you to make a stronger resume if it matters to you. But I think it shouldn’t matter. That was my point. Someone else doing better than you shouldn’t matter. What should matter is if you’re happy with what you’re doing yourself ignoring all other people. Anything else is petty, unhelpful, and at odds with how life and reality actually is.
- laidoffamazon 3y ago
  > and the vast minority of state school students are equally as capable OK but I don't think anyone would say I'm even close, since I didn't even get into any top schools (somehow people only talk about the few that got into top schools but didn't go. Seems like everyone got into at least one top school but me). What do I do? Where does that leave me? > After maybe 10 years into your career what school you went to matters almost not at all, and it’s entirely based on what you did with that opportunity. I don't know. I'm 5 years out and I'm just an SDE2/mid-level. Harvard CS (and yes I'm including that in the upper echelon with MIT and Stanford regardless of rankings because education isn't what's really rendered at these institutions as the original post argues) graduates from 2018/2017 are all staff and senior engineers at Google and FB making $200k more than me at minimum, or have YC funding because they were Senior engineers at Facebook years ago. > and it’s up to you to make a stronger resume if it matters to you. I'm genuinely unsure if that's even possible. I don't think anybody in this tier of humanity would consider a career that started with 3 years at Amazon good enough to differentiate me from anyone else. > What should matter is if you’re happy with what you’re doing yourself Why would I be happy if I'm going to be "behind" for the rest of my life, no matter how much effort I exert, and I'm going to be seen as lesser for it?

fnordpiglet 3y ago

Harvard is a pretty mediocre CS school. I would expect MIT, CMU, Stanford, Berkeley, UIUC, and the other (last I looked) 30 better schools for CS to do better on average. I don’t mean this as unkind, but Harvard is very hard to get into and very selective and state schools generally are neither. This often means the people that get in, other than legacy, are very capable people. State schools also have very capable people, but as a percentage it’s the vast majority of Harvard and the vast minority of state school students are equally as capable. This gives a leg up on the first jobs for sure - one, they’re likely to be more capable in general, and they have an achievement on their resume to prove it. Admission to Harvard IS an achievement in life. But these advantages disappear quickly if you’re as capable or more, especially if you’re aggressive in locking in achievements and seeking better opportunities. After maybe 10 years into your career what school you went to matters almost not at all, and it’s entirely based on what you did with that opportunity. Many Harvard grads start strong due to the achievement on their resume then top out quickly in their careers because they’re just not very commercial, and many rely on their brand too much. But you should -still- expect someone capable of getting into Harvard to be just as capable in their careers. That’s simply life. If it weren’t for Harvard, they would find other ways to differentiate. The truth is, labor markets are not egalitarian. They reward people differently for different reasons, and their ability to compensate based on contribution is highly inefficient. That rewards people with achievements like a top school early when nothing else differentiates resumes. But it fades quickly, and it’s up to you to make a stronger resume if it matters to you. But I think it shouldn’t matter. That was my point. Someone else doing better than you shouldn’t matter. What should matter is if you’re happy with what you’re doing yourself ignoring all other people. Anything else is petty, unhelpful, and at odds with how life and reality actually is.

laidoffamazon 3y ago
> and the vast minority of state school students are equally as capable OK but I don't think anyone would say I'm even close, since I didn't even get into any top schools (somehow people only talk about the few that got into top schools but didn't go. Seems like everyone got into at least one top school but me). What do I do? Where does that leave me? > After maybe 10 years into your career what school you went to matters almost not at all, and it’s entirely based on what you did with that opportunity. I don't know. I'm 5 years out and I'm just an SDE2/mid-level. Harvard CS (and yes I'm including that in the upper echelon with MIT and Stanford regardless of rankings because education isn't what's really rendered at these institutions as the original post argues) graduates from 2018/2017 are all staff and senior engineers at Google and FB making $200k more than me at minimum, or have YC funding because they were Senior engineers at Facebook years ago. > and it’s up to you to make a stronger resume if it matters to you. I'm genuinely unsure if that's even possible. I don't think anybody in this tier of humanity would consider a career that started with 3 years at Amazon good enough to differentiate me from anyone else. > What should matter is if you’re happy with what you’re doing yourself Why would I be happy if I'm going to be "behind" for the rest of my life, no matter how much effort I exert, and I'm going to be seen as lesser for it?