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Most people fail to realize that the elite university phenomenon and the absurd tuition fees are not so much about producing qualified graduates but about "cost
by bayesianhorse 13y ago
Most people fail to realize that the elite university phenomenon and the absurd tuition fees are not so much about producing qualified graduates but about "costly signals" in game theoretic sense.
When "elite" businesses like Goldman Sachs filter for these signals they are playing a very safe game and it works for them.
They might be able to afford overlooking other candidates. Other businesses often certainly can't.
I also have to question if this costly signalling game is beneficial for the society both in human and economic terms.
From the major online course providers I haven't seen a lot of effort disrupting the game.
- Pxtl 13y ago> I also have to question if this costly signalling game is beneficial for the society both in human and economic terms. I don't think there is any question. The "elite" university phenomenon is about class, not academics.
- superuser2 13y agoThis would make sense if elite education was actually costly, but it's not. Run http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/ http://npc.fas.harvard.edu/ for a middle-class family.
- huherto 13y agoThere is no option for Mexico. It is certainly not in central or south america.
- superuser2 13y agoThere's SOUTH AMERICA and CENTRAL AMERICA at the bottom of the dropdown. Actually cheaper than for US students.
- huherto 13y agoThe issue is that Mexico is not in South or Central America. México is located in North America. http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Mexico.html http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/economies/Americas/Mexico... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America
- dragonwriter 13y agoCentral America is, by any of the definitions used, a region of North America, so "Mexico is in North America" does not support "Mexico is not in Central America", as being in Central America requires also being in North America. As most commonly defined (though there are exceptions, as in the UN geoscheme), Central America is North America south of Mexico, but that's not the only definition around.
- huherto 13y agoStill Mexico is not in Central America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_America
- superuser2 13y agoWhoops. Sorry, I was lumping it in with Spanish-speaking countries frequently in the news for similar reasons and forgetting my elementary school geography. In any case I would expect the cost to be similar to the estimate given for Central America, but that oversight should probably be reported to the calculator's developers.
- bayesianhorse 13y agoHey, in Mexico they speak Spanish, so Mexico must be somewhere in central or south America. Spain should be someplace down there, as well... Spoiler: I'm kidding.
- dragonwriter 13y agoThe UN disagrees. [1] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme
- huherto 13y agoI am aware of that. That is a classification that the UN statistics division does for analysis purposes.
- bayesianhorse 13y agoTuition isn't exactly cheap either. There is also the little matter of a few years not earning anything. Or the cost and effort a lot of students and their families go through to get in.