4 ms·

You articulated perfectly exactly what I was thinking. I realize it is a popular idea among society - that college is a career training center - but that is pa

by nmjohn 12y ago

You articulated perfectly exactly what I was thinking. I realize it is a popular idea among society - that college is a career training center - but that is patently false. It is an unfortunate idea too, because it leads to lots of people wasting thousands of dollars on an education they won't ever use in their career just for the sake of having the piece of paper they get at the end. > Besides, if you're not doing any hacking in your free time outside of class anyway, you're probably not cut out for this career. Bingo.

eddieroger 12y ago
It'd be really interesting to go back and see when people started to shift towards colleges being a training ground and not the typical apprenticeship path that was the real training for generations. The way you learned to be an electrician was by being someone's apprentice, then working your way up the ranks, and this went for nearly all trade industries that I can think of. This statement has come to sound incredibly pompous (and I genuinely don't mean for it to), but college isn't for everyone, and it shouldn't be the only road to a successful life and career.
- pgeorgi 12y ago
  Germany is still strong on the apprentice model, but even here there's a shift towards universities. Now companies face an apprentice-shortage and they started actively recruiting university drop-outs to fill the ranks. At least it's not an expensive experiment for those kids, given that tuition costs max out at about 1000 EUR/year.
  - watwut 12y ago
    Although German universities were meant to teach things that are going to be useful later on. They were not intended to give "well rounded experience" people these days talk about without being useful to chosen career.
adamc 12y ago
I think universities could do more to educate the public on this, but it isn't really in their best interests, at least in the short-term. And there is a lot of political pressure for public institutions to be career training centers, since nothing else is really filling that role.
collyw 12y ago
Look at how many job ads, especially in software that require a degree in CS. To be fair, there are more technology related courses which are more vocational and not pure CS compared to 20 years ago, but its still seems to be the most common name for a university course teaching computer concepts.
- ctdonath 12y ago
  Having a degree means you can be trusted to have a thorough education on the subject, without having to subject you to extensive testing therein.
  - kstrauser 12y ago
    You forgot the sarcasm tag. Having a degree means that you have a degree. Sadly, it absolutely does not mean that you have any particular level of education. Trust, but verify: I believe that a job candidate has 10 years experience and a master's in comp sci, but I'm still going to make them code FizzBuzz before we move on with the rest of the interview.

by nmjohn 12y ago

eddieroger 12y ago

It'd be really interesting to go back and see when people started to shift towards colleges being a training ground and not the typical apprenticeship path that was the real training for generations. The way you learned to be an electrician was by being someone's apprentice, then working your way up the ranks, and this went for nearly all trade industries that I can think of. This statement has come to sound incredibly pompous (and I genuinely don't mean for it to), but college isn't for everyone, and it shouldn't be the only road to a successful life and career.

pgeorgi 12y ago
Germany is still strong on the apprentice model, but even here there's a shift towards universities. Now companies face an apprentice-shortage and they started actively recruiting university drop-outs to fill the ranks. At least it's not an expensive experiment for those kids, given that tuition costs max out at about 1000 EUR/year.
- watwut 12y ago
  Although German universities were meant to teach things that are going to be useful later on. They were not intended to give "well rounded experience" people these days talk about without being useful to chosen career.

adamc 12y ago

I think universities could do more to educate the public on this, but it isn't really in their best interests, at least in the short-term. And there is a lot of political pressure for public institutions to be career training centers, since nothing else is really filling that role.

collyw 12y ago

Look at how many job ads, especially in software that require a degree in CS. To be fair, there are more technology related courses which are more vocational and not pure CS compared to 20 years ago, but its still seems to be the most common name for a university course teaching computer concepts.

ctdonath 12y ago
Having a degree means you can be trusted to have a thorough education on the subject, without having to subject you to extensive testing therein.
- kstrauser 12y ago
  You forgot the sarcasm tag. Having a degree means that you have a degree. Sadly, it absolutely does not mean that you have any particular level of education. Trust, but verify: I believe that a job candidate has 10 years experience and a master's in comp sci, but I'm still going to make them code FizzBuzz before we move on with the rest of the interview.