5 ms·

i went to lse and the environment was supremely unsupportive. i think there are two fundamental problems with elite universities 1) because uni degree is a sort

i went to lse and the environment was supremely unsupportive. i think there are two fundamental problems with elite universities 1) because uni degree is a sorting/signalling function consumers have limited power. there is no other consumer product that i can think of where the consumer has a bad experience and that reflects on him not the producer's product 2) the misalignment of incentives, where profs towards research not teaching. i think the solution is to separate learning and signalling into two independent markets and allow market forces to act on them... there is definitley a zero-sum element to all this where people will always be stressed/over-worked as they compete, nonetheless i do think learning these university mathematics subjects can be made an order of magnitude more interesting/addictive.

mironathetin 12y ago
"...there is no other consumer product that i can think of where the consumer has a bad experience and that reflects on him not the university …" sounds far fetched to me to relate education and a consumer product. But basically I agree that a university that is unable to maintain an inspiring atmosphere fails at its most basic job. Under stress, the brain is not receptive to new information. This is a very basic fact. Although handling stress is something to learn as well, education must not be stressful, except maybe prior to exams. If MIT students are under permanent stress, it is unlikely for them to learn and understand science. Hence, MIT can not be an elite university any more.
- nicholasdrake 12y ago
  actually with professional qualifications like accounting, programming, finance and even music grades,, because there is a centralized qualifications board students choose where they get their education (kaplan, etc. ) based on teaching quality/price etc and they have much more consumer power... i think the solution with elite universities is to have standardised university level exams, especially in maths and science where there is a high degree of similarity in the material at undergraduate level across different universities.. how elite unis differentiate themselves from non-elite is in annual research projects where better resources/professors as well as additional 'value-add lectures' where professors - rather than talking about basic maths and science concepts, instead take advantage of their 'superior research' and have them give regular lectures on what they are researching, so students at elite schools get exposure to high level research...
_xander 12y ago
Woah, fancy bumping into an ex-student - on HN no less. Do you have any survival advice? Something you wish your younger self knew? Exam season is approaching...
- nicholasdrake 12y ago
  haha what's your degree? i was pure economics with a focus on econometrics..
  - _xander 12y ago
    Ah - I'm qualitative. Studying Government
    - nicholasdrake 12y ago
      i only did one essay module in my entire time at lse (psychology lol) and i hated having to learn all the references haha so no advice. how are you finding lse? it's funny how the most social place on campus is the library lol what brings u to hn? u a programmer?
      - _xander 12y ago
        Nah, I wouldn't call myself a programmer. I'm just 'technically curious' and enjoy the conversation found on hn. I might try and find work in tech consulting or security later on. References can indeed be a bitch, although you can get away with just a name and date for the exams. I'm enjoying LSE - although studying here has meant very different things at different times. My first 4 or so terms were a bit too social and I'm now taking the work more seriously (and finding it's somewhat fun). I'm definitely in a bit of a work bubble at the moment, so the library is totally my social hub.
        nicholasdrake 12y ago
        cool cool. yeah hn is great for a certain type of perspective on the world that it's hard to get elsewhere.. i suppose it's the hacker mentality lol well this is kinda random but my best friend and i are looking to apply to yc, our idea is 'A new asset class: Human capital. By paying for a students university education who in return give back a percentage of their annual income (probably developing world) we allow investors to make long-term bets on specific industries and countries. Anyway our first draft of our yc application is here , it will be great if you can take a look and give some feedback... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487

mironathetin 12y ago

"...there is no other consumer product that i can think of where the consumer has a bad experience and that reflects on him not the university …" sounds far fetched to me to relate education and a consumer product. But basically I agree that a university that is unable to maintain an inspiring atmosphere fails at its most basic job. Under stress, the brain is not receptive to new information. This is a very basic fact. Although handling stress is something to learn as well, education must not be stressful, except maybe prior to exams. If MIT students are under permanent stress, it is unlikely for them to learn and understand science. Hence, MIT can not be an elite university any more.

nicholasdrake 12y ago
actually with professional qualifications like accounting, programming, finance and even music grades,, because there is a centralized qualifications board students choose where they get their education (kaplan, etc. ) based on teaching quality/price etc and they have much more consumer power... i think the solution with elite universities is to have standardised university level exams, especially in maths and science where there is a high degree of similarity in the material at undergraduate level across different universities.. how elite unis differentiate themselves from non-elite is in annual research projects where better resources/professors as well as additional 'value-add lectures' where professors - rather than talking about basic maths and science concepts, instead take advantage of their 'superior research' and have them give regular lectures on what they are researching, so students at elite schools get exposure to high level research...

_xander 12y ago

Woah, fancy bumping into an ex-student - on HN no less. Do you have any survival advice? Something you wish your younger self knew? Exam season is approaching...

nicholasdrake 12y ago
haha what's your degree? i was pure economics with a focus on econometrics..
- _xander 12y ago
  Ah - I'm qualitative. Studying Government
  - nicholasdrake 12y ago
    i only did one essay module in my entire time at lse (psychology lol) and i hated having to learn all the references haha so no advice. how are you finding lse? it's funny how the most social place on campus is the library lol what brings u to hn? u a programmer?
    - _xander 12y ago
      Nah, I wouldn't call myself a programmer. I'm just 'technically curious' and enjoy the conversation found on hn. I might try and find work in tech consulting or security later on. References can indeed be a bitch, although you can get away with just a name and date for the exams. I'm enjoying LSE - although studying here has meant very different things at different times. My first 4 or so terms were a bit too social and I'm now taking the work more seriously (and finding it's somewhat fun). I'm definitely in a bit of a work bubble at the moment, so the library is totally my social hub.
      - nicholasdrake 12y ago
        cool cool. yeah hn is great for a certain type of perspective on the world that it's hard to get elsewhere.. i suppose it's the hacker mentality lol well this is kinda random but my best friend and i are looking to apply to yc, our idea is 'A new asset class: Human capital. By paying for a students university education who in return give back a percentage of their annual income (probably developing world) we allow investors to make long-term bets on specific industries and countries. Anyway our first draft of our yc application is here , it will be great if you can take a look and give some feedback... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224487