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Yes, of course. Top law offices hire heavily from top-tier schools, and they're largely responsible for the upper mode. > "Peter Thiel once said that a diploma

by freyr 12y ago

Yes, of course. Top law offices hire heavily from top-tier schools, and they're largely responsible for the upper mode. > "Peter Thiel once said that a diploma is a dunce hat if you don't go to a top school." This is the perfect example of someone who lives in separate reality from most people, and extrapolates his rare experiences to the world at large. Are there entrepreneurial wunderkinds who can extract more value from real world experience than classroom experience? Some, not many (though most of Thiel's cohorts probably fall in this category). And are there majors and degrees and programs that are more likely to result in underemployment or a poor debt-to-earnings ratio? Sure, some. But the vast majority of people earn significantly more and enjoy a higher standard of living simply by virtue of having a degree. In addition to the financial benefit, many people value the experience of their time spent in college. Thiel seems entirely disconnected from the reality of most people. That's ok, it's understandable. But calling people dunces for making rational choices given their personal circumstances makes him come off like a total asshat.

peteretep 12y ago
> This is the perfect example of someone who lives in > separate reality from most people, and extrapolates his > rare experiences to the world at large. As someone who reads CVs/resumes for a living in the UK, all that putting a low-tier university on your CV tells me - unless you got a first, or an academic prize - is that you fucked up your A-Levels, and then got pushed in to doing a degree because everyone else does them.
- tsotha 12y ago
  In the US there are a whole lot of entry-level jobs for which your resume will get tossed immediately with no four year degree. Any degree. From any school. A generation ago you could get these jobs straight from high school, but that's not the way it is today.
- freyr 12y ago
  Again, your personal experience does not extrapolate well to the world at large. This is demonstrated by the fact that it doesn't correlate with statistical evidence. I don't know why this is so difficult for people (even smart people) to see. You're comparing a desirable degree vs. a low-tier degree in the context of your company and hiring process. That might mean the world to you, but it's irrelevant to determining whether a low-tier degree has value. Compare low-tier graduates to non-graduates in the economy at large. People holding no degree are vastly more likely to be unemployed or hold a minimum wage, manual labor job. People holding a degree (even a lower tier degree), are much more likely than the no-degree group to have a more desirable job that pays relatively well. There may be many factors explaining why this disparity exists. But certainly one reason is that many companies currently require an applicant have a college degree even for non-desirable entry-level jobs. If you don't have a degree, you're not even getting your foot in the door. This practice probably makes little sense, but it's the way things currently are, and why holding a low-tier degree is much better than the alternative of holding no degree for most people.

by freyr 12y ago

peteretep 12y ago

> This is the perfect example of someone who lives in > separate reality from most people, and extrapolates his > rare experiences to the world at large. As someone who reads CVs/resumes for a living in the UK, all that putting a low-tier university on your CV tells me - unless you got a first, or an academic prize - is that you fucked up your A-Levels, and then got pushed in to doing a degree because everyone else does them.

tsotha 12y ago
In the US there are a whole lot of entry-level jobs for which your resume will get tossed immediately with no four year degree. Any degree. From any school. A generation ago you could get these jobs straight from high school, but that's not the way it is today.
freyr 12y ago
Again, your personal experience does not extrapolate well to the world at large. This is demonstrated by the fact that it doesn't correlate with statistical evidence. I don't know why this is so difficult for people (even smart people) to see. You're comparing a desirable degree vs. a low-tier degree in the context of your company and hiring process. That might mean the world to you, but it's irrelevant to determining whether a low-tier degree has value. Compare low-tier graduates to non-graduates in the economy at large. People holding no degree are vastly more likely to be unemployed or hold a minimum wage, manual labor job. People holding a degree (even a lower tier degree), are much more likely than the no-degree group to have a more desirable job that pays relatively well. There may be many factors explaining why this disparity exists. But certainly one reason is that many companies currently require an applicant have a college degree even for non-desirable entry-level jobs. If you don't have a degree, you're not even getting your foot in the door. This practice probably makes little sense, but it's the way things currently are, and why holding a low-tier degree is much better than the alternative of holding no degree for most people.