A degree is overrated. Learn from life. | Hacker News Reader

A degree is overrated. Learn from life.

washingtonpost.com

4 pointsrblion6 comments

I've heard this before, and each time I'm consistently confused.

I am an engineering PhD student. I receive very modest compensation for my "work", but take great pleasure in the meandering pursuit of knowledge at this stage in life. True, by some metrics it is not the best "return on investment": grad student salaries are meager at best; you forego 4-6 years of earnings potential / job experience; and some post-graduate opportunities are just not commensurate with one's level of training.

However, the whole analysis depends on a specific set of values; grad school is just another form of "real life" and there is plenty to learn: the focus required to fixate on a single dissertation topic for many years, navigating nebulous political relationships, establishing life-long friendships, developing highly-targeted skill sets, and interacting with some of the smartest people on the planet. A pretty good gig by my standards.

There is no single mold... To each his own.

This mentality doesn't seem to apply if you want to study anything that requires any sort of advanced (aka expensive) resources. Computer Science is generally cheap and easy to learn for the same reasons that a web start-up is easy to launch. But mechanical engineering requires expensive industry software and equipment. Biologists need wet labs. Anything in the Science or Engineering departments is going to require expensive equipment.

Otherwise, as a stand up comedian at my school said "I'm currently writing a series of passionate essays on topics I couldn't care less about. It's called college."

"The unemployment rate among those with bachelor's degrees is at an all-time high....this year, with the national rate of unemployment at 9.6 percent, unemployment for college graduates has risen to 4.9 percent -- more than half the rate of the general population."

What the article doesn't say: the unemployment rate for people without college degrees is neary twice as high (source: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/econo...) Everyone is hurting, but college grads are hurting far less. Especially for

It's nice to know that the Washington Post won't let a few inconvenient facts get in the way of a good headline.

The Washington Post should publish a matrix comparing responsibility at the paper with highest degree or certification reached and source of undergraduate degree if any. I may by now have the story wrong, but it seems to me that in the early 1980s a friend who applied to work in a Post advertising department--not selling, and administrative assistant job--got the message that her pitiful midwestern state school B.A. made her undesirable.

The article has quotes from a number of executives or business owners who suggest college isn't necessarily the best way to go.

But the reporter doesn't ask them if they would hire someone without a degree.

One hopes that most university students are living.

Degrees are absolutely required, for some people and some vocations.

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