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Comment by suff | Hacker News Reader

Allowing yourself to take advantage of the fact that you don't have eye-wateringly high, ivy league levels of student debt, and therefore can offer better cost efficiency is a BIG advantage. If you ALSO have massive debt and require massive pay, without a degree, well, yeah, you're screwed both ways. Same solution though: work extra hard.

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These companies you're offering 'better cost efficiency to' are already likely earning 100x+ off of your average software engineer. There is absolutely zero benefit to coming to negotiations devaluing your own experience and skills, because that means companies will lowball you even further.

You're not the arbiter of cost efficiency. The company looking to hire you is. When you presume you're worth less than what you actually are, you're opening yourself up to abuse.

What you're describing is in essence the various entertainment industries which take advantage of fresh grads, forcing them into long overtime and for less pay.

_Assuming_ there are no other applicants for the job, you are correct. However, as Jeff Atwood would say, "In theory there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

Not to nitpick but most Ivy League schools have robust financial aid(families making less than 100K have no loans etc.) and the average debt load is <$40,000 which is very manageable with an Ivy League degree.

Thanks for posting this. Many posters here seem to be ignorant of that fact that poor high schoolers with excellent grades and other accolades regularly get into top institutions - including Ivy League schools - and pay zero tuition due to generous financial aid packages.

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