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Comment by paxys | Hacker News Reader

Buried towards the bottom of the essay is the fact that the author has accepted a full time offer from Facebook. So yeah, the last year of college (and a degree stamp) is meaningless as long as he plans to stay in the tech world.

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Sometimes these offers are contingent on getting the degree, as a way to get an intern or low level employee then get them to senior after they graduate.

This person will get a rude awakening when they need to go the next step and realize "almost a degree" isn't really a degree.

Facebook no longer requires degrees for entry level developer positions.

I noticed that and was slightly surprised. Does anyone know if there is a special visa carve-out for non-degreed Canadians?

There is not. We looked into this for my Canadian now-wife. If you have no college degree, basically your only immigration options in that case are a work transfer visa, entirely up to the whim of your current employer, or the K1 fiancée to Green Card marriage path. That's it.

LinkedIn shows the author went to high school in New York. Are you sure they are Canadian?

I have heard the TN visa for Canadians allows you to substitute something like 3 years of work experience for 1 year equivalency of a college education.

Not sure why I assumed going to McGill would mean you are Canadian. My mistake!

It's probably a fair assumption, though! McGill has around 10% from the US and another 17% of admissions based on high school attended [1]. I have met Americans at other Canadian universities that have dual citizenship, so would be considered Canadians for tuition, but would be considered American from the high school.

[1] https://www.mcgill.ca/es/admissions-profile

Based on the part of his story about leaving his parents in NY I don’t think he’s Canadian or is dual national.

Agreed -- the use of the word college (instead of university), high school (instead of secondary or cegep), and a few other cues suggest he probably didn't grow up in Canada.

Yes, I was born and raised in New York!

Did your parents pay for your college?

Yes, I'm very lucky and grateful for that!

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