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Comment by blackeyeblitzar | Hacker News Reader

Is college really a useful signal? I think it matters which school, what degree, and whether a person would have got into that college due to affirmative action / DEI programs. Sure college is a useful signal for some subset. For the rest it is more a sign that you’re willing to take on debt for either the college experience itself or status or signaling.

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going to college tells your future employer one important thing - you went somewhere, for four long years, and you stuck it out and got your papers. this trait alone tells a lot about an individual. I think that is really the crux of it.

technically if we have two people, went to same school, same degree same classes, same grades in every class all the way through. last semester one of the two took one different class and was 1 credit short of graduating and then left school and never got her/his paper. one of these two individuals is setup to have a prosperous career while the other is “unemployable” even though of course academically-speaking they are one and the same

Agree that a college degree sends a strong signal that you can conform to the expectations and requirements of an institution. You can show up when required and follow instructions to achieve an outcome over a period spanning years. This is a valuable signal to employers that you meet some bare minimum of employability.

I would say no, it's not a very useful signal, but I'm also biased and I'm also aware that bad signals are used all the time to make hiring decisions.

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