Do You Really Have to Go to College? • Hacker News Board

Re: Do You Really Have to Go to College?

#51

Post by RobotCaleb » Tue, Mar 12, 2013, 3:36 AM UTC

NateDad wrote: post #33

Stop with this no college crap. Here's the facts: if you have no work experience and no college education, you're not even going to get a phone interview with any software company. You're just not. None of the companies I've worked for (from tiny startups to 1000+ person software companies) would look twice at your resume. They wouldn't even get so far as printing it out so they could throw it away. You are not Mark…

I'm definitely an outlier, but, aside from a scuba class, I have zero college and zero debt and make more than 3x the debt you incurred by attending your technical school and I love my job.

I don't doubt college was fun, nor would I say it's not useful. I wouldn't even discourage someone from going. I also definitely wouldn't clamor on about "you're not even going to get a phone interview with any software company." It does happen.

In other words, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes".

Re: Do You Really Have to Go to College?

#52

Post by zanny » Tue, Mar 12, 2013, 9:19 AM UTC

dinkumthinkum wrote: post #49

Arelius wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love the serious response to a comment posed as a joke due to the poor capitalization of the original title. So much so that I feel on the fence about even pointing it out.

Well, nerds can find interesting discussions in almost anything. :)

Sometimes I see :) and think it is the mast of a sailboat. Discuss!

Re: Do You Really Have to Go to College?

#53

Post by w1ntermute » Tue, Mar 12, 2013, 11:01 PM UTC

RougeFemme wrote: post #36

billeh wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best I've heard is "At least you will be able to think critically." Was that really left out of the previous 12 years' curriculum?

Unfortunately, in the US, with so many public schools striving to meet benchmark scores on standardized tests that require little critical thinking. . .the answer is yes, that's increasingly left out of the previous 12 years' curriculum.

This is largely FUD in well-to-do districts. Having gone through the public school system after NCLB was passed in a district consisting primarily of upper middle class students, I rarely heard NCLB or the related standardized tests mentioned. And when I did, it was in the form of a derogatory remark from the teachers.

Of course, things may be very different for people from other socioeconomic backgrounds.