Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
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Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
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Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#2College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system isn't working, and the idea of just chucking more people through college really doesn't solve anything to solve our long term problems.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#3And in January, the unemployment rate for college grads was 3.7 percent, as opposed to 8.1 percent for those with only high school diplomas.
Those are average numbers across the board, and perhaps the opportunities that come from a high-profile program like the Thiel Fellowship outweigh those for the average college student. But at least for now, the data shows college is the more lucrative path.
??
Correlation does not imply causation.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#4College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system…
The amount of money the fellowship gives is about the same as two years worth of tuition at Stanford. In what ways is it not scalable?
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#5And in January, the unemployment rate for college grads was 3.7 percent, as opposed to 8.1 percent for those with only high school diplomas. Those are average numbers across the board, and perhaps the opportunities that come from a high-profile program like the Thiel Fellowship outweigh those for the average college student. But at least for now, the data shows college is the more lucrative path. ?? Correlation does…
In general, you're right. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to defend the claim that there is no causative relationship whatsoever flowing from college education to employment. I don't think it's terribly controversial to claim that employers pretty universally view more education as a positive factor on job applications, all other things held equal.
edit: to elaborate further, I think you might be bringing up the wrong fallacy here - at least, if you're looking to highlight the problems with representing program participants by the general population of high school-educated people.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#6College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system…
The amount of money the fellowship gives is about the same as two years worth of tuition at Stanford. In what ways is it not scalable?
I'd say it's not scalable not because of the money, but because it's incredibly difficult to find people for whom the Fellowship is the right thing:
The 20 fellows chosen in each batch are people who are not only sharp, but have projects and visions that they are already tackling. They tend to teach themselves what they need to learn to make those things work, and have the resourcefulness and skills to make their projects at least somewhat viable.
That doesn't quite capture the whole of it, but my point is that there aren't huge numbers of people who are a good fit for the fellowship, and my experience thus far has been that the fit criteria are narrower than you might expect.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#7College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system…
I'd say that the fellows returning to college aren't taking this as a resume builder, but as a useful series of experiences that they've learned from. From talking to them, many express that these experience have focused/clarified what they hope to gain from college, intellectually and personally.
As a fellow, I personally don't see this as a complete alternative to college, but more a support system for working on my project at this point in my life. I still value college and am excited to complete it; I have outstanding intellectual pursuits left there. There just aren't enough hours in the day for college to compete with my project (and vice versa) right now.
I'm not sure I need or want more padding on my resume, just more hours in my day.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#8College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system…
The amount of money the fellowship gives is about the same as two years worth of tuition at Stanford. In what ways is it not scalable?
Yes but students pay for going to Stanford they're not paid to go. For this program to replace college someone has to pay for the fellowships. Hence not scalable. Money flows to student in one and away from student on other, no?
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#9College is broken in many ways. By definition this isn't a solution because you cannot do this for more than a tiny number of people. It's interesting that it appears desirable to return to college anyway afterwards, which suggests it's really just a resume builder and not much of an alternative at all. Still, I am always interested in anything which tries to shake up the status quo because the current college system…
I'd say that the fellows returning to college aren't taking this as a resume builder, but as a useful series of experiences that they've learned from. From talking to them, many express that these experience have focused/clarified what they hope to gain from college, intellectually and personally. As a fellow, I personally don't see this as a complete alternative to college, but more a support system for working on m…
So I appreciate what you're saying, and I bet it was a great experience. But it was launched as an alternative to college so if it doesn't achieve that and people do this as well as college, while that's fantastic and sounds great, it's not a step towards crafting a college alternative as t was originally pitched. At least from my understanding as I read about it when it was launched and subsequent coverage.
Re: Examining the Thiel Fellowship: Where are they now?
#10"From talking to them, many express that these experience have focused/clarified what they hope to gain from college, intellectually and personally."
As someone who made money on the internet in my teen years, I too spent quite a bit of time thinking college was a waste. For a lot of people, I still think it's a waste of their money, just that my reasoning is different.
Everyone can benefit from college, but you really need to be in the correct mindset to succeed and take advantage of it. Academic institutions, despite the grant process, politics, etc. really are interesting places where really smart people get together to do things.
The problem I see with college is that most of the people I knew weren't ready to be there. It should not be the default life funnel that it currently is, because most high schoolers (myself included) just weren't ready to take advantage of what was there. When you're ready for it, it's worth every penny.
edit: Sorry, didn't reply to correct post with that quote.