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He graduated in 2008 and started working there last Christmas season.
I knew a guy who graduated from a top tier university with a BS in Economics and went on to work as a application developer at Facebook. Now he's doing some other work related to software development. He makes serious dough. So I guess if you add your friend's experience and my friend's experience, it all balances out.
Right on. Anecdotal evidence does not trump data based on huge numbers of people. There are people without college degrees that beat the odds and do very well, but I might puke in the lap of the next person with a "Bill Gates did it" example. Anomalies like him are not representative of the masses that don't have a degree.
Personal anecdotes may be far-fetched at times. But I strongly suggest taking a good look at job postings. Look at what the jobs pay and look at the requirements. I am all for going to college, but I'm just saying that we have not gotten to the point where a degree=college diploma. When we start requiring a degree to be a transit worker (decent jobs with great benefits in NYC), cosmetologist or even a COTA (only requires an associate's degree with certification) and other professions, then maybe we can say that. But for right now, I think it is an inaccurate statement.
Personal anecdotes may be far-fetched at times. But I strongly suggest taking a good look at job postings. Look at what the jobs pay and look at the requirements. I am all for going to college, but I'm just saying that we have not gotten to the point where a degree=college diploma. When we start requiring a degree to be a transit worker (decent jobs with great benefits in NYC), cosmetologist or even a COTA (only requires an associate's degree with certification) and other professions, then maybe we can say that. But for right now, I think it is an inaccurate statement.
My mother who is in her 50's does not have a college degree and is now struggling to find a job. She was in her 30's when she came to the US and had to raise me and my other siblings instead of going to college. She went straight to work when she came here and was working at a bank for years. Then she was laid off and cannot find another job because she only holds a high school diploma. So, if you want a decent job, the only way is to get a college degree because it would be hard to find a job that does not pay minimum wage.
Personal anecdotes may be far-fetched at times. But I strongly suggest taking a good look at job postings. Look at what the jobs pay and look at the requirements. I am all for going to college, but I'm just saying that we have not gotten to the point where a degree=college diploma. When we start requiring a degree to be a transit worker (decent jobs with great benefits in NYC), cosmetologist or even a COTA (only requires an associate's degree with certification) and other professions, then maybe we can say that. But for right now, I think it is an inaccurate statement.
Why are you responding to me specifically? I don't think I claimed that a degree was the same as a high school diploma (or if I did I sure don't remember). It is closer than it used to be, though, with higher and higher proportions of the population getting a college degree.
Also, personal anecdotes often aren't far-fetched at all (in this argument they tend to be, but in others not necessarily) and that's what makes them so attractive. Regardless of whether they're far-fetched or not they're still not evidence of much of anything besides the fact that you know (or heard of) one data point among millions.
Why are you responding to me specifically? I don't think I claimed that a degree was the same as a high school diploma (or if I did I sure don't remember). It is closer than it used to be, though, with higher and higher proportions of the population getting a college degree.
Also, personal anecdotes often aren't far-fetched at all (in this argument they tend to be, but in others not necessarily) and that's what makes them so attractive. Regardless of whether they're far-fetched or not they're still not evidence of much of anything besides the fact that you know (or heard of) one data point among millions.
I've yet to see much evidence of this. It might be harder to get a job with a degree but it's the same deal for someone without one. It's not like it's got easier for someone with a HS diploma.
Why are you responding to me specifically? I don't think I claimed that a degree was the same as a high school diploma (or if I did I sure don't remember). It is closer than it used to be, though, with higher and higher proportions of the population getting a college degree.
Also, personal anecdotes often aren't far-fetched at all (in this argument they tend to be, but in others not necessarily) and that's what makes them so attractive. Regardless of whether they're far-fetched or not they're still not evidence of much of anything besides the fact that you know (or heard of) one data point among millions.
In what country are "higher and higher proportions of the population getting a college degree"?
It isn't the US...
The proportion of the population getting a degree hasn't changed by more than a few percentage points for decades and it is still less than a 1/3 of the population...
I've yet to see much evidence of this. It might be harder to get a job with a degree but it's the same deal for someone without one. It's not like it's got easier for someone with a HS diploma.
It's not harder to get a job with a degree; it's easier. As far as I know the unemployment rate is lower for those with a college degree than those with just a high school degree. It's easier because it's more expected that you should have a degree now (not for all jobs, but more entry level jobs require a degree now than used to).
Income vs education statistics is kinda skewed towards college degree holders. Let's face it, many folks with HS diploma or less lack stuff it takes to earn a college diploma or work it up on their own. Yet, their lower income is attributed to their lack of education only. That's thoroughly flawed reasoning. Ideally we need to compare incomes of two comparable (in everything but college education) groups of people. This way $ seekers could get a realistic averaged $ value of college education not a meaningless number. I do believe college education adds (on the average) to your life time income, but "the extra" is less than university - government complex wants you to believe.
It's true that as standardization and responsibility avoidance engulf corporate world "education" serves as a sieving tool (even if RRR + common sense is all you need to perform a job). On the other hand, for more and more people out there college diplomas (especially advanced degrees in Sci&Eng ) are total waste job & income wise. You make your bet and remember about distribution curve. If you'll make it don't assume everybody can make it, if you'll fail don't bieatch "college is worthless" because guys on the other side of the curve would disagree.
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) are total waste job & income wise. You make your bet and remember about distribution curve. If you'll make it don't assume everybody can make it, if you'll fail don't bieatch "college is worthless" because guys on the other side of the curve would disagree.
