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How many valuable cos. has MIT or its alums created in past 25yrs?
Any smart kid can self-learn via Kindle, youtube, etc for nr-free
And any smart employer judges most poss productive employees by skills, not fancy diplomas
Many of world's wealthiest engineers are college dropouts or undergrads from crappy state engineering colleges (which I doubt were their first choices or from where they "learned" much)
Relevance of bricks and mortar colleges is about as dubious as that of libraries or bookstores/physical newspapers/mags or suburban shopping malls or suburban big-box retailers or most CBD office towers or most upscale Manhattan/BH shops...
How many valuable cos. has MIT or its alums created in past 25yrs?
Any smart kid can self-learn via Kindle, youtube, etc for nr-free
And any smart employer judges most poss productive employees by skills, not fancy diplomas
Many of world's wealthiest engineers are college dropouts or undergrads from crappy state engineering colleges (which I doubt were their first choices or from where they "learned" much)
Relevance of bricks and mortar colleges is about as dubious as that of libraries or bookstores/physical newspapers/mags or suburban shopping malls or suburban big-box retailers or most CBD office towers or most upscale Manhattan/BH shops...
Quote:"How many valuable cos. has MIT or its alums created in past 25yrs?"
More than I can count. (The largest IPO in MA was started by an MIT grad... I should know, I was there).
Quote:""Any smart kid can self-learn via Kindle, youtube, etc for nr-free"
Youtube... now that is an educational instrument. Learn things like what happens when you mix brake fluid with pool chlorine, or mix potassium permanganate (for water purification) with ethylene glycol (car antifreeze). THAT will look good on a resume.
Quote:"And any smart employer judges most poss productive employees by skills, not fancy diplomas"
The fortune-50 employers I have worked for require that you have a degree from one of the schools on their 'list', or they won't hire you. (Obviously this doesn't apply to line workers etc.)
Quote:"Many of world's wealthiest engineers are college dropouts or undergrads from crappy state engineering colleges"
I would like you to substantiate the word 'many' with reliable data demonstrating such. There are a few that have done it, but percentage-wise it is in the noise.
Quote:"Relevance of bricks and mortar colleges is about as dubious as that...."
About as relevant as those individuals that have beliefs/opinions on a topic with no supporting valid evidence.
Yes, I agree. Certifications are certifications. Depending on the job, some certificates such as the ones received by Microsoft online can be marketable for a job applicant. Of course, they should supplement formal education.
Just realize that a certificate is not a certification, and you can land yourself in very hot water claiming on a job application that a certificate is a certification.
As a general rule, education certificates are not certifications unless a professional organization is awarding the certificate rather than the school.
Quote:"Many of world's wealthiest engineers are college dropouts or undergrads from crappy state engineering colleges"
I would like you to substantiate the word 'many' with reliable data demonstrating such. There are a few that have done it, but percentage-wise it is in the noise.
I think in this instance, he is referring to Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Mark Zuckerberg, Michael Dell, and Paul Allen, among others.
From that noted source of all things true in the universe (</facetious comment>), Wikipedia:
Quote:
The average net worth of billionaires who dropped out of college, $9.4 billion, is more than double that of billionaires with Ph.D.s, $3.2 billion. Even if you remove the world's second richest man, Bill Gates, who left Harvard University and is now worth $53.0 billion, college dropouts are worth $5.3 billion on average, compared to those who finished only bachelor's degrees, who are worth $2.9 billion. According to a recent report from Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research, 20% of America's millionaires never attended college.
My friend took a ton of those free MIT courses years ago. He said he loved every bit of them and would recommend them to anyone. I may take one or two as well, not too sure.
Any smart kid can self-learn via Kindle, youtube, etc for nr-free
Learn exactly what and in how much detail?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hsw
And any smart employer judges most poss productive employees by skills, not fancy diplomas
Absolutely wrong! There are many industries in which the HR ( or the recruiters ) will toss your resume in the rubbish bin if you don't have a degree.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hsw
Many of world's wealthiest engineers are college dropouts or undergrads from crappy state engineering colleges (which I doubt were their first choices or from where they "learned" much)
"Many" is a nebulous word, in this case, it means less than 1-2%.
Plus, who do you think these "wealthy dropouts" hire to build out their empire? College dropouts or engineers with degrees?
Quote:
Originally Posted by hsw
Relevance of bricks and mortar colleges is about as dubious as that of libraries or bookstores/physical newspapers/mags or suburban shopping malls or suburban big-box retailers or most CBD office towers or
most upscale Manhattan/BH shops...
For the more challenged of us...
How did you sign up? I haven't yet found that page on the MIT site for the upcoming online courses.
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Learn things like what happens when you mix brake fluid with pool chlorine, or mix potassium permanganate (for water purification) with ethylene glycol (car antifreeze). THAT will look good on a resume. 
