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[theinevitable]

hm.
I have a hard time believing that every single college admissions person in the country is so full of hatred for mankind that they make such a big deal out of the essays, if they don't matter.

also: the issue is not whether which college you go to matters. The issue is that people think it matters. The competition is created by students, and a student who doesn't want to compete gets screwed.

[wombat]

Answers have shifted over the years: getting a job (in the depression), fighting the war (40's), buying a first house, etc. Increasingly, people answer "getting into college". Is this what we've come to?

I would like to be sure that this is not just because younger people are answering the poll now.  Getting into college may suck, but if you still answer that question that way when you're 50, you're a very, very lucky person who's had a very lucky life, who's never had a serious illness, gotten divorced, lost a job and run out of money, had a loved one die...

Where you went to college matters less and less every year you get further from college. I know this is a small voice crying out against much noise, but try not to let them fuck your mind about this. Also apparently research has been done that shows that it matters much more what kind of person you are than where you actually went to school - that people who got into more famous colleges but choose to go to less famous ones, do just as well in life as the people who actually went to the famous colleges.   I could find the link to where I read this if you care.  Of course, this may actually be more depressing - since you can't change the kind of person you are.  But it does seem to mean that you might as well not worry if you don't get into Harvard.

But seriously, there is a logical point here.  Only a small percentage of people go to Harvard and Yale.  Look around you.  Is everyone else living on the street in cardboard boxes, miserable, lonely and drug-addicted?  No.  We're doing fine.

[pmcd9]

First thing, people who care what college you went to are douchebags.  I know, I've worked with enough of them.  Funny thing, these people all went to the two biggest schools in the state.  You know the ones, the schools that are so elite they only let in the first 30,000 or so that apply each year.  Yeesh!!!

Secondly, the Incredibles is a good topic of discussion because it's a pretty complex movie.  God bless Pixar.

~Paul

[jough]

The only people who care about where you went to college are grad school admissions people.  Maybe your first employer will ask.  If you do go to one of the Ivy League schools, you'll have a slight leg-up as alums like to suck each others' dicks, and you can suck some dick to help yourself get ahead a little, although that probably won't work out as you'd hoped either.

Your degree and major will be important for the first year or two out of college. Then, as wombat says, it gets less and less important.  Most people won't give a shit where you went to college, IF you went to college, or what you studied while you were there.  Employers will only care about your last place of employment or two, and if college is one of those, then maybe they'll care about what you studied.  For me, it has never come up.  I mean, my education is on my resume, but I went to community college part time while I worked, and went to a state school for the second two years.  I got a good education because I took a good education.  There are decent resources at any university to get yourself the knowledge that you need.  It's just a matter of whether you're willing to work for it or not.  Also, books help.  A lot.  But you don't need to go to college to read books and gain knowledge and understanding.

You're not really going to learn anything until you're actually working in your chosen field anyway.  Theoretical knowledge is important of course, but it's hardly a substitute for in-the-field work where you have to apply true understanding to get the job done.

In the IT field, I would rather hire someone who has been working in the field for the past four years and has no degree than hire someone just fresh out of college.

Of course, some fields are harder to get into without a college degree, like the sciences.

EDIT: I didn't mean to sound like I'm saying that you shouldn't go to college.  You definitely should if you can.  And pretty much everyone in the U.S. can.  College is great, but not because it'll help you get a good job or that you'll learn much in your classes (although you will if you study pretty much at all).  It's a whole different social structure than high school or the "real world," you'll meet lots of interesting people, and college girls tend to be really really easy to have sex with, as their only real options are poor college guys.  If you're at all charming you already have an edge over your competition.

But I digress.

[wombat]

You know what else no one cares about once you're done with school?  Your test scores. The only time anyone ever asked my SAT scores was when I thought about applying for a part time job.... teaching SAT prep.  (I laughed and tossed the application.  I don't even know where I'd find the damn things.)

And you know what they say about youth being the best time of life?  It's bullshit. 

[pmcd9]

I guess what I meant to say was people who care where they themselves went to school as if going to Texas A&M somehow makes them superior to someone who went to University of Texas or vice versa.  Those people are douchebags.

Seriously!

~Paul

[robot_god]

And you know what they say about youth being the best time of life?  It's bullshit. 

I dunno about that... grammar school is going to be pretty hard to top.  (I went to a private school.  Mad rowdy.)

[AlohaDawg]

First thing, people who care what college you went to are douchebags.  I know, I've worked with enough of them.  Funny thing, these people all went to the two biggest schools in the state.  You know the ones, the schools that are so elite they only let in the first 30,000 or so that apply each year.  Yeesh!!!

Secondly, the Incredibles is a good topic of discussion because it's a pretty complex movie.  God bless Pixar.

~Paul

That's one way that 'adults' bully each other. They pick on what school you went to or what car you drive. Because they are assholes.

My biggest problem with the whole bullying issue in the schools is that it seems to have become a situation where the 'teaching moment' has been discarded in favor of the punishment moment. There will ALWAYS be someone around who is a prick and rather than developing people into a) non-pricks if possible and b) individuals who can have self-worth and tools to handle assholes when necessary we have created a class of victims who don't have to develop any skills for managing these situations because surely authority will step in and smite the bully.

When you are all grown up, you are on your own. And if you didn't learn how to hold your head up and deal with the pricks of the world, it's going to be a lot harder to survive and, yes, compete in your world for the things you want.

This is another problem I have with education today; the whole idea that we should not have 'winners' or that 'everyone is a winner'. It sounds nice but in the world, unfortunately, there are a lot of zero-sum games we have to play and learning how to compete, win graciously and find the positive elements of losing is really important in developing the skill of strategizing long term.

I know that there will be kids who have these skills innately but there also kids who need to develop these skills and learn, and if they deprived of the opportunities, I think that maybe there will be lot of people who can't compete.  Which could lead to a lot of other things, like depression, or substance abuse.

[wombat]

I dunno about that... grammar school is going to be pretty hard to top.  (I went to a private school.  Mad rowdy.)

Well, OK, you can't knock the womb.  But other than that.

[theinevitable]

Just don't ever try that shit with me, asherdan.

I think we all know that I have the bigger cock.

[pmcd9]

I guess we can't call him little the Inevitable anymore.  Damn, the Inevitable is growing a pair today.  He's comparing cock sizes with Ash, calling Jough old on his birthday, and breaking up with Hobot because her test scores are too low.  Where is that sweet kid we used to know?

~Paul

[AugustWest]

Nah, he just spent a weekend at my alma mater.

[theinevitable]

I'm sorry. I'm just getting sassy.
 I did not connect these things.
sorry to have an ego.

I was trying to live less of a shame-based life. But I can't live without Hobot. And jough is a nice guy, it was just a ribbing! (For her pleasure!)

[pmcd9]

Nah, he just spent a weekend at my alma mater.

Douchebag.

~Paul

[theinevitable]

dang. this whole discussion has been one of those "I know it isn't steak. computers are telling my brain that it is thick and juicy. But do you know what? Ignorance is bliss" type things. I am aware that in the end, which college you go to does not effect your life that heavily (unless you do something like kill yourself, develop a drug habit, meet your future spouse, father a child out of wedlock, etc.). At the same time, I am hell of excited about going to a good school. I feel essentially vindicated. I realize that this is a silly thing, but it is such a cool place.

I am trying to hard not to brag at school. But it's difficult, because no one at my school has heard of it. So when I say "Washington U in St Louis", they say "oh, that's nice" and smile. i want to rant about it, say how hard it is to get in, and generally be a jerk about it. This is completely against my character. So I have not done it. But... damn. I can't even let myself casually drop comments into conversation ("oh yeah, a bunch of kids were deciding between Duke and Wash U..."). probably for the better.

two perfect "school spirit" type shirts:

"Emory University was my Safety School" (apparently Emory is trying to start up a "rivalry", and the Wash U student body finds this hilarious.)
"(Front): Washington University. (Back): It's in St Louis, damnit!"

but really, I realize that I would be just as happy and (hopefully) successful if I had attended a "lesser" school. Especially because I live in North Carolina, and UNC is wonderful. As is NC State, etc.