commstudent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Geez this thread screams alma matter insecurity. > Is there anyone in this thread that DIDNT graduate > from Billy Bob State University??? LOL… Commstudent, This is exactly what this thread is about. Condescending comments like yours above. What are trying to imply about state university graduates by refering to their schools as “Billy Bob State”?
commstudent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Geez this thread screams alma matter insecurity. > Is there anyone in this thread that DIDNT graduate > from Billy Bob State University??? haha…very observant, commstudent. every thread on this board that has anything to do with colleges/universities eventually evolves into the discussion that’s going on here. “alma mater insecurity” seems to be a pretty fair descriptor.
kkent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would. Honestly, the opinion of a tax-paying > truck driver who works hard day in and day out to > support his/her family is a more insightful and > important opinion than that of any punk college > student who sits around at night at coffee shops > regurgitating the garbage his/her professor spews. wow, i’m sure glad i didn’t go to *that* kind of school…
Just cut the crap. In this business money rules, not your school, CFA, degrees, or other BS.
^^agreed, smart people go to ivies (as numi said) and also go to state schools. Basically you can measure someones intelligence based on the net worth they’ve accumulated so far in their life divided by the number of years they’ve been alive. Take that Taleb! (btw…not serious)
> kkent Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I would. Honestly, the opinion of a tax-paying > > truck driver who works hard day in and day out > to > > support his/her family is a more insightful and > > important opinion than that of any punk college > > student who sits around at night at coffee > shops > > regurgitating the garbage his/her professor > spews. It’s hard to fight absurd generalizations. I never drank coffee in college and I never went to coffee shops. The things I learned in college were exceedingly interesting and intellectual. The professors who taught me were, on the whole, extremely smart people. I’m not entirely sure why you consider yourself intellectually superior to “academics” when, for instance, we can be 99% sure that you know less about economics than one of my economics professors who, taking one at random, had one of the top doctoral theses on the subject of subsidies in her generation? And what do you mean by “the opinion” of some truck driver? I would rather ask the opinion of some biology major in college if my hand were bleeding profusely. I would rather ask the opinion of some astronomy major if I wanted to talk about the stars. Sure 99% of these kids aren’t close to the most intellectual in their particle fields, but they’re still infinitely more intellectual than someone who insists they’re smarter than all of them just because they have more experience in an industry. Also, the political paradigm is more complex than “left vs. right.” Many college students understand that.
Sorry, I meant “conservative vs. liberal.” I wouldn’t classify myself as either of those things, whatever they are.
if you can’t go to college… go to State. j/k
Hockey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > kkent Wrote: > > > -------------------------------------------------- > > > ----- > > > I would. Honestly, the opinion of a > tax-paying > > > truck driver who works hard day in and day > out > > to > > > support his/her family is a more insightful > and > > > important opinion than that of any punk > college > > > student who sits around at night at coffee > > shops > > > regurgitating the garbage his/her professor > > spews. > > > It’s hard to fight absurd generalizations. I never > drank coffee in college and I never went to coffee > shops. The things I learned in college were > exceedingly interesting and intellectual. The > professors who taught me were, on the whole, > extremely smart people. I’m not entirely sure why > you consider yourself intellectually superior to > “academics” when, for instance, we can be 99% sure > that you know less about economics than one of my > economics professors who, taking one at random, > had one of the top doctoral theses on the subject > of subsidies in her generation? > > And what do you mean by “the opinion” of some > truck driver? I would rather ask the opinion of > some biology major in college if my hand were > bleeding profusely. I would rather ask the opinion > of some astronomy major if I wanted to talk about > the stars. Sure 99% of these kids aren’t close to > the most intellectual in their particle fields, > but they’re still infinitely more intellectual > than someone who insists they’re smarter than all > of them just because they have more experience in > an industry. > > Also, the political paradigm is more complex than > “left vs. right.” Many college students understand > that. Hockey, kkent’s views are certainly ones that people here are familiar with, at least those of us that have been around for a while. However, I can certainly relate with you about having the opportunity to meet some very inspirational and intelligent people while I was in school. To say that these types of people exist everywhere is simply wrong, and equally inaccurate is the assertion that students at the top schools are spoiled, entitled, lame-brained, or unintellectual. I think people that say things like this are being pretty short-sighted, but then again, I guess it can be hard for some individuals to understand the power of being around the right people, if they haven’t been through it before. DirtyZ mentioned in an earlier post that “every new person you meet for the rest of your life will partially form their opinion of you based on where you went to school,” and I think this can be true in a lot of cases. I for one have always been very spirited and supportive of my alma mater. However, when I think about what it took for me to win awards and accolades in college and get a job on Wall Street, going to a top-tier school helped, but perhaps less than most people think. The label and degree certainly help, but the biggest difference maker is the quality of people you meet. And as you get further removed from college, the date which you received your degree gets farther and farther behind in your rear view mirror, but your best friends from college will still be at your side. In my case, I have to credit a lot of my professional success to the people I met, rather than just the piece of paper that has my degree on it. However, I might not have met a lot of these people if I went to a different school. In fact, I would say that the mentorship I received from friends and alums had such a profound impact on my professional life, and those are major reasons why I always try to help others when they’re in need – simply because I’ve been one of those “people in need” before. In the end, I guess the detractors can say whatever they want, but I know that the school I attended gave me a number of valuable classroom experiences, allowed me meet a lot of great people, taught me the importance of contributing to the community and helping others whenever I can, and not having major chips on either of my shoulders.
*Sigh*…I wish people here had contributed 3 pages worth of “whether a finance degree can give access to jobs that a CFA can’t”, rather then picker about how their university is better.
I think the question is flawed. The process of find of job is so complex that whether gaining access to a job should be attributed to a finance degree of to CFA is really impossible to know. So the short answer is reject the hypothesis that a finance degree can give access to jobs that a CFA can’t due to insufficient evidence. BTW, in person I only talk to people who attend La Sorbonne or Oxford. All these new world schools are so tacky.
numi, Good post. I didn’t mean to imply that all college students (or even a majority of them) are excessively intellectual. What I meant was what you hit upon…that the environment exists for those who wish to utilize it. eureka Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------ > > BTW, in person I only talk to people who attend La > Sorbonne or Oxford. All these new world schools > are so tacky. Nice 
numi, with all due respect, I was born and raised in the nation’s capital and have been around nearly every type of college student (liberal and conservative, state universities, ivy leagues, and expensive private school students alike–FYI, there are few native Washingtonians), and, honestly, their “intellectualism” is, by-and-large, shallow, unrealistic, myopic, and unbalanced with the realities of, well, the real world. There are certainly diamonds in the rough, by honestly, these kids’ opinions are jokes. Take a case study from the 1960s. All these moronic young people out smoking pot, opposing capitalism, singing against wealth and the the war in Vietnam. Where the hell are they now? Oh yeah, they’re in their corporate jobs driving their SUVs. Why? Well, unless you know how to farm, you’ve got earn a wage to put food on the table. Most college students are idiots, including myself even a year ago. I had–and my peers had–no clue what the real world was like.
I would hope that anyone who’s in a position of influence would be intelligent enough to realize that one’s academic background is not as simplistic as ivy=“smart” and state=“sub-par”. It really should be more of a case by case analysis; granted however, many schools don’t offer the recognizability that helps one be considered. I have great respect for people who managed to get into top tier schools and did well, but no more that for the state school alum who took a full ride and graduated at top of class. I you really think about it , acceptance to these programs is a crap-shoot. With 10% acceptance rates, there are plenty of equally eligible people who get turned away, and unlike post-grad, no one in their right mind postpones entrance to give it another shot. I had no financial assistance from my parents so I worked, went to a CC, and transferred to a “top” liberal arts college (w/ no name recognition) that was filled with “privileged” prep school kids- some of whom were inarguably deserving, and others not necessarily so. Thats where you learn that networks are often more important then money or talent.
… as for opinions I would have to agree somewhat with kkent. Nothing made me more nauseous than sitting through politics classes w/ trust fund kids w/ che guevarra t-shirts spout out baseless opinions about the “struggle” of the grass-roots revolutionary group of the month.
Hockey Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > numi, > > Good post. I didn’t mean to imply that all college > students (or even a majority of them) are > excessively intellectual. What I meant was what > you hit upon…that the environment exists for > those who wish to utilize it. > Don’t worry, you didn’t. I read over what I wrote earlier and it was a bit confusing. My post was a response to some of the other posters who implied what you mentioned above.
I think its true that, until you get into the real life, you still remain ignorant in someways. I mean, that is student life though. It’s a good 21 years of goofing around before u have to get serious for the next 60 years -eternity.
akanska Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > … as for opinions I would have to agree somewhat > with kkent. Nothing made me more nauseous than > sitting through politics classes w/ trust fund > kids w/ che guevarra t-shirts spout out baseless > opinions about the “struggle” of the grass-roots > revolutionary group of the month. You guys are referring to what Eric Cartman wisely termed, the “College know-it-all-hippie.” Moany colleges are full of those characters.
agreed joemontana; I learned a lot in college- the most important being that I hardly know anything at all… I think it takes a certain level of intelligence/ experience, etc. to come to this realization.
kkent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > numi, with all due respect, I was born and raised > in the nation’s capital and have been around > nearly every type of college student (liberal and > conservative, state universities, ivy leagues, and > expensive private school students alike–FYI, > there are few native Washingtonians), and, > honestly, their “intellectualism” is, > by-and-large, shallow, unrealistic, myopic, and > unbalanced with the realities of, well, the real > world. There are certainly diamonds in the rough, > by honestly, these kids’ opinions are jokes. Take > a case study from the 1960s. All these moronic > young people out smoking pot, opposing capitalism, > singing against wealth and the the war in Vietnam. > Where the hell are they now? Oh yeah, they’re in > their corporate jobs driving their SUVs. Why? > Well, unless you know how to farm, you’ve got earn > a wage to put food on the table. Most college > students are idiots, including myself even a year > ago. I had–and my peers had–no clue what the > real world was like. kkent, Your examples are exercises in anecdotal evidence. 1. Smoking pot doesn’t make you stupid, nor is pot smoking any indicator whatsoever of someone’s level of intellect. 2. Not everyone in the 1960s who smoked pot was socialist. My dad is one example of this. He was an avid pot smoker for many years and has been extremely successful and is one of the few moderately-well-versed-in-economics computer nerds out there. Again, this is anecdotal evidence and proves nothing other than that there were at least some people ni the 60s like my dad. 3. If you still support the war in Vietnam, it makes me question your level of intellect with regard to economics and the role of government in it. Still, though, not all pot smokers are against war. Not all socialists are against war. 4. As I said before, there is no such thing as “liberal” and “conservative.” Classifying political beliefs on a 2-dimensional scale is pointless because it says nothing about the person who it attempts to classify. 5. Once again, you’re offering no proof for your extraordinary claim that most college students are “shallow, unrealistic, myopic, and unbalanced with the realities of, well, the real world.” What does it mean to be “unrealistic?” To what, specifically, are you referring? It kind of sounds to me like you think the vast majority of college students are pot-smoking socialist hippies and that being any of these things somehow makes you less of an intellectual. I’ve met chem majors who are socialists. They were ignorant with regard to economics but could school me in chemistry. We discussed and argued and ultimately they gained a greater appreciation for free markets and I gained a greater appreciation for chemistry. Where do these people fit into your description?