I think the main thing with UofP compared to all the other schools is that it’s perceived a “paid for degree”. Where as the other schools required at least some effort and had some entrance requirements, UofP basically opened it’s doors to anyone who could afford it. There still might be good people going to UofP, but the school’s reputation might do more harm than the good the degree will do
Again, though, I think the context needs to be taken into account. There are plenty of non-elite professions that just want to see a degree and may not look down at it as financial services professionals would. And if someone was in the Armed Forces or had some other reason for attending U of P (outside of “no other school would take me”) then it might work well for them and not be a net negative.
cfa2grunt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >> However, I actually don’t agree that the education > one would get at Georgetown, USC, ND is > necessarily inferior to that received at > Harvard/Princeton/Stanford (and I attended one of > those “more elite” schools. The name of my school > has opened doors, that is true. However, half of > my undergrad classes were taught by people who > didn’t want to be teaching undergrads and had no > interest in anyone whose IQ wasn’t over 200. > Unless you were the next Doogie Howser, you didn’t > mean jack to many of the profs. Many of whom > could barely construct an English sentence. > > Again, though, it depends on your major, and the > resources might be better in some disciplines > (engineering, other sciences, CS) at the more > elite schools. But I don’t think blanket > statements apply here as to the quality of the > actual education itself. I’ll agree that attending an Ivy doesn’t automatically result in a superior education as compared to other well regarded private universities and well regarded state schools, but the Ivy League hasn’t produced 11 US presidents and hundreds of Nobel laureates just because of the doors it opens. And before anyone asks, I did not attend an Ivy.
P(A|B) != P(B|A)
sublimity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > another thing to consider about 3/3 is: > 1 - academic background: someone who has undergrad > finance, MBA, MSF (that would each cost much more > than the 3rd party prep) would find CFA a lot > easier, probably even too easy. > 2 - work experience: self explanatory > 3 - luck: what are the topics covered? the > smarter someone is and the more of 1 and 2 they > have (note that i am treating them as separate > things), the higher the probability of passing of > course. > None of those is a factor. It all comes down to two words “self-discipline”. Did you read about the experiment they did with 4-year old kids about 20 years ago at Stanford? They put each kid in a room and put a marshmallow in front of them and told them " You can eat this marshmallow now, but if you wait 15 minutes you will get to eat two marshmallows". 2/3 of the kids could not wait … they ate the marshmallow. Only one third had the self-discipline to wait 15 minutes. They tracked these kids for 20 years, guess which group was more successful in life ( education, profession, …) ? There is a book about this experiment “Don’t eat the marshmallow”, very interesting if you have kids one day. As for UOP it’s a for-profit scam. We discussed this before. Same as any scam designed to take advantage of poor/disadvantaged people who know no better ( see sub-prime lending, pay-day-cash loans, …)
sublimity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > P(A|B) != P(B|A) Exactly. Higgmond, I think your logic is a bit flawed.
cfa2grunt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > sublimity Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > P(A|B) != P(B|A) > > > Exactly. Higgmond, I think your logic is a bit > flawed. Take a look at the list of Nobel laureates and what universities they graduated from and define the flaw.
I agree with Higgmond.
But it really depends on the area. Someone who won the Nobel Peace Prize and went to Harvard/Stanford? Chances are that person was smart and a high performer, and their admission to Harvard and their receipt of the Nobel are probably more a product of their innate intelligence and drive. If they went to Georgetown, you think they wouldn’t have been able to achieve it? Doubtful. Obviously, if you are, say, in the sciences and you have access to other strong minds then attending an elite school can help. Keep in mind, though, that those lists show the affiliation of the laureate NOW, not where they went to undergrad. People who are smart are purchased by the elite schools for bragging rights and to improve those schools’ research efforts.
And my earlier comments were more related to undergrad education experience. I’m not aware of many Nobel Prize winners who got their prizes as a result of their undergrad research efforts.