• pseudo anonymous (unregistered)

    Always a good idea to insult people in an interview! </sarcasm>

    Had he gone to college to get a degree, the surely would have made him do mock interviews and he would have known that... Or he could have just used a little common sense...

  • Bored Programmer (unregistered)

    Holy crap, that's some incompetent job interviewing. It takes minimal awareness to know that the appropriate tack to take is to briefly touch on a great high school experience, then quickly dovetail and focus on how an education was derived from experience 'in the field', and you reads relevant publications on a regular basis. Geez.

    CAPTCHA: Craaazy. No doubt.

  • Beau "Porpus" Wilkinson (unregistered) in reply to Bored Programmer

    <sarcasm>Yeah, you'd think with his elite HS experience and passing exposure to a Yankee college curriculum, he would know better than to insult the job interviewer. </sarcasm>

    In my experience, the crappiest employees come from the two extreme ends of the "school quality" spectrum. The DeVry / U. of Phoenix / ITT Tech end of the spectrum is pretty bad, but so is the end that comes from the "elite" schools. The "better" schools suffer from grade inflation, and their graduates tend to suffer from an entitlement mentality. Sometimes they also have a very romantic notion of the field and its "cutting edge" which could benefit from a broader educational experience.

  • Yeraze (unregistered)

    As a resident in Mississippi & Graduate from a Mississippi high-school and college (Go Bulldogs!), I find it hilarious some of the preconceptions about life in mississippi. Although, it's a helluva lot of fun messing with people who seem to think we all have Moonshine Distilleries behind our outhouses.

    Not many people seem to realize that 2 of the DOD's 4's supercomputing facilities are in Mississippi ( http://www.hpcmo.hpc.mil/Htdocs/MSRC/index.html ). Also, Mississippi is home to the #21 system, according to the Top500 ( http://top500.org/list/2007/06/100 ).

  • (cs)

    Yeah I didn't go to your crappy backwater schools and I have all my teeth. I figure I'm pretty much a shoe-in.

  • Da' Man (unregistered)

    A great strategy of the interviewer, though: Deflating that guy a bit when he started to get too pumped up...

    Good damage control (though probably a tad too late) from the interviewee. Glad he got a job :-)

    Captcha: tesla - speaking of genius..!

  • (cs) in reply to Yeraze
    Yeraze:
    I find it hilarious some of the preconceptions about life in mississippi. Although, it's a helluva lot of fun messing with people who seem to think we all have Moonshine Distilleries behind our outhouses.
    As a native Texan, I can relate. People seem to think we all still wear Colt 45's on our hips.

    'Scuse me, be right back... my horse is double-parked.

    By the way... mississippi is lowercase, but Moonshine gets the big M... Freudian slip?

  • (cs) in reply to Yeraze
    Yeraze:
    As a resident in Mississippi & Graduate from a Mississippi high-school and college (Go Bulldogs!), I find it hilarious some of the preconceptions about life in mississippi. Although, it's a helluva lot of fun messing with people who seem to think we all have Moonshine Distilleries behind our outhouses.
    You mean, you don't make the 'shine in your back yard? See if I ever visit then.
  • whicker (unregistered)

    The truth is the truth. And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    And the decision of hiring or not hiring probably had nothing to do with the Mississippi ejumicashun thing. However, in tune with the punchline of the story, following up on the interviewer's bullshit probably did gain him the recommendation.

  • (cs) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    As a native Texan, I can relate. People seem to think we all still wear Colt 45's on our hips.

    You do elect them though: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/29833

  • (cs)

    Is Mississippi backwards, bumbling, incompetent, drenched in cronyism and corruption?

    The Wall Street Journal observed on Oct 6, 2007:

    http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB119162544567850662-lMyQjAxMDE3OTAxNjYwMjY1Wj.html

    They like to lock up random innocent people... which means the murderers are still out there somewhere!

    (As if the inept handling around Katrina didn't highlight things enough.)

  • Otter (unregistered)
    And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon.

    Which state you lived in as a teenager doesn't constitute "intelligence".

  • SomeCoder (unregistered)

    Sorry, but the real WTF is that Jay thought he was more qualified than someone that went to college.

    I will admit, there are a lot of moronic college graduates out there. Even so, I think Jay's opinion of himself was a bit inflated.

  • eyrieowl (unregistered) in reply to whicker
    whicker:
    And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    said in all humility, of course... :)

  • (cs) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    I will admit, there are a lot of moronic college graduates out there. Even so, I think Jay's opinion of himself was a bit inflated.

    Nevertheless, he got the/a job so he was kinda right.

    Regarding the texan habit of wearing Colt 45s. Everyone knows that today Desert Eagle .50 is the prefered model ;)

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to Drum D.
    Drum D.:
    SomeCoder:
    I will admit, there are a lot of moronic college graduates out there. Even so, I think Jay's opinion of himself was a bit inflated.

    Nevertheless, he got the/a job so he was kinda right.

    That's true. I got my first programming job right out of high school as well.

    Of course, the years since then have made me realize just how incredibly valuable having that degree can be.

    I guess my point is... stay in school kids! :)

  • someone better than you (unregistered) in reply to eyrieowl
    eyrieowl:
    whicker:
    And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    said in all humility, of course... :)

    The big downside to being better than everyone else is that people tend to think you're pretentious.

    /not my own original words; i'm not quite that awesome

  • (cs) in reply to bob the dingo
    bob the dingo:
    Yeraze:
    As a resident in Mississippi & Graduate from a Mississippi high-school and college (Go Bulldogs!), I find it hilarious some of the preconceptions about life in mississippi. Although, it's a helluva lot of fun messing with people who seem to think we all have Moonshine Distilleries behind our outhouses.
    You mean, you don't make the 'shine in your back yard? See if I ever visit then.

    Of course not, in Mississippi they are smarter than that. You make the shine in your garage where you can lock the other varmints out so they don't steal your shine. Just need to add a few exhaust fans in the walls so it don't 'splode on ya.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to Drum D.
    Drum D.:
    SomeCoder:
    I will admit, there are a lot of moronic college graduates out there. Even so, I think Jay's opinion of himself was a bit inflated.

    Nevertheless, he got the/a job so he was kinda right.

    Regarding the texan habit of wearing Colt 45s. Everyone knows that today Desert Eagle .50 is the prefered model ;)

    while the DE .50 is cool from an engineering point of view, 454 cassull has my heart.

  • (cs) in reply to pseudo anonymous
    pseudo anonymous:
    Always a good idea to insult people in an interview! </sarcasm>

    Had he gone to college to get a degree, the surely would have made him do mock interviews and he would have known that... Or he could have just used a little common sense...

    Experience is always the best teacher. Although the lesson comes AFTER the test.

  • (cs) in reply to whicker
    whicker:
    The truth is the truth. And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    What are you even talking about? Did people at Mensa tell you to put your IQ on your business card? The way you demonstrate intelligence in conversation is by reacting to what the other person is saying, not by telling some story about how you were right and everyone else was wrong.

  • (cs) in reply to pythonic
    pythonic:
    whicker:
    The truth is the truth. And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    What are you even talking about? Did people at Mensa tell you to put your IQ on your business card? The way you demonstrate intelligence in conversation is by reacting to what the other person is saying, not by telling some story about how you were right and everyone else was wrong.

    Smarts (read: "skills") are only perceived through use or example. It's pointless to talk about how smart or skilled you are; it's nothing but words. You might as well be talking about how great a lover you are: until you perform, your words mean nothing. But in a job interview, where you wish to convince the interviewers that you are the best qualified applicant, it is expected that you would "sell yourself" by giving examples of your skills in action.

  • whicker (unregistered) in reply to pythonic
    pythonic:
    whicker:
    The truth is the truth. And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    What are you even talking about? Did people at Mensa tell you to put your IQ on your business card? The way you demonstrate intelligence in conversation is by reacting to what the other person is saying, not by telling some story about how you were right and everyone else was wrong.

    Just... wow.

    This is an interview setting. You're supposed to tell stories. My assumption was that by bringing up his education that he was trying to lead into the "extraordinary" things he did or learned while there. Some sort of thing that made that area special because it allowed him to do certain specific things or participate in whatever relevant thing. (Something he felt most likely wasn't happening in that state.) :)

    Instead he misspoke, and the interviewer was the kind of person to pretend to be insulted, versus asking, "what do you mean by that?"

    And the Mensa thing you just said pretty much drives home the point I was trying to make. The kind of intelligence your post seems to indicate you value is "interpersonal intelligence". A slick talker may ace the interview, but is that what really matters? What about performance after the winning sales pitch?

  • Anon (unregistered) in reply to whicker
    someone better than you:
    The big downside to being better than everyone else is that people tend to think you're pretentious.

    No, those are people who either really aren't smarter than everyone else or have a giant inferiority complex.

    If you are indecently intelligent and lack massive self-esteem problems then you don’t need to constantly show your genius. If it matters for something then the other person will quickly learn of it through your actions. If they don’t need to know of it then it’s pointless to mention it, after all people don’t like to feel inferior or stupid.

    whicker:
    And the Mensa thing you just said pretty much drives home the point I was trying to make. The kind of intelligence your post seems to indicate you value is "interpersonal intelligence". A slick talker may ace the interview, but is that what really matters? What about performance after the winning sales pitch?

    If the interview is so non-technical that only your "interpersonal" skills matter then it’s a shitty interview. In a good interview the questions are (in many ways) technical, you can’t slick talk your way out of solving a problem. THAT is how you show your intelligence in an interview, you answer the question faster and better than the other candidates. And of course you sell yourself but if you keep trying to push how "intelligent" you are then that just makes you look like an idiot who thinks they are intelligent.

  • jayh (unregistered)

    An interesting scientific study a while back found the people who were actually lacking in a particular skill tended to rate their own performance higher than people who demonstrated significant skill.

    I suppose it's because most people cannot conceive of how much they don't know.

    and yeah, I got pretty far without a degree, but it didn't happen overnight. Fortunately my son did not have to start with that handicap.

  • sammy (unregistered) in reply to whicker
    whicker:
    "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    Pfft. Whatever, Yoda.

    (For the record: I'm sure that being affable & glib has never hurt me on a job interview, but I doubt seriously I'd have gotten anywhere if I'd come off as dumb.)

  • (cs) in reply to jayh
    jayh:
    An interesting scientific study a while back found the people who were actually lacking in a particular skill tended to rate their own performance higher than people who demonstrated significant skill.
    The study is titled "Unskilled and Unaware of It":

    http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=406

  • GrandmasterB (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    Sorry, but the real WTF is that Jay thought he was more qualified than someone that went to college.

    Of the truly exceptional developers I've worked with over the past 20 years, most did not have degrees in Comp Sci, and most of them had no college degree at all. I'd hire a young developer with no college education and 4 years of real world programming experience over a kid right out of college (dont care which) any day of the week. With the former, he already has a track record and you know he's got a passion for programming. With the college kid, he's just as likely to have chosen his major because he thought it'd land him a good job after graduation as he is out of interest in the field.

    Imo, I think people over-inflate the importance of a college degree in Comp Sci/IT because the alternative is to admit their degree isnt worth as much as they think, and that they wasted 4 years and a crapload of tuition on skills they could have learned in 6 months on the job.

  • (cs)

    Wow. A story about an arrogant programmer. How novel.

    And, btw, my O/S is better than yours, my choice of programming language is better than yours (and speaking language for that matter), and OF COURSE my editor just totally pwns y'all! (oops spent my teenage summers near Biloxi...)

  • GrandmasterB (unregistered) in reply to FredSaw
    FredSaw:
    Smarts (read: "skills") are only perceived through use or example. It's pointless to talk about how smart or skilled you are; it's nothing but words.

    Well said. Actions speak louder than words.

  • Let the South Secede (unregistered) in reply to Yeraze
    • Your culture is explicitly racist (as opposed to vaguely racist in the north and west)
    • Your economy depends on riverboat gambling and almost nothing else
    • Your supercomputer centers are there because of congressional pork, not merit
    • Your state would still vote for Bush if he ran for an illegal third term.

    http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/statelis.htm

    MS is sixth for highest percentage of health uninsured MS is second at 12.9 murders/100,000 people tenth in highest unemployment rate second in percent under poverty line (23.5) seventh in per-capita defense spending

    http://www.morganquitno.com/edrank.htm

    Don't know if it's valid, but you're #49 of 50 there...

    Notice that my statistics are per-capita/percentage based, so rankings aren't skewed by absolute population numbers.

    so: -crappy -dangerous -lazy -poor -fat on the government till

    oh yeah..

    -stupid

  • SomeCoder (unregistered) in reply to GrandmasterB
    GrandmasterB:
    SomeCoder:
    Sorry, but the real WTF is that Jay thought he was more qualified than someone that went to college.

    Of the truly exceptional developers I've worked with over the past 20 years, most did not have degrees in Comp Sci, and most of them had no college degree at all. I'd hire a young developer with no college education and 4 years of real world programming experience over a kid right out of college (dont care which) any day of the week. With the former, he already has a track record and you know he's got a passion for programming. With the college kid, he's just as likely to have chosen his major because he thought it'd land him a good job after graduation as he is out of interest in the field.

    Imo, I think people over-inflate the importance of a college degree in Comp Sci/IT because the alternative is to admit their degree isnt worth as much as they think, and that they wasted 4 years and a crapload of tuition on skills they could have learned in 6 months on the job.

    Well, let me say this: Yes, you are right. Most of the skills you need in industry is gained from on the job experience, not college. I'd even go so far as to say 99% of it. I got a few nuggets of goodness from college, but not much.

    That said, almost any employer is going to want that piece of paper. While the skills you might have gained while earning that piece of paper are negligible, having the paper makes you vastly more employable.

    The part of the story that I have an issue with is that Jay thought his high school was better than any college in the southern states. I'm not from the south, but that seems like a giant WTF right there to me.

    We are also told that Jay has no industry experience. Based on what you just barely said, you wouldn't hire Jay either.

    On the whole, I'd agree with you though and I have a degree of my own.

  • pweegar (unregistered) in reply to Beau "Porpus" Wilkinson

    Re: Blinded By His Brightness 2007-10-08 12:26 • by Beau "Porpus" Wilkinson

    In my experience, the crappiest employees come from the two extreme ends of the "school quality" spectrum. The DeVry / U. of Phoenix / ITT Tech end of the spectrum is pretty bad, but so is the end that comes from the "elite" schools. The "better" schools suffer from grade inflation, and their graduates tend to suffer from an entitlement mentality. Sometimes they also have a very romantic notion of the field and its "cutting edge" which could benefit from a broader educational experience

    And why do graduates from DeVry rate so low in your opinion???? I graduated from DeVry and felt the CIS courses were VERY good. Not only did we get theory, we got practical experience. EVERY computer class had a related programming lab. NOne of them easy. In fact, one of the best instructors I've EVER had was at DeVry.

    Where did YOU go to school (if you actually did). What % of your class had a job waiting for them upon graduation (mine was 85%+).

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    In a good interview the questions are (in many ways) technical, you can’t slick talk your way out of solving a problem. THAT is how you show your intelligence in an interview, you answer the question faster and better than the other candidates.
    A good way of demonstrating that you're smart (or at least really know your stuff about the field, the interviewer, and the relation of both to the prospective employing organization) is to find aspects of the question that the interviewer had not considered before. Or at least that's always worked for me.
  • GrandmasterB (unregistered) in reply to SomeCoder
    SomeCoder:
    That said, almost any employer is going to want that piece of paper. While the skills you might have gained while earning that piece of paper are negligible, having the paper makes you vastly more employable.

    Oh, dont get me wrong. I do agree that piece of paper makes a person more employable, and will likely get them more dinero. I was speaking purely from the point of the actual skills a person has.

    The part of the story that I have an issue with is that Jay thought his high school was better than any college in the southern states. I'm not from the south, but that seems like a giant WTF right there to me.
    Agreed.
    We are also told that Jay has no industry experience. Based on what you just barely said, you wouldn't hire Jay either.
    You're right - I definately would not hire a developer with no demonstratable experience or skills. If they had no work experience or related education, they'd need to show a project or program they worked on on their own. Someone like that interested in tech I think would probably go best starting out in a 'front line' tech support position where they can start learning the ropes - learning how to troubleshoot, how to deal with customers, etc.
  • stupid old me (unregistered) in reply to whicker
    whicker:
    The truth is the truth. And, oh wait, that's right-- displays of intelligence in the US are frowned upon. You can provide examples that you are wittier, stronger, or more punctual or affable, but god forbid you try to make a point about your smarts. "Arrogant" is all you'll be considered as.

    Of course, ending a sentence in a preposition doesn't help your position. ;-)

  • AnonymousCoward (unregistered) in reply to GrandmasterB
    GrandmasterB:
    Of the truly exceptional developers I've worked with over the past 20 years, most did not have degrees in Comp Sci, and most of them had no college degree at all. I'd hire a young developer with no college education and 4 years of real world programming experience over a kid right out of college (dont care which) any day of the week. With the former, he already has a track record and you know he's got a passion for programming. With the college kid, he's just as likely to have chosen his major because he thought it'd land him a good job after graduation as he is out of interest in the field.

    Imo, I think people over-inflate the importance of a college degree in Comp Sci/IT because the alternative is to admit their degree isnt worth as much as they think, and that they wasted 4 years and a crapload of tuition on skills they could have learned in 6 months on the job.

    Valid points on the importance of a college degree vs. experience for the development of certain skills, perhaps, but people DO go to college to learn more than job skills. A person with a degree will often have a well-rounded education, a much different outlook on life, and a different approach to learning than someone without. There are always exceptions on both sides, but I think it is lame to say that the entire college experience is wasted because you could learn the skills necessary to be competent at your job in six months. I would usually choose a candidate with a college degree, everything else being equal.

  • Alcari (unregistered)

    Well, you could argue that a degree is useless, but don't forget that there are far more idiots without a degree then idiots with a degree.

    It does count for somethine, seeing a degree usually ensures you of at least a modicum of skill and intelligence. Not that there aren't any smart, skilled people without a degree.

    And of course, every employer in the world wants to see one, which seems to be the only real reason to get one.

    as for schools being judged on how many graduees getting a job, my current education must rate top 3, there are currently 2.8 jobs for every engineer over here, the job ratio is in the 99%.

    Howdy ya'll

  • whicker (unregistered) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    Anon:
    In a good interview the questions are (in many ways) technical, you can’t slick talk your way out of solving a problem. THAT is how you show your intelligence in an interview, you answer the question faster and better than the other candidates.
    A good way of demonstrating that you're smart (or at least really know your stuff about the field, the interviewer, and the relation of both to the prospective employing organization) is to find aspects of the question that the interviewer had not considered before. Or at least that's always worked for me.
    Agreeing.

    Another is to understand and point out the equivalence of certain things. For me personally, I may not know the exact brand PLC, Servo Controller, SCADA, or HMI system a builder (OEM) uses, but the major controls manufacturers just copy each and every feature from each other anyways. (Square-D, Allen-Bradley, and Siemens being the worst offenders).

    It's good to sometimes go up to a higher level of abstraction when they're so focused on the details. Do you want a good programmer? Or do you want somebody that knows the intricacies of the quirks of your mishmash of equipment and exact lexicon of the development environment?

  • Anon (unregistered)

    Personally I find college useful in a number of ways which have nothing to do with the actual skills needed for your job. It teaches you a well rounded education and a different way of looking at the world as was already mentioned, at least it does if you let it. College is not a trade school, many who don’t like it seem to do so because they expect it to be one and that mindset kills any advantages it may have had.

    Most importantly a good college lets you gain connections and network. In life it matter more who you know than what you know, you may not like it but that’s how things are. Furthermore it matters more what people think you know than what you actually know. A college degree makes most people think more highly of you so you get paid more or get a leg up on the competition.

    A well rounded education is also useful because if all you know how to do is X, no matter how good you are when X ceases to be relevant you will be left option less. A degree lets you move into other fields even if you don’t have experience in them.

    Some jobs require you to know a lot more than the bare minimum skills of a programmer. In the last year alone I have used what I learned in computer science, programming, statistics, economics, data mining, AI, machine learning, bioinformatics, IT and others which I don’t even remember of the top of my head. I have used skills which no textbook has, as they were the comments of professors and guest lecturers.

    In terms of my personal or intellectual development I have found certain classes that had nothing to do with my major to be invaluable in letting me grow as a person.

  • (cs)

    I think this WTF should have been titled, "Blinded by his Brillance".

  • Eric Aitala (unregistered) in reply to Yeraze

    Don't forget the Mississippi Center for Supercomputing Research (http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu) and the only legal marijuana plot in the country. And we successfully implemented SAP for the University backend... unlike the supposedly bright folks in California...

    Go Rebels..

    Dr Eric Aitala...

    captcha - quake (something one does not have to worry about in Mississippi, unless the big one happens at New Madrid)

  • (cs) in reply to akatherder
    akatherder:
    Yeah I didn't go to your crappy backwater schools and I have all my teeth. I figure I'm pretty much a shoe-in.

    That's "shoo-in", not "shoe-in". Unless you were putting yout foot in your mouth, or being sarcastic (or craptastic).

  • (cs) in reply to DWalker59
    DWalker59:
    That's "shoo-in", not "shoe-in". Unless you were putting yout foot in your mouth, or being sarcastic (or craptastic).
    Maybe he figured he had a shoe in the door.
  • koni (unregistered) in reply to Franz Kafka
    Franz Kafka:
    Drum D.:
    SomeCoder:
    I will admit, there are a lot of moronic college graduates out there. Even so, I think Jay's opinion of himself was a bit inflated.

    Nevertheless, he got the/a job so he was kinda right.

    Regarding the texan habit of wearing Colt 45s. Everyone knows that today Desert Eagle .50 is the prefered model ;)

    while the DE .50 is cool from an engineering point of view, 454 cassull has my heart.

    Either caliber is acceptable, as long as the weapon is belt-fed with quick-change barrels.

    (I just love to watch the clerks at the sporting goods store when I ask "Does that come with a belt feed adapter?")

  • masuku (unregistered) in reply to AnonymousCoward
    AnonymousCoward:
    GrandmasterB:
    Of the truly exceptional developers I've worked with over the past 20 years, most did not have degrees in Comp Sci, and most of them had no college degree at all. I'd hire a young developer with no college education and 4 years of real world programming experience over a kid right out of college (dont care which) any day of the week. With the former, he already has a track record and you know he's got a passion for programming. With the college kid, he's just as likely to have chosen his major because he thought it'd land him a good job after graduation as he is out of interest in the field.

    Imo, I think people over-inflate the importance of a college degree in Comp Sci/IT because the alternative is to admit their degree isnt worth as much as they think, and that they wasted 4 years and a crapload of tuition on skills they could have learned in 6 months on the job.

    Valid points on the importance of a college degree vs. experience for the development of certain skills, perhaps, but people DO go to college to learn more than job skills. A person with a degree will often have a well-rounded education, a much different outlook on life, and a different approach to learning than someone without. There are always exceptions on both sides, but I think it is lame to say that the entire college experience is wasted because you could learn the skills necessary to be competent at your job in six months. I would usually choose a candidate with a college degree, everything else being equal.

    You are absolutely right, you learn much in college - how to drink till you pass out in your own puke, where to find illegal substances, which classes you can pass for sexual favors (male or female), how to avoid debates with people on the merits of your viewpoints by stating "You would agree with me if you had enough education to realize how incorrect you are", etc. (the list is long and not pretty). I spent 15 years working in "higher education" at four different universities watching the show, so get real - what you want is paper (degree), what they want is FTE (full time equivalent) seat-time students so they don't lose funding. If you learn anything, it is an accidental byproduct of years of sitting on your ass, with an overpriced book (that is changed every year to keep the bookstore in business) in front of you. After you graduate, then you find someone to hire you so you can learn how to do "all that bullshit you said" (from Independence Day, a popular movie about genocide, on TV tonight)

  • MrTweek (unregistered)

    For all the non-native English speakers, can someone tell what GPA means?

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to MrTweek
    MrTweek:
    For all the non-native English speakers, can someone tell what GPA means?
    I know it stands for Grade Point Average, but I've no idea what it means in practice. We use a different system round here...
  • Alcari (unregistered) in reply to dkf
    dkf:
    MrTweek:
    For all the non-native English speakers, can someone tell what GPA means?
    I know it stands for Grade Point Average, but I've no idea what it means in practice. We use a different system round here...

    In practise it's simply how well you've preformed in college. only rated on a 0-4 compensated scale. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPA#United_States

  • (cs) in reply to MrTweek
    MrTweek:
    For all the non-native English speakers, can someone tell what GPA means?

    Grade Point Average.

    Disclaimer: I'm not American and have never been in MS, so I'm pretty unbiased.

    For all the MS bashers out there: you shouldn't take the handling of the Katrina disaster as an example. New Orleans, LS and pretty much all of the Texan cities did a shitty job at that as well.

    And I agree with all saying that a college paper helps you set your foot in the door to get your first job. A degree doesn't tell very much about your smartness in general.

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