"It's overrated."
In the movie Orange County, Jack Black's character attempts to sneak into the admissions building at Stanford, and gets caught by the girl working the front desk. Not to ruin the movie, but they end up getting naked, then burning down the building.
trailer
However, at one point, the girl says something that's stuck with me for a long time. Speaking about Stanford, she says, "It's overrated." I've always wondered: can this be applied to college in general? I'm starting to think so.
I found this John Stossel report over on the ABC news website. I'm not entirely sure how to react when I see stories like this. Unlike the New York Times story on Stefan Heise I posted on recently, I can relate to these graduates somewhat. Also, unlike the NYT story, this one explores whether college is overrated.
Although I guess I'm glad I went to college, stories like this make me think I'll be stuck at my current job for a very long time.
It's overrated
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3 comments:
Part of the reason why college is so overhyped is the fact that many employers only hire degree-holders even when having a college degree is in no way necessary for the job duties. Employers figure, not entirely unreasonably, that requiring a degree is a way of ensuring that applicants aren't complete idiots. This is reinforced by the legal restrictions on pre-employment intelligence tests.
Peter
Mmm, I dunno. The idea that college will provide a bonanza of job opportunities sure didn't work out for the people in the story.
I think the term is "necessary, but not sufficient." Having a college degree is necessary for a lot of jobs, but it's not sufficient. Also, half of my coworkers don't have college degrees. Some of my supervisors don't, too. All of their supervisors do.
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