Do you think you are smarter than me because you have a graduate degree?

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I do not know you.

Have you always had an inferiority complex?


+1.

OP, why do you even care?


In OP's defense, this comes up all the time in my field... "we are looking for someone with at least a Masters degree in" blah blah blah... Really?!?! When right in front of your own eyes you have employees with Bachelors degree outperforming those with doctorates. I agree that I don't understand the emphasis on these degrees over experience and competence. I have coworkers who did night school and earned a Masters degree working along side better performing employees who didn't bother and no change was noticeable.


OP here. When staff members look for mentoring and ask about grad school, I always tell them to go to grad school if they want to learn about a topic (for knowledge's sake) or have a grad school experience. If they want to do it to enhance their career, unless they are changing careers, it will almost always cost more in time and money than the value it will give you in terms of a career boost. Of course, this is for people who have already started their career. Certainly, for some it can help them land that first job, and for some careers (e.g. law) it's necessary. But having a generic masters is not going to give you much of a foot up in many careers, once you've got some experience.


Makes sense.
Anonymous
I am smarter than some people without graduate degrees not as smart as all people without graduate degrees. Also, some people with graduate degrees are smarter than me and I am smarter than some people with graduate degrees.

Am I:

A) smarter than some people without graduate degrees
B) smarter than some people with graduate degrees
C) annoyed with OP for a stupid question
D) all of the above
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No, not at all. In fact, some graduate degrees are complete wastes. It is one accomplishment, the worth of which differs.


Just wanted to add an example, I think most people who get law degrees from lower-tiered law schools are not too bright. Very poor financial decision.


It depends. If they have a family law practice, why does it matter where they go. What if their parent has connections and they just need the degree, wouldn't it just be a waste to pay more for the degree, law or otherwise?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think I'm smarter. I do think I am more accomplished.


That's tautological, in the sense that people with graduate degrees have accomplished something (namely, a graduate degree) that people without graduate degrees have not.

On the other hand, a graduate degree is not the only possible accomplishment. Which means that a person without a graduate degree could well be more accomplished than a person with a graduate degree. What have you accomplished besides getting a graduate degree?


--Got scholarships for undergrad and a full ride to grad school paid for by my employer
--Steadily climbed career ladder from undergrad on, and now make six figures and set my own hours
--My byline has appeared numerous times in The Washington Post
--Two beautiful, healthy children, and a wonderful husband
--Homeowner
--Works of fiction published in literary journals
--Presented at an international literary conference
--Overcame a serious health issue for which I received a pretty grim diagnosis, and am healthy and happy
--Volunteer/donor
--Active member of my church

We good?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:No. My M. Ed. was useless, and the coursework was insultingly easy. I DO judge teachers who talk about their "masters degree" (meaning M. Ed.): I view them as stupid and unsophisticated, which describes most of my classmates in that program.

Now, my MA in my actual subject was difficult, and it isn't possible for a stupid person to complete that program, so I do automatically assume that people with similar degrees are intelligent.




You do know teachers with a Masters are on a higher pay scale.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:No, not at all. In fact, some graduate degrees are complete wastes. It is one accomplishment, the worth of which differs.


+1

I'm a teacher so I value education. I'm a career changer so I have both degrees (undergrad and grad) and work experience in the subject area I teach. However, I realize that these things don't equate intelligence just opportunities I was blessed to have and hard work.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Ok let's be clear, OP. You are talking about a very specific braggadocios douche nozzle type of person, with which our fair city is heavily populated. I don't think you have an inferiority complex. These people are annoying. However, since you asked, yes I am pretty confident I am smarter than you, although unless we were really close friends you wouldn't know I have a phd in physics.


+1! PhDs are a dime a dozen here. All you need is the ability to pass a test and go into debt.

OP, it's O.K. to dislike annoying people. You're time is precious. Don't let them take it from you. It's O.K. to put yourself first in front of them, especially if you're a parent, a spouse or a child of aging parents, whose time is pressing -- or if your anyone who's simply bored with nonsense.

It's O.K. to tune them out or walk away.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just to preempt the grammar police, it is "smarter than I".

I don't think one person is smarter than another person because of a graduate degree. I do tend to think that the group of people who get graduate degrees are, on average, smarter than the group who doesn't. To be perfectly honest, however, I think those that are doing well financially without the graduate degree are the smartest of us all!


Actually, both "smarter than me" and "smarter than I" are correct.

As for smarter, what do you mean exactly? Street smarts or social smarts or IQ smarts? Intelligence testing shows that people who do earn graduate degrees, especially PhDs, tend to have higher IQs than the general public.


"than" is a preposition when used with a pronoun so "me" is preferred but "I" is okay because sometimes "than" is a conjunction.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No. My M. Ed. was useless, and the coursework was insultingly easy. I DO judge teachers who talk about their "masters degree" (meaning M. Ed.): I view them as stupid and unsophisticated, which describes most of my classmates in that program.

Now, my MA in my actual subject was difficult, and it isn't possible for a stupid person to complete that program, so I do automatically assume that people with similar degrees are intelligent.




You do know teachers with a Masters are on a higher pay scale.


Yes, I know this because I am a teacher, and I have two Masters degrees, one of which is an M. Ed. This is how I can compare an M. Ed. with a "real" grad degree, and say with assurance that even my cat could "earn" an M. Ed.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Just to preempt the grammar police, it is "smarter than I".

I don't think one person is smarter than another person because of a graduate degree. I do tend to think that the group of people who get graduate degrees are, on average, smarter than the group who doesn't. To be perfectly honest, however, I think those that are doing well financially without the graduate degree are the smartest of us all!


Actually, both "smarter than me" and "smarter than I" are correct.

As for smarter, what do you mean exactly? Street smarts or social smarts or IQ smarts? Intelligence testing shows that people who do earn graduate degrees, especially PhDs, tend to have higher IQs than the general public.


I don't have a graduate degree, but I know that as far as "IQ smarts" (!) I compare favorably to those who do. Street smarts and social smarts? I'm getting better at the latter (comes with age and experience IMO), and will never be particularly good at the former.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Just to preempt the grammar police, it is "smarter than I".

I don't think one person is smarter than another person because of a graduate degree. I do tend to think that the group of people who get graduate degrees are, on average, smarter than the group who doesn't. To be perfectly honest, however, I think those that are doing well financially without the graduate degree are the smartest of us all!


"Than me" is actually fine. Or "smarter than I am."

OP, if someone really thinks their MA makes them smart, their education was wasted on her. I do have immense respect for people with degrees that require brains. Liberal arts are dumb, I can assure you as a holder of one of them useless things
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I get the impression from many posts on DCUM that people with graduate degrees thinks that this bestows on them some kind of superiority over those who don't.

Sure, I give you props for doing that studying, especially if you have a PhD, but it doesn't make you innately more intelligent than I am (without a graduate degree), just because you have that degree (though you probably have more specialized knowledge than I do in the one specialized area that you studied). I have worked with and known many people with impressive educational qualifications and rarely has their intellect blown me away. In fact, I regularly come across people with graduate degrees who don't learn particularly quickly or have very deep insight into whatever we are working on/discussing, or have extremely little knowledge of the world around them.

Basically the difference between you with your graduate degree and me, without one, is that you bothered to apply, pay a lot of money and study for an extra couple of years. I could have done that too. It wouldn't make me any better at my job. It wouldn't make me superior to my pre-grad school self.

Likewise, when I hire staff I am more impressed with solid work experience than graduate school.


It sounds like you spent a lot of time crafting that message. Kudos.

Let me ask you something, though: do you think you're more superior to people without a college degree? I agree with your post but I would suggest that the same applies to people even without college degrees.

Now go ahead, get all up in arms about how people without college degrees just aren't as good as you!
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I don't think I'm smarter. I do think I am more accomplished.


That's tautological, in the sense that people with graduate degrees have accomplished something (namely, a graduate degree) that people without graduate degrees have not.

On the other hand, a graduate degree is not the only possible accomplishment. Which means that a person without a graduate degree could well be more accomplished than a person with a graduate degree. What have you accomplished besides getting a graduate degree?


--Got scholarships for undergrad and a full ride to grad school paid for by my employer
--Steadily climbed career ladder from undergrad on, and now make six figures and set my own hours
--My byline has appeared numerous times in The Washington Post
--Two beautiful, healthy children, and a wonderful husband
--Homeowner
--Works of fiction published in literary journals
--Presented at an international literary conference
--Overcame a serious health issue for which I received a pretty grim diagnosis, and am healthy and happy
--Volunteer/donor
--Active member of my church

We good?


You sound like one of those deeply insecure striver types. You probably have a bunch of stuff framed on your office walls that displays these things.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:There are many people in DC who are showy about their graduate degrees (and pretty much everything else).

As a college degree has become what a high school degree was in an earlier era, a graduate degree has become the gateway to the higher positions and salaries.

A college degree will get you to the middle class, but you will almost certainly need a graduate degree to get to the upper-middle class.


OK, a very limited number of degrees will get you there. Maybe. I'd bet on inheritance or marrying money.
Anonymous
I don't think number of degrees = intelligence, but I am very proud of my graduate degree. I earned a fellowship which paid for it so graduated with no debt. I need it in my field - I'm in policy and it's competitive here in the DC area. One differentiator is that all the jobs I have been interested in, in the last several years, have required or strongly encouraged a grad degree for consideration.

My husband does not have a grad degree, though he has an awesome career and makes more than me.
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