Is this going to be a trend? (WSJ - Palantir Thinks College Might Be a Waste. So It's Hiring High-School Grads)
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Anonymous
um, kay, good luck to your kid. |
Anonymous
First, I don't understand the comment on Bill Gates and his actual resume. I mean, he was a super-advanced programmer for his day, so if you transported an 18 year old Bill Gates to 2025, I am sure he would have a far different resume. Second, all top schools are very generous with allowing students to take leave and then return. These schools aren't stupid and they know that young kids do in fact go onto create massive companies, so they want to stay in your good graces. So, to say "where does that leave you"?, the answer is you can return to school and finish your degree if you want...but if you end up hitting even a tech-startup double, you may not ever need to work again. I also think you don't appreciate who the actual founders are...they are self-starters and make many good connections with industry and VCs. It's actually rare for kids who found VC-backed companies to not land on their feet, as long as they "fail honestly". Meaning, they don't steal money from the Company or create the next Theranos...though, a number of the high profile VC backers of Elizabeth Holmes claim they would fund her again...so who knows. |
Anonymous
| Part of what I hope my kid is learning in college is the ability to see how Palantir is bad for society, and to understand why she should not be part of anything like that. |
Anonymous
The error is thinking you need college for a white collar job. Up through the 1980s in Britain plenty of white collar industries recruited students right out of high school via a training scheme. Especially in finance, accounting, low level corporate roles. You would be surprised by how many rose through the ranks. So many office jobs don't need degrees if we are being honest, far more is gained from on site job learning. As for critical thinking, I am ambivalent about the concept. It's a nice idea but college isn't the only place to get an "education." There are so many poorly educated kids coming out of colleges these days, and the degree is no guarantee they're equipped with the right critical thinking skills. |
Anonymous
You don't even have to look to Britain. Up until the 1980s in the US if you lived in NYC, going to work on Wall Street was the equivalent of working for an auto company in Detroit. I think in the 1970s and early 1980s like 40% of Wall Street CEOs had no college degree. It was a viable pathway direct out of high school for many kids. Now...the flip side argument is the business was far less complicated. You didn't have all the complex financial products that exist today and their invention really taking off in the 1980s. Much of this is due to computing power. I remember when I started in banking in the early 1990s you might create a complex financial spreadsheet and then hit F9 and it had to run for like 6 hours overnight to incorporate your changes. I asked some of the old guard how they did deals prior to computers and they said that someone would hand write projections using a calculator and once everyone agreed those were the projections a secretary would type them up. Clearly, you couldn't run every random scenario you wanted, or make the models all that complex. |
Anonymous
Or any organization that partners with them like: Nvidia, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Databricks, IBM, Boeing, Airbus, Lear, BAH, Accenture, CDC, Deloitte and PwC. |
Anonymous
Why not get them an internship so they can actually learn the skills? |
Anonymous
yes, but then in the 80s/90s, companies wanted people to have a college education. There are even more poorly educated kids coming out of HS. BTW, now even in Britain, companies want people with college degrees. My spouse is from there; their nephews graduated from college about a decade ago, and they said that even then, companies there wanted people with college degrees. What you are advocating would lead to a large proportion of the wealth gap. There would need to be a complete paradigm shift in corporate America to have a college degree be a waste. If you want to be lead the way and not have your kids go to college, be my guest. Let us know how that turns out. Mine is now in college, has had some great internships. The one upcoming is going to pay them $91/hour. There is no way that DC would've gotten that if they weren't in college. Most 18-21 year olds don't have the drive to self educate and learn on their own. BTW, do you think Trump's college aged son will now drop out of college because it's a waste? |
Anonymous
She’s already well on her way - luck is where preparation meets opportunity. She’s preparing and is choosing amongst opportunities, of which for her there are many. |
Anonymous
Hmmm…. Maybe you should see the bigger picture. I think understanding the way these companies operate from the inside is the best way to create change |
Anonymous
Should be pointed out that with growing expectations for a college degree, the income inequality has only worsened. Substantially. When everyone has a degree, it becomes useless. There is nothing special about having a college degree. What it only does is to demonstrate you have the capacity to graduate from a college. That's all. It does not say anything about critical thinking or skills or accomplishments or attitudes. Having a degree doesn't mean you have any of it. There is no shortage of illogical people woth wacky beliefs and ideologies who have degrees. Do we need to force millions of kids into expensive degrees with debt just to get a basic job once they graduated? That is the question. And it's worth looking at it carefully. |
Anonymous
Exactly my point!! And my kids will intern when they are old enough - currently not many places will allow a 10 and 14 year old to intern. Where I work, they only take MS students to intern. I’m trying to change that from the inside because even I see that’s total bollocks. On the side I am teaching them the skills. I’m also teaching them investing. My 10 yo can do compound interest in her head, which I can’t even do. |
Anonymous
What are you talking about?! We created the rules here. They are playing by them. You want them out? Vote for legislation to do that. Instead we (not me!) voted for Trump to exacerbate this dynamic. |
Anonymous
The ones I knew ended up as realtors. |
Anonymous
| I read that yesterday and immediately thought of the DCUM mom who was thrilled her DS got a job there in the spring (though after Grady college). Gross! Especially when you read about their class on Western civilization. They are priming these white boys to do “justified” harm. |