How much do you remember from college?

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J

jmog

Senior Member

6,567 posts
Apr 29, 2016 11:30 AM
gut;1794084 wrote:Yeah, plenty of smart people in this thread talking about how little they remember from many of their classes (and not that long after graduation).

I think that illustrates what many in academia (quietly) and business will admit - a 4-yr degree is primarily a screening/signaling tool (hell, same even with an MBA). I don't have to guess at your work ethic or brains - the GPA is a decent indicator (adjusted for major/school).

In many cases, it DOES provide a solid foundation for contributing early on in entry-level jobs. The company is not starting with a blank slate - you've already invested some degree of training you got out of that 4-yr degree. But try cramming some of that "well-rounded" shit down your boss's throat with book learning from college that you barely scratched the surface on and barely understood...and see how long you last.
I would say for many engineers, while we may not use what we learned in undergrad most of the time, the scientific/engineering foundation we obtained allows us to learn the job and do the job.

No way I could do what I do now or even learned what I needed for my job, without the background in Chemical Engineering.

I am not designing whole oil refinery plants (like our one class was about) or solving complex partial differential equations, but I am using various portions/information/tools from most of those classes.
Apr 29, 2016 11:30am
GOONx19's avatar

GOONx19

An exceptional poster.

7,147 posts
Apr 29, 2016 11:40 AM
I think nearly anyone with success in a field that doesn't rely on formulas will tell you that the vast majority of their learning occurred through experience after graduation. School should teach you how to find answers and solutions on your own.
Apr 29, 2016 11:40am
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Apr 29, 2016 12:19 PM
jmog;1794095 wrote: No way I could do what I do now or even learned what I needed for my job, without the background in Chemical Engineering.

I am not designing whole oil refinery plants (like our one class was about) or solving complex partial differential equations, but I am using various portions/information/tools from most of those classes.
Should have qualified my response to non-technical fields. Although it still sounds like most of what you needed/relied on is only a fraction of your 4-years.

I could say the same for finance/accounting. Maybe it's not the same, but that foundation is valuable and used frequently....although it's not anything that couldn't be learned/taught on the job. In fact, many elite investment banks and consulting firms go for the "blank slate" liberal arts majors and teach people everything they need to know on the job. IB's have @8-week crash course that teaches analysts everything they need to know to get started on accounting/finance.

It's a little different in engineering and other technical disciplines where you need a foundation in math, physics, chemistry, etc..
Apr 29, 2016 12:19pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Apr 29, 2016 12:24 PM
GOONx19;1794102 wrote:School should teach you how to find answers and solutions on your own.
But that's also nothing that can't be learned through work experience or job training, or something that requires at most only a handful of courses.

For non-technical jobs, the degree is really nothing more than a signal/filtering tool and, down the road, a box checked off. Mediocre grades at a mediocre school won't do anything for you, and won't provide much of an ROI on the degree. You won't even get interviews for most decent paying jobs out of undergrad.
Apr 29, 2016 12:24pm
FatHobbit's avatar

FatHobbit

Senior Member

8,651 posts
Apr 29, 2016 12:39 PM
gut;1794084 wrote:Yeah, plenty of smart people in this thread talking about how little they remember from many of their classes (and not that long after graduation).

I think that illustrates what many in academia (quietly) and business will admit - a 4-yr degree is primarily a screening/signaling tool (hell, same even with an MBA). I don't have to guess at your work ethic or brains - the GPA is a decent indicator (adjusted for major/school).

In many cases, it DOES provide a solid foundation for contributing early on in entry-level jobs. The company is not starting with a blank slate - you've already invested some degree of training you got out of that 4-yr degree. But try cramming some of that "well-rounded" shit down your boss's throat with book learning from college that you barely scratched the surface on and barely understood...and see how long you last.
That was my point. People want a job, they don't give a shit about the education they get from their university as long as they can do their job.
Apr 29, 2016 12:39pm
G

gut

Senior Member

15,058 posts
Apr 29, 2016 3:42 PM
FatHobbit;1794116 wrote:That was my point. People want a job, they don't give a shit about the education they get from their university as long as they can do their job.
And that's why everyone looks for the easy classes to pad their GPA. That's why the "free college" arguments irritate me - a well-educated ditch digger isn't a ditch digger because he's smart. Shitty grades at a shitty school isn't doing anything for your career prospects, it's just making you "overeducated" relative to your capability.

For more than a few people, even free college is still going to offer bad ROI, possibly even negative (because now you're "overqualified" for what you are actually capable of doing).
Apr 29, 2016 3:42pm
MontyBrunswick's avatar

MontyBrunswick

Senior Member

846 posts
Apr 29, 2016 7:08 PM
gut;1794084 wrote:But try cramming some of that "well-rounded" shit down your boss's throat with book learning from college that you barely scratched the surface on and barely understood...and see how long you last.
worked for belly
Apr 29, 2016 7:08pm