100 Reasons Not to Go to Grad School

[Ideologue]

YOURE MISSING THE POINT

What's the point?  Ignorance of the knowledge of hard science can still put you in position to write stupid articles?

Show me where he went wrong with the stats, Werner Von Braun.

The fact that only 37 percent of CEOs have hard science background does not disprove the theory that hard science background leads to greater professional success, even assuming that percentage of CEOs is a valid metric for this.  You have to know how the pool of candidates is split as well.  If there are 20 liberal arts flakies for every hard science major, for example, then 37 percent figure is actually a very strong proof of the theory.  Basically, the fatal fallacy is that only half of the necessary information is used to prove a point being made.

Also, it overlooks what I believe to be an extremely high likelihood that all those "humanities" majors (since when is fucking accounting one of the humanities? or business?) are HYS fucksticks (no offense garbo) where the name of the institution on their degree is what counts, not their course of study there.  I mean, if a history degree from Yale lands you an executive position, does that mean Silicon Valley needs someone with a history degree from a small South Carolina college?  If so, where do I sign up?

[DGuller]

When you have a math degree, accounting and business majors are humanities to you.

[Valmy]

I'm getting a degree because I want to get an education and to interact with academic circles. And besides, I dunno about the US, but in Finland a degree does give you the right to demand a better job and higher pay.

You have a right to demand jobs from people that must get tiresome for employers.

In any case what we are talking about might not be applicable to Finland.  It is an article by North Americans to give North American students food for thought about getting expensive graduate degrees under the specific circumstances present here today.  It is not some condemnation of graduate studies for all time and all places to the contrary the people who write on this blog love study and higher education.

[Valmy]

If I had the money I'd go to grad school immediately. I love school.

What subject?  I mean Yale has these great open course where you get the reading the lectures and the whole thing.  You basically get to do the class without having to do any of the work, pay the money, or do the bullshit.

http://oyc.yale.edu/

I mean presuming what you want to learn things and not specifically for the degree.

[Barrister]

Gee. I'm sure glad I never went to grad school then.

[Sheilbh]

What subject?  I mean Yale has these great open course where you get the reading the lectures and the whole thing.  You basically get to do the class without having to do any of the work, pay the money, or do the bullshit.

http://oyc.yale.edu/

I mean presuming what you want to learn things and not specifically for the degree.

But going to university - especially at a graduate level - is about engaging with academics not listening to them, though those do look interesting.

I had a look at some of the English ones.  With the exception of the wonderful Paul Fry, are all American academics so effetely homosexual?

[The Brain]

I know a scientist (hard science) who is completely awesome in his field, #1 in the world AFAICT. He doesn't have a PhD. Ergo, DG, PhDs are completely pointless.

[Martinus]

One economics PhD recently got cut

Whoa. Where do you work? Baltimore?

[Martinus]

Among actuaries, there is definitely a strong feeling that anything above a bachelor's degree is not worth it, and is often counter-productive.  In my experience, there is some truth to that;  in my company the success record of graduate degree holders is definitely mixed.  Some people are really brilliant, but others are bottom of the barrel, often due to temperamental factors.  One economics PhD recently got cut, to the relief of everyone.  I'm not sure whether it's correlation or causation, though.

I suspect it is similar in your line of work as it is in mine, i.e. people with PhD are weirdos. They don't work very well within corporate law firm framework and in fact there is a certain prejudice against hiring them in international law firms (it's different for example in Germany where everyone has a PhD because that's how their system operates - what's funny is how each of them puts their PhD in their signatures nonetheless ).

[Martinus]

Personally, I want the advanced degree so that I can wear the hood.

It would be cheaper and more productive if you just joined KKK.

[CountDeMoney]

One economics PhD recently got cut

Whoa. Where do you work? Baltimore?

You sharpshooting me, cockhound?

[Ideologue]

Gee. I'm sure glad I never went to grad school then.

OH DON'T EVEN

[Ideologue]

Fun fact: with law school admissions down by like 25%, several schools are backing up their application deadlines to AUGUST.

This is how the cookie crumbles, and I helped!

[Kolytsin]

If you go to Grad school for the wrong reasons, then these apply.  Good grad school teaches you how to actually research and write papers that people will care about and that meet the standards of the particular academic community.  Also, unless you are a wunderkind entrepreneur or have some other very distinctive blip on your resume, no business will hire you for a middle/upper management level track unless you have that "check in the box" MBA.  Education is not a prerequisite for success.  But success has a very high level of correlation with success.

[Josquius]

Too many people in the world though seem to have the idea that more qualifications= a smarter person.
"Oh, he has a PHD and three bachellors! He must be a genius!"....when all it actually means is he put in the time to do that much work. Probally means the opposite of him being a genius.
This idea really needs bringing down. But whilst it remains...there remains merit to graduate studies.

But start going down that road and you start attacking the whole idea of school and how its just about getting the bit of paper.