ucfan
Junior High
Posts: 2
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Post by ucfan on Feb 21, 2007 13:22:38 GMT -5
Do any of you honestly believe that your success or lack of success was primarily due to where you went to undergraduate school? At that level you are learning the basics of your profession or concentration that could be properly obtained at the majority of the upper tier accredited universities across this country. The real differences occur at the graduate school level were resources and cutting edge professors can make their mark. And that’s be honest here, once you are out of school for more than a year who really cares where you went to school. At that point your production record in the workplace is primarily used to measure your merits. Back to the LBST vs. the UCLA thing, I would imagine that if you took all their schools graduates that only have a BA or BS, dropping the top and bottom ten percent, and then compared them major to major, you would not find much difference ten years after graduation.
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Post by Wolfgang on Feb 21, 2007 13:52:23 GMT -5
All of you, listen up. I've got the skinny on this whole degree prestige vs. success debate. It's very complicated and lot of different factors are involved in determining whether someone succeeds or not.
First and foremost is the definition of "success". I know many of you might consider $$$ as the true measure of success. Then, there are others who define it as someone with a lot of loving family and friends. Still others define "success" as being able to wake up healthy in the morning, sleep well at night, and do whatever the hell you want in between. I know some Ph.D physicists who now sell tie-dyed shirts in Hawaii. They are very happy knowing they live near the beach operating a business they love.
Second, the prestige of your degree opens a lot of doors. But what you do, once inside, determines how far you go. I've worked with many attorneys from the Ivy Leagues as well as those from Santa Clara, Oklahoma, Detroit, Richmond, and other "podunk" law schools. Believe me, there's really no difference in performance. I know MFA grads who can't write anything interesting or anything technically sound, but they certainly critique well. I also know many engineers and scientists with MS's and Ph.D's who lack some basic fundamental knowledge in certain areas slightly off from their field of expertise. I just read the article about Bev Oden. She's a Stanford grad and is now working as a pet sitter. I'm not denigrating her profession because I, too, think pet sitting is a wonderful business, especially if you love dogs and cats, as I do. But, from a distance, you've got to be asking yourself two questions:
1. She got a Stanford degree and is now pet-sitting? 2. Why do you need a Stanford degree to operate a pet-sitting business?
As I said, I am not trying to denigrate any profession. But pet-sitting is not one of the "elite" professions you associate with a degree from an "elite" school like Stanford. By the way, my dad was a bartender and my mom was a hair dresser, so I can appreciate all professions, blue collar and otherwise. Except pedophile volleyball coaches. I can't respect that.
Third, regardless of the prestige of your degree, everyone makes choices in their lives. And life throws curve balls. Many many Stanford and Harvard and Yale graduates, 20 years after graduating, think to themselves, "Jeez, is this what my ______ degree got me?" and also, "Why was I so stupid back then?" Hey, you made your choices. You either entered the right field, at the right time, at the right place...or you didn't.
I got my undergrad in Electrical Engineering from a Big Ten school and a law degree from Columbia. But I attribute most of my biggest successes on luck. Pure and simple. Even my marriage, which I consider my biggest accomplishment ever -- to bag such a wonderful lady. I won't divulge any secrets but a lot of trickery was involved.
So, stop worrying about what degree you got from wherever. Make the best of it.
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Post by romeo on Feb 21, 2007 14:24:55 GMT -5
Hear hear. Jolly good.
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weeble
Bouncing Baby Ball
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Post by weeble on Feb 21, 2007 14:35:30 GMT -5
Amen Wolfgang. Not every school is right for every student athlete.
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Post by AntennaMagnet on Feb 21, 2007 14:56:44 GMT -5
Wolfgang brings up a good point. Other than Walsh, Tom, and a few other olympians from the Farm, what do Stanford women do after volleyball ?
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Post by BearClause on Feb 21, 2007 15:20:23 GMT -5
Wolfgang brings up a good point. Other than Walsh, Tom, and a few other olympians from the Farm, what do Stanford women do after volleyball ? I heard Lindsay Kagawa works at a sports agency. Last I heard, Cary Wendell was working a desk job on the Stanford campus. Even someone like Kim Oden is just a HS counselor at St Francis HS. For everyone you've heard of from some big name school who goes on to found a multimillion-dollar company or who cures some disease, there are dozens of people in ordinary desk jobs or other positions. There's certainly nothing wrong with it, but it's not as if a "big name" degree is the key to hand-over-fist wealth. Some people want to work in schools, non-profits, or government jobs where the pay may not be so great. Just this month I met a Stanford grad who worked for the National Park Service. I'm not sure what his full job description was, but part of it included driving around a maintenance truck, FWIW. He probably found it rewarding, but it's not as if he got super-rich or famous doing it.
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Post by AntennaMagnet on Feb 21, 2007 17:19:23 GMT -5
I agree that a Stanford degree is no guarantee to financial success and there are many ways to measure life success, however, the impression lingers that Stanford girls don't always live up to their intellectual potential.
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Post by BearClause on Feb 21, 2007 17:44:14 GMT -5
I agree that a Stanford degree is no guarantee to financial success and there are many ways to measure life success, however, the impression lingers that Stanford girls don't always live up to their intellectual potential. I don't believe someone with a degree in social work from a prestigous private college is likely on their way to wealth and riches, save choosing another field of work. Again - there 's far more to life than simply amassing wealth.
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Post by ESTRELLA on Feb 21, 2007 17:48:30 GMT -5
Hey guys........does it really matter? I don't think so. Love you - Estrella
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shag
Freshman
Posts: 58
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Post by shag on Feb 21, 2007 18:12:07 GMT -5
wow...I'm a newbie on Vtalk but already understand that these threads are like launching a toy rocket with no fins...you don't don't know where the heck they're going to go. Returning back to "transfer season", any word on Bartek's visits/decision?
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Post by BearClause on Feb 21, 2007 19:04:12 GMT -5
wow...I'm a newbie on Vtalk but already understand that these threads are like launching a toy rocket with no fins...you don't don't know where the heck they're going to go. Returning back to "transfer season", any word on Bartek's visits/decision? It's the off-season, and "static" happens all the time when there isn't that much to talk about. ;D
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Post by Wolfgang on Feb 21, 2007 19:37:14 GMT -5
Despite Jewel's high-falutin' degree, she's coaching club vb in Southern California and waitressin' on the side. I would INDEED like fries with that, please.
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Post by AntennaMagnet on Feb 21, 2007 20:31:40 GMT -5
Amazing, I heard that Jewel was Wolfgang's cleaning lady.
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Post by doc on Feb 21, 2007 21:23:38 GMT -5
Wolfgang, I didn't know that "pedophile volleyball coaches" was a profession. It must be a lawyer thing.
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Post by beachman on Feb 21, 2007 21:35:45 GMT -5
Well my brother lives North of Denver and I know what their winter has been like Today in Long Beach, it will be about 80 degrees, absolutely no clouds, no smog, and a nice breeze....it's why I live here, running around year round in shorts and a T'Shirt! You gotta love it! ;D There are plenty of places in Southern California where you can run around in t-shirts and shorts year-round, that are a lot nicer than Long Beach (like Westwood). And, there are plenty of universities in Southern California where you can get a much better education than in Long Beach (like Westwood). And, there are plenty of places in Southern California where you can play on a much better volleyball team than in Long Beach (like Westwood). Am I being subtle enough? I just love Westwood......nice place to be from but not a great place to be at! I am sure that life as a student there is pretty good, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to have to live there and try to commute to and from that part of Los Angeles County on a daily basis, unless of course I had a chauffered limousine to travel in I guess if I had a degree from Satanford I would have that Chauffered limo
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