Playing intramurals doesn't cut it.Since when is a degree from MIT not looked upon fondly?Looking at...

1. Graduate Degrees and Ivy League Pedigrees Are Highly
Over-Rated
Playing intramurals doesn't cut it.
Since when is a degree from MIT not looked upon fondly?
Looking at job postings, requirements are for MBAs, bachelor's degrees in specific subjects, and
certain certifications. No one cares about those places.
2. Master's degree holders get more money than others, regardless of actual teaching ability.
Marketplace recently did an investigation into teacher pay practices.
Billions go towards teachers' raises, raises because the teacher earned a master's degrees. Many are
questioning the practice, especially because there's not a lot of evidence that a master's degree
makes a better teacher.
And it's not just having a degree. No, you don't want someone without actual medical knowledge
performing your emergency appendectomy, but will it kill you (ha!) to buy a casket from a monk
rather than a licensed funeral home?
What areas should require specific credentials, degrees and licenses? And what areas should actual
knowledge and skill count for more than the piece of paper you obtained at 22? Have you been held
back because, even though you had the knowledge, you lacked the paper?
For further reading:
(Hat tips Paul Caron, Amy Alkon, and Walter Olsen.)
Photo by Sister72, Flickr cc 2.0
© 2011 CBS Interactive Inc.. (Although, I admit I did not object to my salary, and no it wasn't a
case of me being a better negotiator.)

2. That's not the only place where having
the right degree means more money,
and in many cases, your only chance at
the job. Credentials--especially Ivy
League kinds--are way over-rated, often
at the expense of true knowledge.
I've benefited from having credentials,
so this isn't just sour grapes on my part.
Better to graduate with 3.7 and a bunch
of really awesome extracurriculars. In
fact, in my first exempt level Human
Resources job, my salary was higher
than my more experienced coworkers
largely due to the fact that I had a
master's degree (in political science)
and they all had bachelor's degrees.
Some jobs not only require a degree,
but a degree from the right university.
Go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or (maybe) Stanford. Do you want a raise as a teacher? Many school
districts base raises on years of service and education level. This hardly seems fair. Cox and friends
thought they needed new traffic signals so they undertook a sophisticated analysis of their own, and
then found themselves under investigation for being too smart.
I would have ignored this case if it were just a North Carolina political thing, but the reality is, the
same thing happens in the business world all the time.
Last Updated Feb 7, 2011 11:34 AM EST
Is it a crime to be self-taught? Apparently, in North Carolina,
where David N. They had to teach me how to be an HR person. That worked well for me, but was
unfair to them. And by "really awesome" I mean literally climbing Everest or winning an Olympic
medal. Don't work your rear off for a 4.0. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that second tier
schools won't cut it.
If you want to get a job at the very best law firm, investment bank, or consultancy, here's what you

3. do:
1. I could do statistics (which was a needed skill), but hardly (in my opinion) outweighed the 3-5
years of experience they had. If you're a business student, attending the Wharton School at the
University of Pennsylvania will work, too, but don't show up with a diploma from Dartmouth or MIT.
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