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Hacking Higher Education. The Fastlane to a Degree. Degree in ~1 yr or Ivy League degree in ~2 yrs.

ChrisV

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I found this article years ago and figured this board was a good place to post it.

It’s by Josh Kaufman is the author of the popular book The First 20 hours:

first20hours-cover-150.png


When I was researching Higher Education I came across two unique solutions. I later found these articles which summarized both approaches nicely. I wish I found these articles before I did the research because it would have saved me a bunch of time. But for anyone interested, this may be helpful to you.

The first approach covers CLEP examinations which allow you to study a subject on your own, take the test for around $75 and receive college credit for your knowledge. Josh states it allows you to get a degree, in about a year for around $4000, but I think it can be done for less. The second method is to go through Harvard’s Extension School which is Harvard’s school for adults who want to continue their education) for (what he said is) around $40,000. When I researched it, I found the costs to be much less, especially if you’re eligible for scholarships or financial aid. Most of the classes are available both online and in person. Admission is relatively straightforward in comparison to Harvard College in that all you have to do is score at least a B+ on their first few courses and maintain a decent GPA throughout the program.

People debate if a degree from Harvard’s Extension School is the same as a degree as one from Harvard University, and I call those people ‘elitists twirps.’ Harvard’s extension school is the same professors, the same tests, the same classes, just the admissions process isn’t as rigorous. My opinion? If you pass the same classes as a Harvard graduate, you are a Harvard graduate. Period. But opinions aside, there diploma from Harvard’s Extension School is from Harvard.

From the second article:

Is it really the same?

The diploma that you receive upon graduation is issued by Harvard University, and there is absolutely no difference in the quality of the courses. The curriculum is the same , the requirements for graduation are the same, and the courses are taught by the same professors. You’ll also have the same perks: a student ID that gives you access to Harvard libraries, museums, and events, as well as access to the Student Employment Office, Career Services , and other Harvard student programs and services.

From the article:
  • You need a good (read: prestigious/expensive) degree to get a good job.”
  • “No one cares about what you know, they just care about where you went to school.”
  • “No one will interview me without a credential.”
Having a credential is not (and has never been) equivalent to being an educated person - education is about what happens in your head, not in a classroom. It is true, however, that many employers use credentials as a screen to weed out candidates for available positions. If you’re committed to self-education but find yourself uncertain about whether or not hiring managers will give you a second look without a degree, this post is for you.


For the moment, let’s ignore the fact that you don’t need a credential to provide value to other people - starting your own business is a much better way to achieve material success than getting a job, and you don’t need a degree to get started. (For proof, read The Millionaire Next Door.) Let’s assume that you’re resigned to going through your career the traditional way by earning a high school diploma/GED, getting a college degree, and interviewing for a job. How should you go about getting your degree?

Anyway, here are the parts to the series:

 
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Maxboost

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Simple rule for school is this.

"You should only go to school if you know what your job title will be".

That should eliminate 90% of the useless degrees out there. If you want to be a lawyer, doctor, engineer, ...you should go to school.

I ran into soo many people in the corporate world without a degree. They got there by providing more PERCEIVED value and a$$ kissing. Social skills and zero dignity will get you far. In the end, my business degree was useless and a waste of time.

Even if you spent $40k on that Harvard business degree, you could have spent it on a home or property. The opportunity cost and time wasted is the real killer..
 

ChrisV

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Even if you spent $40k on that Harvard business degree, you could have spent it on a home or property. The opportunity cost and time wasted is the real killer..
Yea because the info you would attain from a class at Harvard with some of the best professors in the world is just you know... totally worthless.
 

Maxboost

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Yea because the info you would attain from a class at Harvard with some of the best professors in the world is just you know... totally worthless.

Sure but when I'm the manager and I am promoting someone, I'm going to promote my friend Jim who showed up at my BBQ and who I play golf with rather than ChrisV...I heard he took some courses online but whatever.....off to go bowling with Jim...
 
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ChrisV

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Sure but when I'm the manager and I am promoting someone, I'm going to promote my friend Jim who showed up at my BBQ and who I play golf with rather than ChrisV...I heard he took some courses online but whatever.....off to go bowling with Jim...
Fair enough. There are some studies showing exactly that. The biggest factor if someone is to get a job is if the interviewer liked them. The likelihood of someone getting a job correlated very closely to the amount of time they spent talking about non-work related subjects.

But that being said, most jobs these days... a human won’t even look at your resume until way later in the process. Your resume is literally fed into a machine with data points being extracted out.

Another example is on Quora? An answer is 4x more likely to be upvotes if that person lists their qualifications. Authority is a major biasing factor in the human decision making process.
 

Maxboost

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Fair enough. There are some studies showing exactly that. The biggest factor if someone is to get a job is if the interviewer liked them. The likelihood of someone getting a job correlated very closely to the amount of time they spent talking about non-work related subjects.

But that being said, most jobs these days... a human won’t even look at your resume until way later in the process. Your resume is literally fed into a machine with data points being extracted out.

Another example is on Quora? An answer is 4x more likely to be upvotes if that person lists their qualifications. Authority is a major biasing factor in the human decision making process.

You can always start at the bottom and work your way up. Networking (those damn people skills again) and temp agencies are a way to get in. Lots of organizations have call centers which is an easy way into a large organization. They literally hire anyone....

One thing your forgetting the concept of TIME. When I worked in the corporate field I worked alongside people who had no college degree. They started in the mail room as a temp and worked their way up the organization. Thats when I realized my education was completely worthless.

While I was spending 20-30k taking courses, spending many sleepless nights studying for exams and doing group work, my co workers were spending the money they had on a house. Fast forward 7 years later, and not only did we arrive at the same place but our net worth was drastically different which woke me up and realized that college is bullshit.
 

ChrisV

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ChrisV

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