Re:Coursera’s co-founder Daphne Koller set to start anew at ...
by michaelt on Thursday August 18, 2016 @08:19AM
(#12311888)
everyone realized you go to college for the rubber stamp.
College also provides a bunch of other things:
* Face-to-face contact with professors.
* Face-to-face contact with classmates, with the possibility of forming in-person study groups and suchlike.
* A structure to help your self-discipline; lectures follow a strict schedule so you don't fall behind, thinking "I'll watch it later", then never get caught up.
* An environment where your peers are doing the same thing you are - rather than being the one guy in your office who watches coursera videos at lunchtime, you see hundreds of your fellow students every day.
* A widely understood and non-stigmatised social status when pursued full time. You're not "unemployed for 4 years and not even looking for a job" a.k.a. lazy freeloader. You're a "student" a.k.a. future member of the middle class.
* Clubs and societies where you can make friends. Friends who are close to your age, with similar backgrounds to yours, and with similar interests to you, and who are looking for new friends at the same time you are.
* Networking opportunities (at least if you're doing an MBA or something where other people want to network)
* Parties full of nice young people of your preferred gender.
* Etc etc
Now granted, the rubber stamp is important too, but to say college is only a rubber stamp is IMHO an over-simplification for a lot of people's college experiences.
* Face-to-face contact with professors.
* Face-to-face contact with classmates, with the possibility of forming in-person study groups and suchlike.
* A structure to help your self-discipline; lectures follow a strict schedule so you don't fall behind, thinking "I'll watch it later", then never get caught up.
* An environment where your peers are doing the same thing you are - rather than being the one guy in your office who watches coursera videos at lunchtime, you see hundreds of your fellow students every day.
* A widely understood and non-stigmatised social status when pursued full time. You're not "unemployed for 4 years and not even looking for a job" a.k.a. lazy freeloader. You're a "student" a.k.a. future member of the middle class.
* Clubs and societies where you can make friends. Friends who are close to your age, with similar backgrounds to yours, and with similar interests to you, and who are looking for new friends at the same time you are.
* Networking opportunities (at least if you're doing an MBA or something where other people want to network)
* Parties full of nice young people of your preferred gender.
* Etc etc
Now granted, the rubber stamp is important too, but to say college is only a rubber stamp is IMHO an over-simplification for a lot of people's college experiences.