15 years ago I went to MIT for a 1.5-month internship, while still in my high school. Companies still ask about that.

As much as I would like it to be otherwise, signaling (namedropping of famous universities, companies, and people) works a lot. I guess mostly because people prefer to delegate decision making. The backside of that is that unless you finished (or dropped out) from a well-respected univ., you have an uphill battle of proving one's worth.

Worked at MIT('s cafe)

RSI? Well that’s a bit of an exception. I personally interpret it as a more enduring meritocratic signal than attending any specific college.

Yes, RSI! :)

Though the ones who set "oh, you were at MIT" didn't know about this program.

If I see any resume with RSI on it, here's how I read it:

* I think less than 1% of the high school students in this country (the US) are aware of summer programs such as RSI. Knowing about RSI, let alone being selected into it, is a strong signal that in your pre-college years you were very invested in math and STEM.

* even if you don't have a very prestigious college degree is not a negative signal anymore from my point of view. At 17-18 we are all very fragile beings (and we keep being fragile until at least 25), so lots of things could explain why you didn't get into a top university. I would inquire about that, but I would expect to hear some reasonable explanation (and I wouldn't mind if you simply told me it's personal and you don't feel comfortable going into those details).

* I would ask you if you participated in any math or CS competitions in high school/ college.

From here, lots of ways to have a pleasant chat for about 30 minutes.

I am not from the USA (there is some number of international participants). So applying there is considerably more difficult than for a US person (and the effort goes in non-STEM things such as the application procedure).

When it comes to signals, I like your approach for looking at them as hints, rather than judgments.

In a lot of companies you will NOT get hired without degree. It's pretty much the barrier to entry before you can show your skills or experience . Not sure if Udacity degrees count for this.

Why is this downvoted? The truth hurts?

Because that's only true for graduate positions.

Not true, I have personally witnessed candidates being rejected for senior (engineering, not management) positions due only to lack of college degree. Obviously idiotic, but it does happen.

I don't think it's quite that simple. For example there are many companies out there who will filter out resumes without particular degrees or degrees from less prestigious universities. But maybe that is subsumed by your A)

Counterpoint: People will hire you because you have a degree.

You definitely don't need all A && B && C.

Sometimes being like-able and knowing someone is enough.

It's really about how much you can convince the employer. I got my first job only because my late father (who was the boss's business partner) recommended me. The degree was enough to convince him I was technically capable, even though I flunked the technical interview (which was all PHP). No resume was needed.

I'd say to get hired, you just need to convince the employer of your personality, current skill, and potential.

you forgot one huge factor, you’re network and referrals.

In a lot of industries, the main factor is your network, and you just need A, B, and C to be adequate to check the boxes.

If that's the case, and someone's trying to hire you because someone they trust thinks you can get the job done, the question is whether or not a nanodegree can allow your interviewer to check a box for "has training in X" that will make the difference in sliding your resume past HR's desk.

for technical positions, it may help to get an interview but you still need to handle the technical portion of the interview