Ok, but good luck getting a Ph.D. in computer science without first getting a bachelor's degree.

The point is, it's silly to condemn the value of college by waving around employment in a company that is well-known for recruiting from top-tier universities.

> I can't fathom any of the above companies inviting an undergrad to work on their cutting edge projects, in doing anything but the most boilerplate of work.

Computer science is still a young field with low-hanging fruit everywhere, all you need is a very bright person who knows the basics to make meaningful contributions on cutting edge projects because the "cutting-edge" isn't that sharp yet.

You are simply wrong. WTF is with all the misinformation in this thread? Of course, the big tech companies staff their projects, yes including cutting edge stuff, with BS grads. Maybe they'll expect you to do some grunt work too starting out, but that's just life. You're going to pay your dues, even if you skip college (possibly even more so)

It's not just them either, there are tons of non-FAANG jobs that pay very well and do cool things, that recruit recent grads. There isn't even consensus in the industry that further education is valuable; sometimes people don't even trust those that go this route (I think this is a bit harsh, but it's due to bad anecdotal experience).

This is just false. I went to an ivy+ school and have countless peers with just a bachelor's degree that work on cutting edge projects for data science, systems engineering, autonomous vehicles, etc.