# Why having a Bachelor's Degree is something to be proud of: **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2017, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778 "2017-02-25T21:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![blockhalf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@blockhalf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blockhalf)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/61 "2017-03-02T00:51:39Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It’s a response to some posts where people indicated that if you got a degree from a top school then _that_ was an accomplishment. I consider that _possibly less_ of an accomplishment. Why? That makes no sense. It’s more of an accomplishment obviously, but having a degree at all still means you’ve accomplished more than 60% of the country, even if you don’t know anyone in that 60%. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/62 "2017-03-02T13:29:14Z")
> [@blockhalf](#): > > Why? That makes no sense. It’s more of an accomplishment obviously, but having a degree at all still means you’ve accomplished more than 60% of the country, even if you don’t know anyone in that 60%. Reread the post. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2017, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/63 "2017-03-03T13:47:49Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > It’s a response to some posts where people indicated that if you got a degree from a top school then _that_ was an accomplishment. I consider that _possibly less_ of an accomplishment. > > And it’s not about supporting someones pride or not. It’s putting down entire groups of people without knowing anything about their circumstances. One person’s success does not “put down” everyone else. Look, it’s perfectly fine to feel proud about completing your degree. Particularly if it was a challenging or difficult program. But it’s not like it makes you King of the Earth. And it’s really more about what you do with the degree that defines success. > [@monstro](#): > > Because if someone stepped up to me and said “Hey, I have a college degree! I’m so awesome!” I would not agree with them without knowing more. Do you think this is fair? I think that’s a pretty weird conversation to have. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/66 "2017-08-14T11:31:00Z")
I just picked up my Associates Degree a few days ago, and I am 29. I am moving on to get a Bachelor’s degree from NEIU. Majority of my credits will transfer and I can afford it, I may turn out to be 33-34 before I get it, but I’ll have one past age 22. I get by now, I’ll always find a way to, regardless of job ‘markets’. A degree only increases the odds of getting a job, lets you try different fields. The real reason I have one and my pursuit for the other is because I want it. I’m not going to treat it as some damned license to work. IMHO that is not what getting a degree is for, it is for enriching your mind and soul with knowledge and knowing you did something good for yourself, making you a better person. I view it as this; 1.)I go through compulsory school; primary and secondary. I work or work and go to school, I save and get my degree on my own time as a way to further enrich my mind and myself. If it helps with a job, cool, if not… oh well. NOT 2.)Go to primary and secondary school, work for pennies while living with parents and go to college, be forced out of school with a degree in something I wasn’t interested in just because it had a potential to get me a job, to pay off the debt for the degree before I can start saving. One of these things makes sense to me. #1 ---
**Author:** ![Grim\_Render](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@Grim\_Render](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grim_Render)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/67 "2017-08-14T12:39:32Z")
I suppose age is a factor. 50 years ago a degree was not so low-hanging a fruit. An interesting difference between the US and western Europe here. A large part of western Europe had conscription until relatively recently. I’ve always had the impression that military service and degrees are inverted in terms of respect between the US and western Europe. When your country has conscription, military service is nothing special. In the US it tends to be more respected. In Europe, Universities have to meet national standards though, so a degree has a certain minimum standard and gets more respect. Of course, all degrees are not the same. Photography, dance and media studies are degrees. As are maths, physics, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/68 "2017-08-14T13:10:07Z")
> [@stuckcheese](#): > > I was under the impression that the Yale admissions office didn’t give the smallest of f\*\*ks if your parents went there. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure that they mainly base it on the student’s grades and test scores, and probably aren’t thinking about that student’s parents when making the decision about whether or not to admit them. You’re both “sort of” right. I can only speak for my own experience, which was in the 1970s, but it made a difference if you were recommended by (i.e., had a reference from) a graduate of an Ivy League school when you applied. In fact, the local alumni club would do application interviews and they had a great deal of influence on the admission process. When I was accepted by an Ivy League school, the comments I got from my fellow high school seniors were about how my family must be rich or very successful. Nothing could have been further from the truth. They were not lower-class, but they didn’t own a business or anything. They both had to work to support the family. I earned the grades in HS, did the extracurricular activities, played varsity sports, and generally did what I had to to earn admission. While I was in college, I worked 25 to 40 hours a week, year-round, to pay the bills and get through. My parents contributed $1000 a year for four years, and I was very grateful for it. So, yeah. I’m proud of my degree…even though I never earned a dollar in my field of study. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/69 "2017-08-14T13:57:14Z")
> [@stuckcheese](#): > > I was under the impression that the Yale admissions office didn’t give the smallest of f\*\*ks if your parents went there. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure that they mainly base it on the student’s grades and test scores, and probably aren’t thinking about that student’s parents when making the decision about whether or not to admit them. It’s not just about whether or not the admissions people care who your parents are, it’s the fact that kids with parents who have been to somewhere like Yale are much better prepared to guide their kids through it than parents who don’t really know or care about the education system. Let’s take two kids: Kid 1, who had parents who moved to the area with the best high school, and pushed for their kid to get on the advanced courses, signed them up for extracurriculars that would look good on an application, who had a private tutor hired for them when their grades started dropping. Kid 2, who went to the ‘failing’ local high school, who had parents who didn’t give a crap what grades they bought home so long as they stayed out of prison, who didn’t have time to do homework, forget extra classes, because they were working full time as soon as they could get away with it, because they needed to help pay the bills. Which one of those is more likely to go to Yale? Which one would you be more impressed by, if they did? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/70 "2017-08-14T21:40:09Z")
I’d not be “impressed” by someone who finished their degree in 4 years, and I’d not be “unimpressed” by someone who took longer. Back in the late 70’s, when I was looking, even at good engineering schools about 50% of the engineering graduates graduated in minimum time: it wasn’t an exclusive group on either side. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/71 "2017-08-15T00:00:19Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s very easy to verify you went to the schools you say you graduated from and worked at the companies you say you worked at. > > Other than that, whatever “skills” or “experience” you have is really up to the interviewer to try and verify. Resume padding is pretty rampant because unless it’s specific industry or technical knowledge and you are being interviewed by someone appropriately qualified, it’s pretty much impossible for them to determine if you are full of shit. > But FYI, no one looks at resumes and checks them off against some list of qualifications. Unless maybe you are looking for a government job. In the business world you see pretty much the same phenomenon you see with Trump filling his cabinet. Hiring managers look for people who have suitably “impressive” backgrounds. Certain schools. Certain work experience and certain companies. To the contrary, I read a year or so ago an article about the so-called hi-tech shortage that said that large employers were using automated software that checked applications and was rejecting without any human intervention perfectly qualified people whose resumes didn’t happen to fit the exact requirements. You will not find me on Linkedin and neither of parents had any college at all. In fact, my mother was a HS drop-out. Still I managed to get a bachelor’s degree and a PhD. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/72 "2017-08-15T00:41:24Z")
> [@stuckcheese](#): > > I was under the impression that the Yale admissions office didn’t give the smallest of f\*\*ks if your parents went there. Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure that they mainly base it on the student’s grades and test scores, and probably aren’t thinking about that student’s parents when making the decision about whether or not to admit them. I don’t know about Yale, per se, but Harvard, for example, is explicit in stating that children of alumni are given extra consideration. From their website : _The application process is the same for all candidates. Among a group of similarly distinguished applicants, the daughters and sons of Harvard College alumni/ae may receive an additional look._ So I think it might be more accurate to say they give smell to medium sized fucks. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778/74 "2017-08-15T07:26:39Z")
While most physical therapists have only a community college associate degree, mine explained why here Bachelors was important to her. It made her an educated, rather than just a trained, person. Besides learning her profession, she also had to study and pass unrelated college level courses in the arts and sciences and humanities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-having-a-bachelors-degree-is-something-to-be-proud-of/780778.md?page=3)