[BadassFractal]

> Researchers consistently find that most of education’s payoff comes from graduation, from crossing the academic finish line.

Not even. Just being able to show that you "went" to Harvard is a powerful enough of a signal. You can join, drop out immediately after, start a startup, fail, an then likely end up somewhere really prestigious anyway.

[sanxiyn]

Yes, but Harvard etc is super special snowflake exception.

[BadassFractal]

My point is that signaling works without any sort of coursework. The instant you make it into Stanford, you're a Stanford kid, which puts you into an elite group of desirable employees.

And of course these colleges are special snowflakes, they wouldn't be signals otherwise. Nobody cares if you went to a community college down the street, it associates no household name with you.

[sanxiyn]

No, community college diploma is a strong signal compared to no diploma. You seem too preoccupied by concerns of top few percent.

[BadassFractal]

Sure, I suppose you're right. I'm mentioning these top colleges because we're on HN, which is heavily oriented around the Bay Area tech ecosystem, which loves to dip into that pool.

[sanxiyn]

I agree. Most of discussion is irrelevant to most HN people.