[gringoDan]

> Caroline, Alameda's CEO, also said "My advice for college is that class don't matter that much and friends and networking are really important. Probably the most valuable thing you can do in college is find the coolest people you can and spend lots of time hanging out with them".

This is mainstream advice if you're at an Ivy, Stanford, etc. You're learning the same material as the people who go to a state university. The advantage is the proximity to power, the people you rub elbows with who can help your career down the line.

This is the entire premise of elite business schools – nobody is dropping $100k/year for the content that you can get on YouTube for free.

[endtime]

> You're learning the same material as the people who go to a state university. The advantage is the proximity to power, the people you rub elbows with who can help your career down the line.

I got my MS CS from Stanford and this is completely false. I did my BS CS at Georgetown, and even between the two there was a huge difference being at Stanford. The course material pushed me way harder, there were more resources (e.g. robots), a much wider selection of electives, and more consistently brilliant peers. I never felt behind at Georgetown; I certainly had those moments at Stanford, even though I did very well there in the end.

[gringoDan]

The original comment applies more to humanities and business school than to hard sciences. But it's still relevant in STEM.

> I got my MS CS from Stanford and this is completely false. I did my BS CS at Georgetown, and even between the two there was a huge difference being at Stanford.

Stanford is probably the best-known school in the world for Computer Science. Georgetown (while a great school) is known for its international relations. So I'm not surprised that Stanford had more CS electives, resources, etc.

But the fair comparison here is a school like UC Berkeley, University of Illinois, or [insert flagship state university here]. Is the quality of education really that different vs. Stanford? Or is the Stanford name brand on the resume the differentiator?

Also, a masters program should be harder and more competitive than an undergrad program!

> and more consistently brilliant peers

Exactly. At Stanford, your "consistently more brilliant peers" will be in positions of power down the road. They'll be hiring managers at Google and Apple in <5 years.