[sown]

I'm not arguing that everyone is equal.

What I am saying is that it is almost but not quite discrimination. I can't control with total fidelity what school I get in no matter how good a student I might be -- ie, if I'm good enough to go to MIT I can go to MIT. They can't let in anyone who is good enough to go to MIT because there is only so much space. And besides, I don't have the money to go there nor did I have the money for the right college prep school[1]. I got handed some cards by life that meant I had to slowly work through a state university at my own cost.

I'm not mad at you or people who went to Ivy league schools, it's just that I get a little tired of people immediately shutting me out (parties, interviews, life in general) as soon as I mention that I went to some Unknown State university. Maybe it's just a SV thing but it gets old. Really old. So when I see it in a job posting I can't help but to take it personally. It's something you'll never have to worry about since you yourself are an MIT student.

I realize that they don't have to make me happy and they're free to hire from whatever school but they don't have to say it out-loud.

1 - Whether that prep school was an actual school or it was a parent who could stay at home screeching into the ears of their kids to motivate them or both, it means that they had the money for that school or one parent could stay home.

[kirubakaran]

This is why the best bet for people like us is to found our own startup. It is easier to please the customers than the gatekeepers. It has always been that way and always will be. Remove the proxies and profit. IMHO it is not productive to rant about people looking for credentials. They are just trying to reduce their search space.

[sown]

Yeah, I know.

[gcheong]

"but they don't have to say it out-loud."

Actually it's better if they do, that way it wastes less of your time if you know up front that you don't have a chance because of your lack of pedigree as you say. I don't like it either, but I would rather know up front.

[hyperbovine]

  They can't let in anyone who is good enough to go to MIT because there is only so much space.

Exactly. You hit the nail on the head--consequently, "good enough" doesn't cut it to get into MIT. You have to be the best of the best. Which means, if you're looking to hire the best of the best, you look for people who went to MIT. As you also rightly point out, this is not discrimination because clearly they'd be willing to hire a badass who didn't go to a top school. The job market is one giant signaling game, and having a rocking degree is a strong signal.

[tsally]

You have to be the best of the best.

Not quite. You have to be the diverse of the best (if I may mutilate English to make my point). Horror stories come out every year of the kid with perfect test scores and GPA who gets rejected from [insert prestigious school here]. It's not enough (and rightly so) to be the best of the best. You've got to have something different. Some distinguishing factors that come to mind are:

* Socio-economic background

* Athletic and musical ability

* Ethnicity and gender

* Unusual, proven talent in some rare area

[sown]

No I think you mis understood me. Being best-of-best isn't good enough, either. They've got to throw in some other random elements to make it look...I dunno, fair, different, genuine?

I just fail to see how being an expert viola player or a state ping pong ball champ or a <gender,race combo> is going to help someone write superior software or conduct excellent science.

And I mean in a real, verifiable way, not some unconvincing, weak collection of anecdotes.

Of course, I'm not saying I can write super-superior software.

[charlesmarshall]

mit - best of the best .. that can afford it and fit in a niche they haven't filled you mean?

I think the trouble in this case would be the recruiting company that are reading them and only passing on the ones that tick all the right buzz word boxes ..