Comment by alt_f4 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alt_f4 | Hacker News Reader

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> In the EU there isn't much of a ranking of Universities

bullshit. there are at least 3, published by European companies.

> It's practically more of a good-uni-with-proper-acceditation vs. the rest

bullshit. if it's a uni, it must be accredited. if it is not accredited, it is not a uni. Being accredited doesn't mean it is a great uni.

> Going to a university that has no internet connection will still get you the same information

bullshit. I'd love some example of these CS departments in Europe that don't have internet.

> no company cares about prestige

bullshit. I'd like to see which company values equally the graduates from ETH Zurich and University of Whatevertown.

> Perhaps some context in the origins of your thinking/culture would be best. Most people assume USA mindset[...]

bullshit. "You stupid American... you don't understand our culture... all our universities are equally good". Yeah, no.

Overall, this comment is pure garbage, I don't understand why it is so high in this thread.

First of all, tone down the aggression. People are constantly harping on about how much better HN is than everywhere else on the internet. Your reply lends the lie to that complete fiction. Take a moment to reflect on your own communication style before dismissing others' comments "pure garbage".

Second, I agree with the post you're replying to.

Regarding accreditation, the point is that it effectively makes no difference whether QS or THE ranks your university as No. 6 or No. 106. They're both pretty good. But everyone knows that there's variation in the quality of graduate of any given university, and they take that into account.

It will make a difference, however, if the university is ranked in the 600+ category. That institution would probably be grouped in with "the rest".

If you're looking for certain jobs in finance, law or academia, then the institution matters much more. Those areas are perhaps not quite as meritocratic as they should be.

However, if you're applying for a graduate tech job in the EU, it really, really doesn't matter that much if you got a 1.1 from Cambridge or a 1.1 from Dublin City University. Both will probably get you an interview, depending on what else is on your CV. And at that point it's a level playing field - the interviewers won't be dazzled by the name of your college, they'll just grill you to make sure you know what you need to know and can learn fast enough to be useful in the company.

I suppose you misinterpret, but that is up to you. I'm not saying nobody is making lists, I'm saying the lists don't matter. Unless you are in some sort of alternate reality where you have to compete for work, the specific university you went to has no weight to it. You can probably find some sort of multinational or a FAANG job where they do try to rank applicants based on the name of the university but that is more an exception than a rule here in western Europe.

The last four large companies I worked at or contracted for didn't even look at what university I went to 15 years ago, or how certified I am. The past 5 or 6 years were relevant, and that's about it.

Perhaps if you are inexperienced or all you have is your years at a University it might matter at your first entry-level job. Or if you want to purely work in academia. But that is not what most of the MS or BS work revolves around and it is not where people are needed the most.

I completely agree with you.

Unfortunately, it seems like the parent poster never had colleagues from top universities. There is a reason that google is in Zurich, Munich, etc... and not next to random universities.

In general (exceptions always exist) there is much more potential in people who have finished 'good' universities. They are finishers. They dont give up and do whats needed to reach their goal.

Out of all the students I graduated with only 1 or 2 (one of them ended up quitting during the grace period so it depends on how you want to count that) ended up with jobs that they only got because of our university, and none of my current colleagues were selected based on where they got their MS or BS. Two of the ex-Googlers we have here were selected by Google for their MS, but then again, rather the exception (only a small number of jobs use ranking) than the rule.

We select on merit, drive and competence applied recently. And where you got your MS or BS or if you have one at all weighs proportionally to the rest (and in the past 2 years we haven't even had anyone join any of the teams where it even mattered if they had one at all because their were selected on the rest).

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