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First off, what I have 'admitted' is that there are a lot of mediocre engineering jobs out there that indeed require not much IQ to do. But nobody who is capable really wants those jobs, not if they can get something better. There are some engineering jobs out there (i.e. a lot of Google stuff) that will indeed exercise your IQ.
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Yeah.</p>
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Secondly, again, we have to be clear about what we're talking about. Nobody is disputing that Yale is not as good in engineering as, say, Berkeley or Michigan. The question is, whether Yale is better than, say, Michigan State or Oklahoma State. Seems to me that the data indicates that Yale is better.
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Actually, this wasn't the argument. My point was that quantity is also very important. Large schools help build reputations. And hell, Yale Engineering just doesn't have a big reputation. Not good or bad, it's just not big at all. Just like Brown (do they even have engineering?) or Colombia don't have big engineering reputations. I mean - not compared to RPI or WPI...</p>
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We also have to be careful about what we mean by 'top quality engineering jobs'. I have always said that there are plenty of mediocre engineering jobs out there. I'm sure that schools like Michigan State do very well in placing students into those kinds of jobs. The leading light in engineering in terms of desirability these days is probably Google (now the #1 most desirable employer according to Fortune Magazine). Would Google be more likely to hire a Yale engineer, or a Michigan State engineer? {Probably Google wouldn't hire either one, but if they had to choose one, who would it be?). I suspect it would be the Yale engineer.
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I suspect they wouldn't hire either as well.</p>
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Well, I don't know who these 'most people' are. Might you identify them?
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People who go to small primarily liberal arts colleges that happens to have an engineering school?</p>
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Come on, you can fill in the blanks. Do I really have to type everything? A weak predictor of getting students into the top jobs.
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Ok.</p>
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Fine, then have it your way. What is your data that indicates that Yale does not have as good of an engineering name as schools like Michigan State or Texas Tech? Again, according to USNews, engineering recruiters rank Yale higher than those other schools. So where is this evidence that Yale has a weaker engineering name than those other schools?
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Didn't we go over that grad data is not what we are arguing? I'll talk about this "data" later anyways...</p>
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Uh, your logical error is simple - you can't "believe" something to be a fact. Something either is a fact, or it isn't. If it is a fact, then it has to be based on data, which I have asked you to provide, and which you either don't have, or don't want to show us.</p>
<p>If this is just your "belief", then it's not really a "fact" then, is it? It's really an opinion. And if it is an opinion, then your opinion can definitely be anti-anything.
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You're correct.</p>
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But like I said, if you have actual facts, by all means, please present them. Like I said, you asked me to present my data. I have done so.
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You presented irrelevant grad data. Lets, for a second, assume that it was undergrad data. You imply an assumption that I disagree with. You assume that recruiter rankings are a function of the quality of the graduates strictly (maybe not, you just assume quantity is not a factor). I disagree with this assumption. I think that the recruiter opinion of a school is dependent on quality and quantity. This sort of system would likely under predict how good Yale grads are because of the small size of the program. So basically, they are getting screwed because their program is small. (How very anti-Yale of me to suggest.)</p>
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Now I think it's fair for you to respond in kind.
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The best data would likely be from their career center. I don't think they publish it.</p>
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Again, nobody is debating that certain schools like MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, etc. are top-notch engineering schools known nationwide.</p>
<p>The question is, whether schools like Michigan State, Texas Tech, and the like also have strong nationwide reputations. I know that when I think of Michigan State, I don't think of excellent academics. I think of 2 things - sports and parties. Neither of these attributes makes me particularly confident about the skill level of a Michigan State engineer, relative to a Yale engineer. Now, of course it is true that I'm sure that plenty of Michigan State engineers find plenty of jobs within their region, just like Yale engineers surely find jobs within their region. But that has nothing to do with a national reputation.
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Once again, I haven't said quality isn't a factor. But to say quantity isn't a factor seems mind boggling to me.</p>
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And they don't NEED to have that many engineering firms around, because, like you said, there aren't that many students in the first place.
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Except that selection at job fairs does matter, even if competition is slightly increased. At a job fair you can't get the job you want if it's not even there to begin with. </p>
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See there it is again - the unfair comparison. Nobody is denying that Cal is a better engineering school than Yale.</p>
<p>The fair question is Yale vs. Michigan State. Or Texas Tech. Or one of those other schools I mentioned. Perform a statistical analysis on THAT situation.
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The name Cal was simply a place holder. I could have put Santa Barbara City College. The argument still stands though.</p>