> Yes, but it is the case for enough folks that it has started to > cheapen the > certs, just as grade inflation has damaged many universities. > (For example, > Stanford may be more prestigious than Berkeley, but at Stanford > you can drop > a class up to the day of the final. At Berkeley the deadline > is 2 weeks. > And the median grades at Berkeley are much lower. So I'd give > more value to > a degree from there.)
The problem here is twofold. First of all, most people don't know that grade inflation has occurred. More than 90% of all Harvard undergrads will graduate will honors, but most people don't know that. http://tangra.si.umich.edu/~radev/ilist/0051.html And more importantly, it doesn't matter very much anyway. The fact is, the hardest part, by far, in graduating from the super-elite private schools is getting admitted in the first place. Stanford and the Ivy League, with the possible exception of Cornell, are actually pretty easy schools once you're in (Stanford and Harvard are notoriously easy), but, ay, there's the rub - getting in is an absolute killer. It's not exactly a cakewalk getting into Berkeley either, but it's far easier than getting into Stanford, particularly if you're a California resident. That is why people generally consider the Stanford undergrad degree slightly more prestigious than the Berkeley one, simply because the Stanford graduate was subjected to a much tougher admissions standard. Things change significantly, however, when you're talking about the graduate schools. Berkeley can arguably make the claim to having the best overall graduate school in the country. Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=69934&t=69483 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
