The thing about comparing degrees to certs is that they aren't totally comparable because they serve different purposes. The degree is designed to teach you general knowledge - basically to teach you how to think.
Let's face it. The vast majority of college graduate use very little of what they actually learned in college. How many English majors really get jobs where they do critical analyses of Elizabethan poetry? How many math majors really spend the rest of their lives doing proofs and theorems? Yes, there are some (particularly those who choose careers in academia) but they are in the minority. The majority go into the working world and take jobs that have very little association with whatever they studied. But that's not really the point. Unless you really are going to be a professor, the goal of an English degree is not so that you can memorize Chaucer. The goal is to provide you with a solid grounding of general knowledge and training in critical thinking and creativity - skills that improve your productivity as a worker. College graduates on average make more money than non-graduates and this is prima-facie evidence that the college education enhances one's value even when doing a job that has little to do with whatever you studied Certs, on the other hand, make no bones about trying to provide you with a broad education. Certs are designed, ideally, to measure your knowledge of specific skills. Period. As stated by someone else on this thread, the CCIE may prove to be valuable in the network engineering profession, but has essentially zero value in any other profession. For example, you can't get your CCIE and then decide you wanna be an investment banker. But you can do that with an MBA. ""J.D. Chaiken"" wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > If that were the real reading list for a BS degree, I would *LOVE* it. My > problem is that they make you read all the fluffy stuff that you never > wanted to read in the first place, and didnt go to college for, but they > make you read anyway. > > And further, lets say you were an english major, do you really think that > Calculus I would help you there? > > Jarett > > ""Charlie Wehner"" wrote in message > [EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]... > > What's more difficult? > > > > a) Memorizing configuration scenerios and commands on a Cisco router > > > > b) Understanding Calculus, Differential Equations, Numerical Analysis, > > Chemistry, Physics and Electrical Engineering well enough to create a > > "meaningful" experiment. > > > > One of my friends is working on his masters in Physics right now. What > he's > > working on makes the CCIE look like a walk through the park. > > > > Seriously, what if the recommended reading list for the CCIE exam looked > > like this: > > > > Physics I and II > > Calculus I,II,III > > Differential Equations > > Mechanics > > Circuit Analysis I and II > > Linear Systems > > Thermodynamics > > Quantum Mechanics > > Optics Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=59679&t=59481 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
