Are Ivy league certs worthy over a few thousand bucks?

but most of them are recent inclusions into top 10 like the mittals and Ambani's. The older lot used to have a lot of non-graduate billioners. Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Bill Gates's second commander in chief in army and cofounder Paul Allen might have been the same status as Bill gates was.

 

Here's a list I've compiled from Forbes' data:

Top 10 richest people in the world:

1. Warren Buffett
Education: University of Nebraska Lincoln, Bachelor of Arts / Science
Columbia University, Master of Science

2. Carlos Slim Helu
Education: NA

3. William Gates III
Education: Harvard University, Drop Out

4. Lakshmi Mittal
Education: St Xavier's College Calcutta, Bachelor of Arts / Science

5. Mukesh Ambani
Education: University of Bombay, Bachelor of Chemical Engineering
Stanford University, Master of Business Administration

6. Anil Ambani
Education: University of Bombay, Bachelor of Arts / Science
University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, Master of Business Administration

7. Ingvar Kamprad
Education: NA

8. KP Singh
Education: NA

9. Oleg Deripaska
Education: Moscow State University
Plekhanov Academy of Economics

10. Karl Albrecht
Education: NA

Source: http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-people-billionaires-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305billie_land.html

I bolded those who didn't have a degree. Looks like it's half and half, provided those who were listed as a NA for education truly had no formal higher education. Although, I'm sure that for every rich drop-out, I can find many poor drop-outs...

 

AS many as three Indians feature in that list currently(The fourth is presumably a non-graduate). And who knows if they are still in the list for Indian billioners were hit really hard due to the recession. . Now previously there was Paul Newman, Larry Ellison and one more person. So at some point there was about 70% or so top 10 richest dudes in the world who were drop outs.

 

Ouch that hurt. How about even worst....an FSU fan

 

OK. Nice digging. Remind me again, what point is being made?

 

I voting for the obvious....none

 

Well this thread sure got hi-jacked

 

I completed the advanced certificate of computer security at Stanford. I learned quite a lot from it but it didn't seem to make a difference career wise.

I applied to few computer security consulting positions and vendor and other recognized certifications seem to be more in demand that big name Universities.

 

I think the point is that you can prove anything with statistics. 70% of all people know that.

Sorry for my part in the hijacking!

NOTE: Lame statistics joke stolen from Family Guy

 

I wish I knew their secret.

 

Does NA mean Not Applicable or Not Available or perhaps even Nationally Accredited?

 

And so they should. If someone is deliberately attempting to misrepresent a certificate as a degree, or an extension program as a B&M school, that's probably warranted.

I disagree, though, with the idea that it's a bad thing to want a nice cert from an Ivy League school "just to have the name on your resume". These days, any edge is necessary, and anything honest that will help your resume edge out another should be fair game. As others have pointed out, many of these programs will provide a better education in their certs than some schools will in their whole degree programs. It's certainly an option worth considering.

 

2. Carlos Slim Helu

8. KP Singh

So it turns out that actually 70% of the world's richest men are in fact not college drop-outs.

 

I don't think it's a bad thing to "have the name on the resume", as long as it is made clear that it is referring to a certificate program, extension program or DL studies.

The original question was "do you think it's worth the money?" I still have to say "no". Has anyone received a job offer because they have a cert from eCornell? I guess it's possible, but I'd still opt for a cheaper, more substantial degree program from a less-prestigious RA school.

 

Terry, I spoke to eCornell and they basically said the certificate itself does not say eCornell except on one of the seals or something but that the certificate is given by Cornell itself. They do not outsource the academic work like some other programs do and fully own eCornell, they haven't pimped out their name so to speak like some. So I think placing "Cornell" is fine. That being said I fully acknowledge that this is not an academic certificate as it is not a "Certificate of Completion" or for credit certificate.

If you want in the description you can put "eCornell" but I don't think "Cornell" is misleading. After all, if you get your degree from for example LSU, you put LSU - BBA or you can put LSU - Ourso College of Business - BBA.

I don't list my BS as Southwestern College - College of Professional Studies -BS. I just put Southwestern College. But that's just me.

Anyhow, back to the OP, what certificate from Harvard is $1,500?

 

You can image-google for the certificates to get an idea of what the certs look like. They say "Cornell University...blablabla...through eCornell."

 

Or with a little math, there might be some other optimal uses.

Say you take the "cheaper, more substantial degree" from another RA school, but then tack on a nice certificate from a more prestigious RA. It may not be the direct reason you were hired, but might gain you additional pay and/or respect.

You could still come out with a similar result to having attended the "better" RA program from the certificate's school, but for much less money.

 

I have seen people interviewed because of sheer curiousity. But certificates are optimal when they supplement a degree. I think we also overlook the education factor, for example Harvard uses the same Profs for their online program as they do in the class, so you'd likely be given the same type and caliber of work. Maybe it wouldnt be a "real" Harvard degree or certificate, but I'd hire the guy all else being equal.

At the very least I'd want to talk to they guy (or gal) to find out how sharp they really are.

 

You may find this interesting. It's written by a consultant who has had HEX students trying to pass themselves off as regular Harvard students.

http://www.dba-oracle.com/t_harvard_extention_school_lower_quality.htm

I'm not saying there isn't some value to HEX or a cert from a name school. The original question was "do you think it's worth thousands of dollars?" I guess it's a personal question everyone needs to determine for themselves and their own needs. For me, the answer is "no."

 

Wow! That article is brutal.