Posted by 01-_- 1/20/2026
Maybe in the very beginning they had such a bar, I wasn't there. As late as 2007 they were still recruiting on-campus at non-T20 schools like Michigan State. Much of my team are from various Big Ten/similar universities that aren't top 20 but are solid (plenty are also from more prestigious universities, but unless you explicitly ask someone at lunch about their education no one ever talks about it). I've been involved in hiring and interviewing for 7+ years there and have done interviews with people from all caliber of school - top 10, middle of the pack US, HBCU, international - so there's no such requirement for that now either.
Frankly it seems like a pretty weird thing to say to a group of college students. What does he want them to take away from it? “Just apply now”? “You’re not that great”?
I mean, maybe if he means the technical meaning of the word namely “more than two” and not “a noticeable percentage” which is implied.
In my time there I literally only knew two googlers without a college degree. I didn’t pry but people also aren’t shy about it. And zero people without degrees made it to offer stage in any hiring committee I was part of.
FITFO: Figure it the fuck out. Research and take action quickly.
FAFO: Fuck around and find out. Do shit, make mistakes and try again. You’ll at least learn something from this.
FPT: First principles thinking. Learn the basics and build from there.
80/20 Rule: 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.
———
Cyberpunk thinking. You have the cyberspace to explore and do things that you find interesting. The punk is the DIY mentality.
Sounds more like a knock on the person making the comment than it is on me.
I had a few major issues with the experience:
One: It was force-fed to you in High School, it almost seemed like there was no other choice at the time, and it was far too easy to go into massive debt at such a young age.
Two: I was already self-taught in computer science, and the coursework didn't really expand upon my knowledge any.
Three: The bureaucracy was insane, having to deal with Student Aid, registration, and signing up for classes. It was nauseating.
Four: While there were some interesting classes in other domains of knowledge, the fact that there were so many required courses, like Writing and "English Composition." Kind of soured the experience. I didn't learn anything in the Comp Sci classes, and probably 60% of the other stuff I wasn't interested in. As an Adult who's paying tuition, you should be able to 100% pick and choose what courses you want to take, but because I was only 19 and fresh out of high school, that liberty didn't really dawn on me until after I had finally left.
I went to a community college. I assume a four-year school or something more academic by nature would be interesting, but not worthy of hiring one person over another strictly on credentials.