I went to a redbrick university (one of the 'elite' ones in the UK), and I agree with you. People in work all have a degree of some sort (most have one from either Liverpool University - my one, or John Moores University - the polytechnic). A degree's a degree, and most of my polytechnic mates are doing very well for themselves.

I saw the elitist attitude for myself when I applied for a graduate position at Pilks. 7 of us were gunning for 3 jobs. 1 went to Cambridge (the ultra-elitist unversity), 3 of us went to Redbrick universities (Two Liverpool, One Manchester) and 3 went to polytechnic (One JMU, One UMIST and one Portsmouth). The 3 people who got the job were the 3 people who went to the polytechnics

Guess what I'm trying to say is: Move to England :)

I disagree with the writer of that article. Basically, it just means that you are able to strive and achieve within the system that the ministry of education have laid down, if you went through the path that's been set.

There are successful individuals out there that have not gone through the JC or Poly road. Of course, that is tougher to do now in our generation.

However, to judge on an individual by seeing its track record of going to the JC or Poly is uncalled for. You never know who will get the last laugh ultimately.

Going to polytechnic doesn't mean you've "fallen". It'd just mean you have a head and can decide what you want to do. It's the sheep that go to Junior Colleges. Mwahahha!!

I find it strange to see that you find maths meaningless and yet still like IT.

I guess you are only touching on the surface of IT knowledge.

Deeper IT understanding will require good mathematics foundation.

Good mathematical foundations gives you the skills to analyse running time of computer programs and allow you to write more efficient programs.

Even in area of ecommerce, you need mathematical knowledge to design good database systems base on the various querying language available and SQL might be the most commonly used.

Since you come from a polytechnic and lack the necessary academic foundations, your progress in deeper IT developement will not go further than a typical JC student who does well in their mathematics.

However, career progress in the commercial will be entirely different and depends less on academic achievements. That is a very grey area and I will not touch further on that.

I have a quote for you.

"The society creates hype around people who succeeded despite difficult situations, e.g. Sim Wong Hoo etc..." but that often misleads people into thinking that the path they took is the most convenient."


QUOTE

I knew when I was 14 that I was interested in IT, and would most likely pursue a career related to this field. But no, instead of being allowed to explore this path, I had to cram loads and loads of meaningless mathematical equations and scientific formulas into my brain (which are of no use to me now).

I find it strange to see that you find maths meaningless and yet still like IT.

I guess you are only touching on the surface of IT knowledge.

Deeper IT understanding will require good mathematics foundation.

Good mathematical foundations gives you the skills to analyse running time of computer programs and allow you to write more efficient programs. But this is only relevant to area of Computer Science.

Another area that has recently become very popular is that of Ecommerce which offers a mix between computer science and business studies. Even in area of ecommerce, you need mathematical knowledge to design good database systems for commercial projects base on the various querying language available and SQL might be the most commonly used.

Since you come from a polytechnic and lack the necessary academic foundations, your progress in deeper IT developement will not go further than a typical JC student who does well in their mathematics.

However, career progress in the commercial will be entirely different and depends less on academic achievements. That is a very grey area and I will not touch further on that.


QUOTE

I knew when I was 14 that I was interested in IT, and would most likely pursue a career related to this field. But no, instead of being allowed to explore this path, I had to cram loads and loads of meaningless mathematical equations and scientific formulas into my brain (which are of no use to me now).

I get the feeling that you posted the above comments just to take me a peg down. Interesting.

I find your comments pretty baseless and neither here nor there. IT is a very wide area. Mathematics is really just one small part of it. From my experience while working in an IT-consultant/reseller company, I do not see a lot of maths being applied. To me, maths is required mostly if you're going into R&D. That's not the path I'm intending to take, and I'm not sure if there's really a market for this locally.

I have a quote for you too:

"However, career progress in the commercial will be entirely different and depends less on academic achievements. That is a very grey area and I will not touch further on that."

Did you just shoot yourself in your foot? Or is it grey because you have no working experience? It just seems to me that you've ranted and ranted about something and then said something that completely negates everything you've said.

You probably know more about me than me about you, since you're just an anonymous person leaving a comment. I may be wrong, but judging by your comments, I don't think much of you. Probably an academic who has no idea what's going on in the IT industry.

That is, of course, just conjecture.

Someone must hate your guts, Locksley, to post 2 identity comments exactly 14mins and 14 secs apart. I bet 14:14 is some magical curse to destroy your soul!!!

By the way, Anonymous, do you know maths is also very important if you decide to become a chef? If you don't know 5 comes before 35, you might make a very bad curry chicken. =p

I go to California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

As a matter of familial honor seen a lot in Asian, Middle Eastern, and Inidan communities - me being Inidan - going to a JC is not at the top of the list.

But at my Univesity I work with many JC transfer students. I'd say about 98% of them are hard working and smarter then their counterparts (those admitted directly into the University).

Personally I think everybody should be required to take 2 years of JC then 3 years of university. Taking one more year to graduate won't hurt your brain.