Bill Gates to Finally Receive His Harvard Degree

coondoggie writes "It's not like he needs it to beef up his résumé, but the world's richest college dropout finally is getting his degree. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, will speak at Harvard University's commencement ceremony in June and, like all commencement speakers, will receive an honorary degree from the institution. It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in $44 billion in revenue last year, cares. But the programming whiz who once dropped out of Harvard will likely feel some sense of satisfaction."

Comments

Rich man's GED

[Aqua OS X]

I tend to view the bachelors degree as the high school diploma of the 21st century...
so I guess that makes the honorary degree something akin to a rich man's GED.

Re:Rich man's GED

[Seumas]

As a drop-out-done-good myself (probably doing better than anyone I ever went to school with as well as the teachers and administrators), I would probably react to an honorary degree with a big fuck you. Like someone who stuck it out on their own and made something great for themselves in the world inevitably need some stamp of approval from a bunch of nose-in-the-air academic snoots?

Re:Rich man's GED

[StarvingSE]

Why does there seem to be such a big hatred for college degrees here on slashdot? I'm not trying to flamebait or anything, but it seems that every time there is a story about college (especially computer science programs), there's always a bunch of people who chime in on how a degree is useless.

It's not useless. Most companies require it for you to be able to work for them. A college degree (earned, not necessarily honorary) is valuable in that it shows that you can dedicate yourself to something and accomplish it. Also, for most people it's the first time they are on their own to figure out their own lives. At least for me, the life experiences during college are more valuable than the actual education. The college experience can be invaluable for discovering yourself and finding out how you want to live the rest of your life.

Re:Rich man's GED

[Sobrique]

Easy answer? Sour Grapes.

More indepth answer? If you assume a degree is synonymous with 'being qualified' you are incorrect. There are a large number of graduates who have yet to learn the 'tough lesson' that their degree doesn't actually carry much weight. So the Slashdot community is helpfully trying to get them focussed on the fact that a degree, or lack thereof, isn't a binary state factor. It's an enabler, and it's useful, but then... so is having spent 3 years 'in the industry' whilst everyone else was off getting their degree.

Re:Rich man's GED

[rikkards]

Stamp of approval?

It's an honorary degree, it's more like saying "we recognise you as being prominent in this field and here's the proof."

Not: "omglolwtf u didnt get a degree heres one now ur one of us!!1 lol"

Actually honorary degrees are more of a "we need someone to speak at our graduation and we will give you one as payment". Nothing more, nothing less. Kind of cheapens what the real graduates are getting IMHO.

Re:Rich man's GED

[nharmon]

It isn't that there is a hatred for college degrees, or even an attitude that they are completely useless. I think the attitude is that college degrees have unnecessarily become a "basic education" credential where the absence of carries with it a certain stigma. And I can certainly understand why people would be upset about that.

Certainly college degrees aren't useless, but in the same respect they aren't completely necessary. I have a fairly well paying job without a bachelor's degree. However that being said, I am a part-time student pursuing a bachelor's degree, so obviously I do not view it as useless.

Re:Rich man's GED

[merlin262]

I think it's just part of the slashdot demographic.

Let me illustrate an average slashdot poster. I met a friend of a friend. The conversation went like this.

"So, where do you work?"

"I'm actually not right now"

"Oh, so what school are you going to?"

"I'm not going to college, the school messed me up"

"Oh, ok"

This person lives w/ their parents, and claims to enjoy "intelligent conversation". When you consider the number of self-styled experts that know everything on a subject, I'd say you have a large number of people like this here. They are too smart for school, too good for a job, and thus live at home w/ their parents. They explain this meaningless existance by posting on slashdot and talking about why these things don't matter.

In short, the reason why that is often posted: Virgins.

Re:Rich man's GED

[eln]

Business is an academic field.

huh?

[User 956]

It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in $44 billion in revenue last year, cares.

Well, he certainly must care, as he's obviously not doing it for the money.

Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[gavink42]

Sure, going to college for 4 (or more) years can teach a person some good information. But the skills learned from life experience are usually much more important!

I have no degree but take college courses (adult continuing education) that interest me. At some point in most of them, the prof will usually add a remark like: "...but of course we know that's not how it works in the real world."

I'm not saying that they're teaching the wrong things in college, just that the average 18 year old will be learning mostly best-case theory. Most of the actual skills are learned during the early years in the workplace.

Seems like it would be a better process to work in your desired field for a few years, then go for the degree. Or, at least participate heavily in an apprentice program. But I do realize that some career fields are not compatible with this paragraph.

Yep, he earned it, I'd say.

[Rob Bos]

Love or hate the guy, he's certainly earned degree equivalency. Business Administration, most likely; they said in the article that Harvard doesn't announce which subject in advance.

If it's computing science, then I'd probably have a few words to say.

Re:Already has several others

[Dogtanian]

it's discouraging that such a top figure in computing really never had anything inspirational to say - at least pertaining the field. Gates' major achievements are as a businessman, not as a computer scientist. Not saying that he's stupid in that area; quite the opposite (e.g. given the speed he apparently designed MS BASIC with, he clearly has skill). However, he didn't actually invent BASIC (as a language) or even write MS-DOS originally. On the other hand, who can deny that he's a very skilled businessman?

What it also says

[Swift2001]

"We notice you've made a lot of money and are therefore wise. We also notice you're not getting any younger, and you're giving away money. If you see anything you'd like to endow, please be in touch."

Re:Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[drsquare]

Today, family and friends ask me to not mention any of this to their kids finishing high school/starting college.

That's because nearly all dropouts end up working deadend menial jobs their entire lives.

It's not the dot-com era anymore, companies aren't going to hire 17 year old dropouts as sysadmins. Your case was a complete one off, you may as well advise people to buy lottery tickets for a living.

Re:Degrees are overrated... Skills are important!

[tomstdenis]

What skills are involved in admining boxes?

Things I learned in college

1. algebra
2. calculus
3. data structures
4. algorithms [sorting, searching, etc]
5. compiler theory
6. numerical analysis
7. and a host of practical courses, etc.

And what do I do for a living? Software developer in the field of cryptography. So I need the math, algorithms, etc, etc. Yeah, granted I too taught myself a lot of my skills [like crypto], but to say college was a total waste because I had to sit through a "intro to C" class is ignorant.

Maybe if you had a job that required talent you'd be talking differently. I'm sorry, but setting up servers, changing network settings, etc, isn't exactly a skilled labour. I mean it's a job, but don't pretend you're some tech god because you can make Apache start and host a page.

Sorry for knocking you off your high horse, but you're advice is ignorant and misleading.

Tom

Re:Already has several others

[xtracto]

quite the opposite (e.g. given the speed he apparently designed MS BASIC with, he clearly has skill). However, he didn't actually invent BASIC (as a language) or even write MS-DOS originally

But, how /many/ people do you know that have "invented" or wrote original software?, I know I wont be very popular saying this over here but *even* Linus Trovalds took Minix as the basis for Linux, and he didnt *wrote* all of the Linux kernel you know. Technical people should not only be judged by the number of lines they write but by the *overall* influence they have to their field.

Bill Gates has had a really HUGE influence to the field (some good, some bad, but in my opinion, more good than bad). I would think that he deserves more like a Master degree... maybe *even* a PhD (although maybe he is not familiar with research methodologies).

I know here in slashdot more than 50% of people do not like him but I think overall, after he dies he will be nicely remembered as the guy who introduced computers to the masses.

Programming whiz?

[seandiggity]

"Programming whiz"? I've heard others say this also, but what exactly was Billy boy so good at (besides sending nasty letters to early innovators)?
 
I'm under the impression that he made his mark by announcing vaporware and then coming up with something quick (primarily using someone else's work), before showing it off to potential buyers (e.g. QDOS, Altair BASIC interpreter).