Does elite graduates trade better?

Mohican

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All my life I was told that graduates expecially from top universities like oxford .cambridge and havard produced the world best minds.

And indeed graduates from those colleges are able to enter top firms like lazard , goldman sachs
and others.Hence the experience gained would be invaluable in their trading life, George soros graduated from London school of economics and worked in an investment firm before he struck it big himself betting against the pound.

Maybe the investment banking world still a conservative ones compared to IT where abilities counts more than a piece of paper.But I forsee a paradigm shift soon in the financial sector due to internet and globalization giving man on the street opportunties that once closed to him .

The days of jesse livermore are back again except now people are harnessing technonlogy and
market abuse are less rampant .
 
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Mohican said:
All my life I was told that graduates expecially from top universities like oxford .cambridge and havard produced the world best minds.

And indeed graduates from those colleges are able to enter top firms like lazard , goldman sachs
and others.Hence the experience gained would be invaluable in their trading life, George soros graduated from London school of economics and worked in an investment firm before he struck it big himself betting against the pound.

Maybe the investment banking world still a conservative ones compared to IT where abilities counts more than a piece of paper.But I forsee a paradigm shift soon in the financial sector due to internet and globalization giving man on the street opportunties that once closed to him .

The days of jesse livermore are back again except now people are harnessing technonlogy and
market abuse are less rampant .
Very entertaining and funny. Giggle.
 
I have just remembered something. One evening at dinner with a "very important person", my friend and I were informed that "unless you have a degree, you are not a gentleman". Therefore those aspiring to become gentlemen are entrusted to swot really hard. Do you remember that CB ? Look at this and tell me on Tuesday, I am sure you have not forgotten.
 
SOCRATES said:
my friend and I were informed that "unless you have a degree, you are not a gentleman".

Your dinner companion's comment could open a whole discussion!

Not a particularly intelligent comment to make in my view... and degree holders are supposed to be intelligent! However, my previous comment presupposes that degree holders are worldly wise, have a handle on the social realities of this world and are capable of developing and maintaining relationships with other people such that they are respected and maybe even liked. And of course the definition of gentleman is open to debate too.
 
Very Interesting Comment.

jimmy1jag said:
Your dinner companion's comment could open a whole discussion!
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# Indeed, my dinner companion (who admits to "not doing diplomacy")had to be nudged under the table to prevent a confrontation flaring up justifiably.
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Not a particularly intelligent comment to make in my view... and degree holders are supposed to be intelligent!
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# It may be that degree holders are supposed to be intelligent, and no doubt many of them are, but I have also come across real dunces who believe themselves to be geniuses as a consequence of holding a degree. This is a very dangerous misconception many people fall into, since they confuse book learned attainment with real natural intelligence.
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However, my previous comment presupposes that degree holders are worldly wise, have a handle on the social realities of this world and are capable of developing and maintaining relationships with other people such that they are respected and maybe even liked.
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# Holding a degree does not confer upon the holder worldly wisdom, social reality nor interpersonal skills, not necessarily. These emanate from another department that is nourished by knowledge but decides to digest the knowlege properly or not, as a consequence of developing higher levels of general and specific awareness.
These faculties are not developed by attending the university of learning, they are developed by people attending the university of life and learning all its lessons.
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And of course the definition of gentleman is open to debate too .......................................................................................................................................................................
# Yes, quite. You ought to look carefully at the family background and that will give you a clue as to upbringing. Having said that there are many individuals from truly modest backgrounds who in the true sense of the word turn out to be real gentlemen.
 
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i think undertaking a degree will broaden the mind, the level of which would range depending on which degree you take. i know personally that if i hadnt gone to university, i would have been a different person in the sence that my thought processes would be different and maybe somewhat narrow. i would accept things rather than question. it helps in personal skills, independance etc it shows you are willing to sacrifise, are committed, dreams and aspirations etc the list can go on and on but i hope you get my drift!
 
destiny said:
i think undertaking a degree will broaden the mind, the level of which would range depending on which degree you take.

True, but only to the extent you let it develop. I don't believe this is dependent on the type of degree you take however.

The true extent to which you develop as "rounded" person, ie a person with both intellectual and emotional/ social intelligence in equal measure, depends on the levels of humility contained within you.

It is humility, flexibility and a strong desire and willingness to learn socially, emotionally as well as intellectually that determines true long term success; and these traits you do not learn at university. You may do, but in most cases it is there before you arrive at university.
 
A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad.
-Theodore Roosevelt
 
Im a university graduate myself and am now prop trading at an arcade and I do not believe that a university degree can prepare you for any type of trading. Within quite a short time at university, i realised that if my lecturers knew that much about trading then why would they be trying to teach it rather than simply trade themselves - the financial rewards would certainly have been better!

I think that university degrees are a good way of filtering the recruitment process due to the sheer volume of applicants in the financial industry but the actual content really only prepares students to be lecturers. This is due to the nature of degrees being too theory based and not practical enough - they help you to recite text books but will not prepare you for a stressful situation. The workload is a also a bit of a culture shock - going from eight hours a week to eleven hours a day!

The answer would be the financial industry working more closely with universities to prepare students for a real working environment rather than just letting students waste three years getting a degree and then taking more time in the workplace learning the actual job.
 
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