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<p>And since you’re apparently so familiar with California, you would surely recognize that a family in either the Bay Area or Southern California (by far the two largest sources of Berkeley students) who are making only $80k a year - with college-age kids - is tantamount to living in poverty. </p>
<p>Families making up to $140k, along with the students themselves, are still responsible for a substantial chunk of the costs of Berkeley. Much of that cost is likely to be born by debt, which needs to be paid back. </p>
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<p>By all means, please tell that to the millions of people around the world who are struggling to simply put food on the table because of the financial crisis. Many of them can’t find jobs at all, and many of those who do have jobs are straining to make ends meet.</p>
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<p>So are you saying that all of the immiserated women around the world should simply work as prostitutes? Heck, I can think of several women who just declared personal bankruptcy because they had lost their jobs and haven’t been rehired. Every day, they wonder what they’ll do for money. Would you like to tell them about your, ahem, ‘indecent proposal’? </p>
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<p>You said that “if people did any research they would soon discover that the richest people often dropped out of school in order to make all that money.” It seems to me that the implication is that people who need money don’t need to bother with graduating from Berkeley (or any college for that matter), as they can simply drop out of college. </p>
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<p>Well, like it or not, MBA’s (at least from the top schools) obtain high starting salaries. Perhaps more importantly, they are the gateway to many of the ‘elite’ firms in the world. </p>
<p>Now, perhaps you disagree that MBA’s should be paid so well. Perhaps you disagree that they do serve as the gateway to such ‘elite’ firms, or perhaps you even agree that those firms are even ‘elite’ in the first place. Nevertheless, what is undeniable is that, like it or not, the MBA degree is effective for obtaining a particular type of job that seem to pay highly and, at least in the eyes of some, are seen as highly desirable. If you want those jobs, then you have to follow their rules. </p>
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<p>Look, however bogus you or even I may personally think GPA is, the fact remains that many employers - and certainly many grad schools - demand high GPA’s. You can denigrate them all you want, and they’re still going to demand high GPA’s, whether we like it or not. And since they’re the ones offering the jobs or the admissions slots, they have the power to choose what they want.</p>