"I barely made it into the top 10% of my public high school class"

As a guy who went to Case when Paul did (and only vaguely recalls interacting with him), I know that being on the right side of that 10% translated into $50K+ in scholarships given CWRU's by-the-numbers merit-based aid system.

Edit: I'm just commenting on the significance of Paul's statement. A huge percentage of Case students would not have attended had it not been for the liberal disbursement of 75% off coupons without regard to financial need.

It's as much of a statement about the inanity of the college-prestige game as it is about our alma mater. CWRU is more than good enough. As a school. As a brand name with snob appeal... I have to agree with Paul.

I say that a little tongue in cheek -- regardless of what Paul thinks about Case, he was certainly an inspiration to me, proving that what you actually do is more important than where you came from.

I'm at CWRU right now, trying so hard not to respond to that bit with a super-long comment. I'll just say this: smart people, go somewhere else, at least for CS. (If you're reading this comment years later, re-evaluate.)

(Hi Adam!)

Or rather: It is good enough because it has smart students. The dept. has issues but the students are excellent.

You're right, I should have said this. Some of the students here are amazing.

Only losers go to CWRU. People like Paul and Donald Knuth.

The only two alumni anyone ever names in the tech world. But Paul calls it "good enough" and Knuth was there long enough ago that it was essentially a different school.

Here's a more complete list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Case_Western_Reserve_Un...

With that said, being able to name two is better than most. Ask your average developer who famous (in CS circles) went to Yale, Columbia, Princeton, UIUC, etc... It's pretty rare that there is any association at all. Off the top of my head I don't know if I can name two of equal prominence from any of those schools (although I'm sure if I searched I could find some).

I doubt your average developer knows that Paul and Knuth went to Case Western. You're average developer probably doesn't know that the founder of Paypal and the co-founder of Youtube went to UIUC. I'm not really sure what argument you're trying to make. People in industry typically just don't care about these types of associations.

No offense, but did you read the thread? You kind of reiterated my point.

The fact that most people cite, at best, Knuth and Paul says little about CWRU since most people can't cite anyone from virtually any other school.

And BTW, UIUC was probably the biggest gimme... although I'm surprised you didn't go with Andreesen and Ozzie. Those are the names I most typically hear thrown out.