Quote from Don Bright:
OK, fair enough.....
We encourage education, and also encourage entrepreneurship, and have been somewhat pivotal in both. I teach at the college level, and obviously do what I can to help those who want to participate in the stock market. These two concepts are not mutually exclusive.....many college students want to become "part of Wall Street".....but have been either mis-informed or simply mislead by visions of high paying "jobs"....that simply do not exist. On the the other hand, opportunities do avail themselves for those who are seeking to start their own business.
Perhaps this is a more preferred response.....
Don
I have no problem with you offering an alternative to grad school, or even college for that matter.
However, a student and their parents should know full well the potential risk, and the odds of success.
It is great to offer an opportunity to someone, but there should be some reason, to think a college age kid is going to have success where so many others have failed.
I have suggested this before, but I doubt you have done anything in this regard, as I think you are less educator and more salesman.
Most universities, including grad school require entrance qualifications. They have learned over time what tests to give, and what performances at the undergraduate level put the potential to a test of future performance.
Sure, just like trading, there is no certainty that a good score on a GRE, LSAT, GME etc. will ensure a graduation, or even a job after graduation.
In your industry, one would think after training umpteen candidates for a career in training that certain personality traits or objective traits could be seen with the success, and failure.
This provides an opportunity to perform screening to weed out those who have no business trading but are just pipe dreamed up, nor do they have the mentality/psychology/maturity/work ethic to have success as a trader.
If you say, we can find no commonality among traders, we cannot predict who will have success or failure, then it indicates success is random, and all you can offer someone is a chance to play in a random career.
If you were legit, you would require entrance exams for those at student age, or higher for that matter....and no, series 7 isn't a good test of what it takes to be a trader.
When I see you give psychological testing, and approach the recruitment process scientifically, and not just as a salesman recruiting commissions and training fees, I might take you with some degree of seriousness beyond a car salesman in the trading industry, and give you some credit as an educator.