This is what MC people, including UMC people, just don't seem to understand. Of course you go through connections. It's all about connections. Certainly Ivy League schools are all about connections. Skill matters very little compared to connections (a modicum of skill is necessary, but not sufficient). But don't believe me, a rando on the internet, believe writer Paul Tough who studied it for years. His book is called The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us |
I’m surprised I guess…. |
I went to Harvard back in the 14th century. Investment banks and consulting firms interviewed plenty of middle class kids. They preferred kids with strong math skills and high GPAs. The athletes tended to have lower grades, and they often ended up as property developers.
This just sounds sad. I just joined any club I liked. Most were a bit desperate for members. The only competitive ones were the newspapers and magazines. |
This is still true. The investment banks, PE and consulting firms prefer the students with strong math skills and high GPAs. The athletes and frat boys go into sales roles at these places; they are not the intellectual capital of these firms. Physics majors who know 6-12 programming languages are much hotter commodities than the garden variety Econ major who “studied” his frat’s file on cases from McKinsey or Goldman or Blackstone. |
You work connections no matter what...but you need to be an important client and you need to be the primary contact (usually CEO, CFO, Chairman and/or owner) for that investment bank, P/E firm, etc. If you aren't in a position to give the firm business, then they don't care that you work at the company. Just want to make that clear. |
The problem is some parent hears that Johnny is working in PE, but doesn’t understand exactly what he is doing but only that he was a member of a college investment club and/or got his job through a connection. Trust me, he’s a glorified salesmen and the job won’t last until he’s 28. |
Join VASST. One of the largest on Grounds and they have a great social experience all year. |
Understood. We fit the category. |
What is source for Williams being *majority* athlete? My understanding is it is 35% from having toured a bunch of NESCACs with DC, who is attending a different one with similar % student athletes. https://communications.williams.edu/media-relations/fast-facts/#:~:text=Approximately%2035%25%20of%20all%20students,and%20a%20large%20intramural%20program. |
You are EXACTLY right and yes he will. Thank you. |
SIGH. People hate to look at themselves in the mirror. LC and MC people especially, as well as first-generation UMCs do not understand that having your kid get into a college means ZERO if your kid can't figure out how to flourish. So you need to know your kid's place. Yale has to admit some high-achieving kids who are minorities or lower/middle income. Those kids are the "exception that proves the rule" of how difficult it is to get into Yale. Those kids are there to sink or swim in their classes, all while providing the dining hall labor. But there is ZERO reason for the generally UC kids running a club to accept these lower or middle-class kids unless they REALLY benefit PERSONALLY from including them. These are the kids that have no connections, nothing interesting in their experiences and background, and nothing but their brains to push them forward. They can't function in an executive room where people give lip service to diversity, but laugh about the diversity hire's latest fumble during cocktails after a round. Oh, was your kid not invited to play that round of golf? Exactly. So look at your kid. Is she gorgeous? Then maybe she can get hint to the club President that she'll date him, or maybe she can look good on stage with the members of the a cappella group. Does your kid have a hookup for really good drugs? Then maybe he can trade on that to get into an investment club. But if your kid is the average "successful" entrant to Yale, their already WAY ahead of the game. They got admitted, and surely are getting all sorts of "need"-based financial aid. So they really don't need to be given any more perks that would let them rise ahead of the kids who actually FUND the university. it's just the way it is. |
Ouch. That’s harsh. But explains so much. I feel like our prep school’s kids actually have hard time keeping up with the social pecking order in the Ivies, run by the boarding school/WASP/7th generation kid. At least that’s what I’ve been hearing from last year’s senior parents…”hard adjustment”, “interesting social dynamics”, “competitive culture”, etc. Maybe you are explaining why. |
What stops the kids who are not selected from founding their own club?
Seriously. If only one in five make it into the consulting club, why not start a parallel club with university funds? You would have a lot of interest from the other four out of five (all of whom are just as bright as you if they made it through admissions to the college) and could build something. I would be contacting the college before arriving on campus to learn what is required to create a group/club. Go through the selection process of your preferred club, and if left out, start your own. I agree that the current landscape is terrible, but the kind of person who does something about it is the person who will do very well in those four years and beyond. |
Who are these UC kids? |
+1. Another post from a parent who is too concerned with what "those on the other side of the tracks" are or are not doing. This is all wildly inaccurate speculation. Fraternity and Sorority members have far worse behaviors than any legitimate club. |