Jobs and elite colleges

[Anonymous]

From your experience, do graduates of Top 25 universities and Top 10 liberal arts colleges get more interviews, interesting jobs, or money? I’m talking only about the UNDERGRADUATE degree.

I understand that anyone who goes to an Ivy MBA, law, or medical school will do well, but that’s really about the professional school, not undergraduate.

I’m trying to understand if it’s worth paying lots of money to go to a prestigious private school over a very selective state school for UNDERGRAD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From your experience, do graduates of Top 25 universities and Top 10 liberal arts colleges get more interviews, interesting jobs, or money? I’m talking only about the UNDERGRADUATE degree.

I understand that anyone who goes to an Ivy MBA, law, or medical school will do well, but that’s really about the professional school, not undergraduate.

I’m trying to understand if it’s worth paying lots of money to go to a prestigious private school over a very selective state school for UNDERGRAD.

Depends upon the student's major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From your experience, do graduates of Top 25 universities and Top 10 liberal arts colleges get more interviews, interesting jobs, or money? I’m talking only about the UNDERGRADUATE degree.

I understand that anyone who goes to an Ivy MBA, law, or medical school will do well, but that’s really about the professional school, not undergraduate.

I’m trying to understand if it’s worth paying lots of money to go to a prestigious private school over a very selective state school for UNDERGRAD.

Depends upon the student's major.

If a STEM major, not necessary to go to a top ranked school.

[Anonymous]

Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

I don't think this is necessarily true. I worked for a firm that exclusively advertised their internships at the Ivies. They were just looking at resumes, not connections. I think these are the types of advantages that result in a better looking resume upon graduation. It was actually the opposite, in my opinion, successful younger people that didn't go to the elites relied on their connections to get those initial interesting jobs to fill their resumes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From your experience, do graduates of Top 25 universities and Top 10 liberal arts colleges get more interviews, interesting jobs, or money? I’m talking only about the UNDERGRADUATE degree.

I understand that anyone who goes to an Ivy MBA, law, or medical school will do well, but that’s really about the professional school, not undergraduate.

I’m trying to understand if it’s worth paying lots of money to go to a prestigious private school over a very selective state school for UNDERGRAD.

Has going to an elite school helped me in getting job interviews? Probably, especially when I was a senior and 2-3 years out of school. Also, I would classify Michigan, UVA, Chapel Hill, Berkeley as elite schools. Definitely would not pay for a private school if I could get in state tuition at one of these publics. I have encountered a lot of these grads (particularly from Berkeley and Michigan) in my workplaces, during interviews, etc.

Also, obviously elite colleges have very good campus recruiting and alumni networks. The campus recruiting is super helpful to seniors. If an alum reaches out to me to network, I am always willing to provide a referral to my company. That being said, I also provide referrals to those who reach out, but have not attended my alma mater.

You might find that particular teams/companies tilt toward hiring students from elite colleges. Might be purposeful. Might be unconscious bias.

That being said, school matters somewhat less than you might think, particularly as you accumulate experience relevant to your field. Work experience trumps school. So, if you have eight years of work experience and are looking to work in a product management role, but have never worked in product management or adjacent functions (design, business operations) you are not going to get an interview. Your school won’t save you. There are also some nuances with respect to having worked at more marquee companies versus smaller more unknown companies depending on the industry. This may also play a role in the screening process. And once again, your school won’t have much pull here if the hiring team is looking to hire someone from more established companies and you have mainly worked at unknown names.

Also, once you make it to the interview process your school really doesn’t matter. If you bomb the interview or lack chemistry with the team, you’re not getting the job. Your school will not save you.

Your interview performance is generally the biggest determinant of pay particularly as an experienced hire. In my industry if you do very well in the interview generally you have leeway to go over the base salary band, get extra sign on, get extra RSUs, etc. New grad roles that hire in cohorts are generally in the same comp band with little leeway to move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

Probably this. I grew up LMC, went Ivy, and pretty sure my career is same place it would be if I went to state flagship — except maybe I wouldn’t have left my state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

Probably this. I grew up LMC, went Ivy, and pretty sure my career is same place it would be if I went to state flagship — except maybe I wouldn’t have left my state?

I went to a top 10 SLAC and would say the same. Maybe I got more interviews because of it, but the job I landed was at a company that hired from everywhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

Probably this. I grew up LMC, went Ivy, and pretty sure my career is same place it would be if I went to state flagship — except maybe I wouldn’t have left my state?

I went to a top 10 SLAC and would say the same. Maybe I got more interviews because of it, but the job I landed was at a company that hired from everywhere

Part of it is knowing careers and how much they pay. Investment banking? In the 90s I thought that was the guy at the local S&L hawking money market funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

That’s false. You need to meet more actual people not toil in imagination land.

What matters is the Career Services Department, Recruiting, Alumni network and job or grad school placement in your area of interest.

Only some of the wealthy Intl students openly go work at some big fmaily conglomerate in the homeland. But many families require their kids to work 10 years elsewhere to learn more and new things, then come to family company.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

That’s false. You need to meet more actual people not toil in imagination land.

What matters is the Career Services Department, Recruiting, Alumni network and job or grad school placement in your area of interest.

Only some of the wealthy Intl students openly go work at some big fmaily conglomerate in the homeland. But many families require their kids to work 10 years elsewhere to learn more and new things, then come to family company.

It’s way less subtle then work for family business. It’s knowing some executive and recommending your son, and then you hire their daughter etc. it’s also knowing which careers and how to navigate them.

[Anonymous]

It’s irrelevant to me as a hiring manager.

I understand that the person who attended the Ivy may be extraordinarily bright—but that they may also be extraordinarily entitled. Those cancel each other out in terms of how excited I am to talk to the candidate. Relevant experience is the decision factor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

That’s false. You need to meet more actual people not toil in imagination land.

What matters is the Career Services Department, Recruiting, Alumni network and job or grad school placement in your area of interest.

Only some of the wealthy Intl students openly go work at some big fmaily conglomerate in the homeland. But many families require their kids to work 10 years elsewhere to learn more and new things, then come to family company.

It’s way less subtle then work for family business. It’s knowing some executive and recommending your son, and then you hire their daughter etc. it’s also knowing which careers and how to navigate them.

I played D1 lacrosse at a flagship university and I got multiple internships from fellow lacrosse players whose families are very wealthy and connected, and I wasn't even a good student. I just happened to be one the best players on the team and I got along with everyone. After graduation, I got multiple high paying job offers from people I met through internships and families of other lacrosse players, some of them I played against from other universities. I would never get those opportunities without playing lacrosse. My two older brothers attended Yale and Princeton and they make five times less than I do. They wished they spent less time studying and more time with sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Usually they have jobs waiting for them via their parent/relative’s company or connections.

It’s not just about the degree. It’s about the legions of privileges that enabled you to attend such a school in the first place. (And please none of the rags-to-riches stories - these obviously are not the norm.)

That’s false. You need to meet more actual people not toil in imagination land.

What matters is the Career Services Department, Recruiting, Alumni network and job or grad school placement in your area of interest.

Only some of the wealthy Intl students openly go work at some big fmaily conglomerate in the homeland. But many families require their kids to work 10 years elsewhere to learn more and new things, then come to family company.

It’s way less subtle then work for family business. It’s knowing some executive and recommending your son, and then you hire their daughter etc. it’s also knowing which careers and how to navigate them.

I played D1 lacrosse at a flagship university and I got multiple internships from fellow lacrosse players whose families are very wealthy and connected, and I wasn't even a good student. I just happened to be one the best players on the team and I got along with everyone. After graduation, I got multiple high paying job offers from people I met through internships and families of other lacrosse players, some of them I played against from other universities. I would never get those opportunities without playing lacrosse. My two older brothers attended Yale and Princeton and they make five times less than I do. They wished they spent less time studying and more time with sports.

The first bolded sentence was verified by the second.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s irrelevant to me as a hiring manager.

I understand that the person who attended the Ivy may be extraordinarily bright—but that they may also be extraordinarily entitled. Those cancel each other out in terms of how excited I am to talk to the candidate. Relevant experience is the decision factor.

It's relevant if your company only recruits at certain schools.