Does it seem like all anti-elite college folks never actually attended an elite?

[Anonymous]

I will second that for law schools, the ranking DEFINITELY matters - unless you plan to practice in the specific market. For example, if you plan to practice in Boston, Boston College of Law is probably OK. If you plan a practice in DC or NYC, go for ranking.

[Anonymous]

Not anti-elite at all ... but I also don't assume kids graduating from elites are superior!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will second that for law schools, the ranking DEFINITELY matters - unless you plan to practice in the specific market. For example, if you plan to practice in Boston, Boston College of Law is probably OK. If you plan a practice in DC or NYC, go for ranking.

But that is Law school, not the college. I know someone who went from Boise State to Stanford Law. He had all A's at BSU, and did well on the LSATs. Went to BSU not because it was the only school he could get into, but because it was the school he could go to without debt.

Going to an elite college is a lot like going to TJHHST: it says something. There are very few if any poor students, but the top kids at the local school are just as good. The top kids at Va Tech (and by top, I mean the top 5-10%) are just as good as the top kids at MIT.

At Tech, though, only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the students graduate in 4 years; at MIT it is 92%. Harvard 98%.

So, the graduates at Tech are closer to MIT & Harvard than the admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dh and I both went to elite schools and I would pay extra to send my kids if they are admitted. In my field-- law, some firms and judges (for clerkship) won't even interview if you haven't gone to an elite school.

Yes, you can do very well coming from a state school, but there is much less margin of error with respect to grades/test scores for both grad schools and jobs.

Really? I work in law and we couldn't give two shits about where you went to undergrad. It literally does not matter. Law school, and law school only.

My Ivy League law,school had only a handful of kids from state schools, the elite colleges were overrepresented .

HLS had 188 undergraduate schools represented by 562 1Ls. So, your statement is just BS.

I went to a much smaller elite law school. Look, send your kids to second or third tier schools, it doesn't bother me any. If it makes you happy, go for it.

NP here -- I went to a smaller, elite law school too. I came from an elite northeast undergrad school, and was intrigued to find that many of my classmates went to schools that I'd never even heard of. They were bright, interesting and hard-working, and they've been successful professionally. On the whole, they tended to be friendlier and more down-to-earth, and -- notably for law students -- less enamored of their own voices and opinions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my child got into an Ivy (except maybe Cornell), I would move heaven and earth to make sure she could attend. It is just the way it is. You can be 80 years old and people will still be impressed that you went to Harvard or Yale. Sorry - that is just the way it is. Plus the Ivy's are all so beautiful and well-endowed. All merit based financial aid - even for athletes. A class valedictorian we know couldn't afford to go to a state school but gt a free ride from Dartmouth due to the generous financial aid.

I am sad for you that you are so caught up in "status" bullshit that you would take on such unnecessary debt. You have a sad, skewed view of life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two Ivy degrees.

My take is that an elite education is like high-end car with all the bells and whistles. It's a wonderful luxury and you'll love the experience of driving it. It has heated seats and the engine purrs along like a dream, but of course there is no guarantee that it will never break down or that you won't run it into a tree.

Some bystanders will admire it and read something into it about your status in the world, and others will roll their eyes at you and say "look at that asshole in the Mercedes." Some people are oblivious and won't notice one way or the other what you are driving.

It's really nice to drive such a vehicle and most people would take the keys if they were handed to them, but if you can't afford the sticker price, well the Honda Accord is a darn good car and will get you to your destination just fine.

I like you.

[Anonymous]

I had a full ride to MIT for grad school. I got there from my full ride at a non-elite that routinely gets snark from the DCUM crowd (but has a well-regarded program in my area that was hardly a breeze to get through).

Our kids are going to non-elite, perfect fit schools that we can afford without loans. Being able to start out with zero student loans has been a huge gift to our family and we aim for the same for our kids. FWIW, MIT is nice to drop into conversations and certainly gets attention on a resume, but my peers at the same salary level didn't go to "elites." I would say that the big name will mean more for big law or finance than practically any other field.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will second that for law schools, the ranking DEFINITELY matters - unless you plan to practice in the specific market. For example, if you plan to practice in Boston, Boston College of Law is probably OK. If you plan a practice in DC or NYC, go for ranking.

But that is Law school, not the college. I know someone who went from Boise State to Stanford Law. He had all A's at BSU, and did well on the LSATs. Went to BSU not because it was the only school he could get into, but because it was the school he could go to without debt.

Going to an elite college is a lot like going to TJHHST: it says something. There are very few if any poor students, but the top kids at the local school are just as good. The top kids at Va Tech (and by top, I mean the top 5-10%) are just as good as the top kids at MIT.

At Tech, though, only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the students graduate in 4 years; at MIT it is 92%. Harvard 98%.

So, the graduates at Tech are closer to MIT & Harvard than the admitted.

Boise astat will have one kid every decade going to Stanford law, a Harvard or the lie sends multiple kid a year.

[Anonymous]

I can say definitively that my URM's Ivy education has opened doors for him. Sure many kids are just as bright and get great educations at state schools. But major companies and graduate programs recruit actively for URM graduates from ivies. It may not be for everyone, buy for my son it was the right college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a river of power that flows through this country. ... And that river flows from the Ivy League." -Joe Biden

A whopping 18% of US senators went to Ivy League schools for undergrad. Wow, impressive. Not.

Joe himself didn't go to an Ivy League college - he attended University of Delaware for his undergrad, Syracuse for law school.

...and he sent all of his kids to Penn! Obama sent his daughter to Harvard. Clintons sent Chelsea to Stanford.

Exactly!They all seek out top 10 schools for their kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a river of power that flows through this country. ... And that river flows from the Ivy League." -Joe Biden

A whopping 18% of US senators went to Ivy League schools for undergrad. Wow, impressive. Not.

Joe himself didn't go to an Ivy League college - he attended University of Delaware for his undergrad, Syracuse for law school.

...and he sent all of his kids to Penn! Obama sent his daughter to Harvard. Clintons sent Chelsea to Stanford.

Exactly!They all seek out top 10 schools for their kids.

18% senators from Ivys? That's very impressive since I would assume less than 1% of college grads graduate from Ivys.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a river of power that flows through this country. ... And that river flows from the Ivy League." -Joe Biden

A whopping 18% of US senators went to Ivy League schools for undergrad. Wow, impressive. Not.

Joe himself didn't go to an Ivy League college - he attended University of Delaware for his undergrad, Syracuse for law school.

...and he sent all of his kids to Penn! Obama sent his daughter to Harvard. Clintons sent Chelsea to Stanford.

Exactly!They all seek out top 10 schools for their kids.

18% senators from Ivys? That's very impressive since I would assume less than 1% of college grads graduate from Ivys.

Congrats to them obtaining a job that pays $200K a year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dh and I both went to elite schools and I would pay extra to send my kids if they are admitted. In my field-- law, some firms and judges (for clerkship) won't even interview if you haven't gone to an elite school.

Yes, you can do very well coming from a state school, but there is much less margin of error with respect to grades/test scores for both grad schools and jobs.

And that's why I hate lawyers.

Me, too, and I hire support personnel for them. Watching some of them turn down applicants with strong references from a year or two of directly relevant job experience because someone fresh out of college went to a better school is maddening. I've hired at least 50 people for entry-level legal jobs, undergraduate institution is not a strong indicator of performance. My very worst employee ever was an Ivy grad, though I assumed that they were an anomaly and not that the school was awful. Yet every time I had to talk to someone about performance in the termination process, every single person said, "But I don't understand, they went to an Ivy League school! How could the be so bad at this job?".

[Anonymous]

Considering by the age of 40 the advantage of attending a top tier college disapppers its value is short lived.

[Anonymous]

I went to non-elite for undergrad and elite (HYPMS) for grad. I am a believer in not investing hundreds of thousands in undergrad.