Why are "elite schools" still a thing?
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Anonymous
| It seems to be pretty common knowledge that for the vast majority of applicants, getting accepted to a school like Harvard or Yale is pretty much a lottery. So why are these insanely selective schools still considered better than all of the others? Why haven't we let the idea of "prestigious" colleges go? Many students get equal or better educations at their state school. |
Anonymous
| Has nothing to do with the education. Has to do with the connections with the right people and institutions. |
Anonymous
| We like to say it’s a lottery, but it’s not completely, and the difference matters. Kids who go to elite schools are pretty smart and ambitious, which typically yields great results. Of course, someone with the same qualities can go to community college and also succeed, but they do so against the odds. It’s a lot easier to succeed when everyone around you is pushing you to be your best self, when the best employers want you to work for them, and the best graduate programs are happy to have you. Sure, anyone can own 10 pizza joints, but many don’t want that type of success. It is what it is. |
Anonymous
| Because so long as enough people believe it, they make it true. |
Anonymous
| I think they are on their way out: cost, high profile stupid alumni like Trump, DeSantis and Vance, idiotic protesters and bad leadership in the news...People are waking up to it all. |
Anonymous
| Because top paying employers only want to recruit from those schools. If you can get them to change their mindset, that would go a long way. |
Anonymous
These jobs often go to connected, rich kids. Yes, it does give you a chance if that's not you, but that's a tiny percentage of a tiny population within a specific school. |
Anonymous
This isn’t true at all. The %age of kids getting hired by GS or Citadel that are “connected” is tiny. |
Anonymous
The desire to work at those places is also diminishing. |
Anonymous
Again…not true at all. |
Anonymous
About Citadel: The New York Times reported in 2010 that "the firm is unique in its reputation for being a revolving door", meaning that it had a high turnover rate |
Anonymous
| Harvard and Yale are less and less of a thing, if you’ve been paying attention. |
Anonymous
That’s 14 years old. Also, hedge funds make lots of people rich (so they leave on their own) and are not touchy feely places to work. They fire lots of people that don’t perform. That still doesn’t mean it isn’t highly sought by college grads. |
Anonymous
That's true. But MIT is still a thing. And so too are most of the schools ranked 5-20. Those schools tend to give exceptionally good grant-based financial aid, so they are generally accessible to nearly every bright kid fortunate enough to be accepted. People may have thrown up their hands with HYPS, sensing - correctly - that those four schools are just a club for the super-hooked and privileged. But I suspect most will still regard students at the other T20 schools as bright and accomplished and fairly elite with their talents and brainpower. Harvard might not be a meritocracy, but schools like Rice and CalTech and Duke and Northwestern are going to continue to be regarded as schools for smart kids. Otherwise, many of the best and brightest today are foregoing $400,000 private universities and choosing state flagships instead. No doubt employers and graduate schools have noticed and are recalibrating where they recruit. So, a little less Harvard and Yale. And a lot more Michigan and UVA and the other major flagships. |
Anonymous
| Because elites want their offspring to stay elite. |