Then there are those of us who had absolutely no idea what we were getting into. I was contacted by schools after taking the PSAT. I was accepted by Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale, among other schools. I didn’t visit them before deciding which offer to accept. I knew that these were “good schools”, but I didn’t really know anyone that I could talk with who had attended a predominantly white school or even a school out of state . I didn’t really have a sense of the “prestige “ attached to schools like this, or, as you’ve said, how to use that to propel myself to a higher earning career. Actually, I thought I was in a “high enough” earning career — compared with what I was used to. The benchmarks that many people here are using for things like “high earning” and “prestige “ didn’t even register with me because they weren’t a part of my world in any way. I think people more familiar with wealth and power and privileges know what they’re aiming for, and often know how to access those things. I just wanted an environment where my “nerdy” academic interests could be supported and even encouraged, and a “good” job that was an interesting career and not a slog just to pay the bills. Fortunately I got much more. |
Simply stating “I went to a highly ranked school so I could have made more money” is just an inaccurate statement made by someone who doesn’t realize the true meaning of success or the number of qualities and skills it takes to move up. The lack of that larger picture is likely what made a person less financially successful. Lack of taking personal responsibility does not help either (my wife doesn’t work and my parents weren’t clued in). Also, trade offs are what life is about. The misplaced regretful idea that one didn’t live up to their potential. The reality of prioritizing your career is part of what makes potential thrive. You didn’t squander anything. You don’t know what gifts there were to receive. Looking at someone else assuming you could achieve what they did, based on similarities without fully comparing all aspects of what made them successful. Assuming a highly ranked school makes potential when it’s really a combination of many things, including luck. Your potential didn’t include the desire to make those trade offs. They had it. You did not. You can’t squander something you did not possess. |
You guessed right. |
Columbia seems like an awful school. Don’t know why anyone would send their kids there. |
Where did you fail exactly? It sounds like you've done well for yourself, frankly. |
Why are my comments being deleted? Ivy League brats feel entitled to a nice college experience or a good job and are shocked to find that that's not the case. Is Jeff deleting my comments to appeal to their ego or something? |
Umm... Because it's an Ivy. Duh. |
I mean this was back in the 90s. There was no Internet, or really any way of figuring out what schools were really like, unless you knew someone who went there. I didn't even visit schools. I don't think it occurred to my parents. I met with my guidance counselor, she looked at my grades and scores and said here's a list of schools to apply to. Columbia was my reach and I got in. I was grateful. |
There is an actual medical doctor who plays for New York Jets.
https://www.nfl.com/players/laurent-duvernay-tardif/ And Ryan Fitzpatrick who also played for Jets just retired after 17 seasons went to Harvard. It is not a waste to do something different |
Well, if you couldn't be successful at Columbia, you probably wouldn't have been successful from a state school since there is WAY less hand-holding there. |
+100 Quit the navel gazing. |
/ NP here. This seems so obvious, why don't the "narcissistic blowhards" (as another PP described them) here understand this? |
Wow this resonates for me! It feels like shit that people without guidance or role models can often end up making all of the wrong decisions out of pure class ignorance. It sucks because everyone thinks there is something wrong with you. |
NP here, I remember reading your thread. Let me tell it to you straight: you are a self-centered, navel-gazing brat and you need to stop it with the pathetic self-indulgence. No decent employer wants to hire someone like you. |
I don't get it. If you were really working class/middle class, why did you major in English? Pretty much all the non-wealthy students at my Ivy majored in STEM or went to law school or finance. |