Do T20s actually matter?

[Anonymous]

Isn’t the question T20 or (choice #2)??

What’s the alternative?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure it's difficult from a big school but the competition is not less fierce at private schools either.

But the title of this thread is "Do T20s actually matter?" and you just cited Berkeley which just happens to be one.

The better question in my mind is, what differences are there between outcomes from T20 and non-T20 big public schools, or between outcomes from T20 and non-T20 private schools?

Look at the WSJ survey of best paying jobs from which colleges in 9 areas. For many of the careers, the #1 ranked public would also show up in the Top 20 private...but often the #2 public is below what the #20 private supposedly pays in that profession. For areas like finance and consulting, the #1 public university is below what the #20 private pays.

https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Finance & consulting need their own web site. There are so many things that apply only to them, & 99% of people have heard it, understand it, aren’t interested in it, & are bored with hearing more about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top 20 no.
Top 10 yes.
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
UPenn
Columbia
Caltech
Duke
John Hopkins

How about Brown Northwestern UChicago?

Those are basically T10 as well. I think the only schools who have "firm" T10 status are HYPSM, Caltech, Columbia and maybe Penn (mainly bc of Wharton).

Schools worthy of the last two spots include Brown, Chicago, Northwesern, Duke and JHU

[Anonymous]

First going off to college next year, they attended a very rigorous top-ranked high school. We prioritized fit over all else, but i will say the T20 they almost went with felt very different than the T10's interestingly. They just had more of an academic air, a different intensity that could be felt. Pro or con depending on person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

With holistic admissions and current preferences for athletes, first gen and pell grant eligible, this is not true, Lots if kids at T50 or even T75 who have stats for T20 but didn’t get in due to the aforementioned preferences, were hurt by average ecs, or college’s desire for geographical diversity.

This. Times have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First going off to college next year, they attended a very rigorous top-ranked high school. We prioritized fit over all else, but i will say the T20 they almost went with felt very different than the T10's interestingly. They just had more of an academic air, a different intensity that could be felt. Pro or con depending on person.

💯
T10s are intense and generally not “social & fun”….

Think northwestern vs Vanderbilt

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

The quality at Georgetown or Emory is higher than UCLA

Def agree with this.
Average quality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First going off to college next year, they attended a very rigorous top-ranked high school. We prioritized fit over all else, but i will say the T20 they almost went with felt very different than the T10's interestingly. They just had more of an academic air, a different intensity that could be felt. Pro or con depending on person.

Mine are at T10s and picked them over T11-25 because of the slightly more academic /intense quality

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First going off to college next year, they attended a very rigorous top-ranked high school. We prioritized fit over all else, but i will say the T20 they almost went with felt very different than the T10's interestingly. They just had more of an academic air, a different intensity that could be felt. Pro or con depending on person.

💯
T10s are intense and generally not “social & fun”….

Think northwestern vs Vanderbilt

To each his own...you do realize that for some the T10 intensity is a perfect place to grow and be challenged, nevermind the doors that are opened(T14 law, Quant, top med/phD...)? Glad mine were not afraid of the challege

[Anonymous]

People on this thread unironically arguing about T20 vs T10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Top 20 no.
Top 10 yes.
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Stanford
MIT
UPenn
Columbia
Caltech
Duke
John Hopkins

Why did you left out Northwestern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're assuming that there are way fewer Suzie Zs at State U, and that's simply not the case. I'm talking absolute numbers. State U often has 5 to 10 times the students as Harvard.

The difference between Suzie Z and a Harvard undergrad is that the latter doesn't need a Harvard MBA to succeed. Suzie Z has something to prove so will invest 2 yrs and $200,000 for a Harvard MBA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Successful people who went to T20 schools say they would have never gotten where they are without it. So yes, totally worth it.

Successful people who didn’t go to T20 say they didn’t need it. So no, not worth it.

eh.. lots of people who went to T50 below work alongside T10 grads, myself included.

This is the reality today, even at top companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're assuming that there are way fewer Suzie Zs at State U, and that's simply not the case. I'm talking absolute numbers. State U often has 5 to 10 times the students as Harvard.

The difference between Suzie Z and a Harvard undergrad is that the latter doesn't need a Harvard MBA to succeed. Suzie Z has something to prove so will invest 2 yrs and $200,000 for a Harvard MBA.

NP. Except the issue isn’t that Suzie Z has something to prove, it’s that lots of jobs will require an MBA, and the Harvard undergrad in this example is going to get left behind without one. No one cares where he went to undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
CMU CS >>>>>>>> Harvard English

NYU Stern >>>>>>> Yale Art history

and so on

Though I personally lament the shift in academia from more academic learning to job training/skill development, this is accurate.