Does graduating from a Top 20 school signal that you are a smart, hardworking person?

[Anonymous]

The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

Credentialism.

[Anonymous]

No—it’s much harder to complete an apprenticeship in the trades than it is to graduate from a top 20 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's a strong signal, at the very least.

And I know plenty of people who use it, secretly and not so secretly, as a shibboleth and for setting parameters for dating/potential marriage partners.

Look no further than the DC area assortative nerd mating.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's a strong signal, at the very least.

And I know plenty of people who use it, secretly and not so secretly, as a shibboleth and for setting parameters for dating/potential marriage partners.

Look no further than the DC area assortative nerd mating.

Most of the people graduating from T20s aren't nerds in the pop cultural sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's a strong signal, at the very least.

And I know plenty of people who use it, secretly and not so secretly, as a shibboleth and for setting parameters for dating/potential marriage partners.

Look no further than the DC area assortative nerd mating.

Most of the people graduating from T20s aren't nerds in the pop cultural sense.

People who wouldn’t know how to change a flat tire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

Nah. If you observe patterns over the last decade and even in the last couple of years, it is students and young people themselves who are placing ever higher premiums on the value of a T20. The amount of hype is unbelievable. Look at the rise of reaction videos, the flaunting of school names on social media (something that would have been considered gauche in my time), the explosion of popularity of student-run communities like A2C, and that's just what you see online. You're just projecting your own insecurities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

You mean "dumb down"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. It's a strong signal, at the very least.

And I know plenty of people who use it, secretly and not so secretly, as a shibboleth and for setting parameters for dating/potential marriage partners.

Look no further than the DC area assortative nerd mating.

ahh, the jealousy of a low-IQ loser.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who can't 'signal' that they're a smart person before their alma mater comes up in conversation is not as smart as they think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

You mean "dumb down"?

Equating equality with a dumbing down is racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

You mean "dumb down"?

Equating equality with a dumbing down is racist.

NP. We shouldn't have to equate it, but that's what some school districts has done. I don't see anything wrong with calling it as it was done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The answer is “yes,” but 99 percent of posters want it to be “no.”

You’ve got it reversed. The college obsessed parents here want assurances that their kids will remain at the top of the pecking order in a country that is shifting in many ways toward greater equality. Thus, they need to believe that a stamp from a top school will be the magic item to assure that. It is weird.

Actually it's not just the "stamp from a top school." It's the connections. Many of these schools have amazing alumni networks. This means a grad doesn't have to work as hard to find good employment. Will they be more successful than the kid from a lower ranked school? Not necessarily...but they do have more opportunities to become successful.

[Anonymous]

Only if you are white/Asians… people would think that you are reasonably smart. For URMs, not necessarily. This is the downside of current admission practice.