Come in if you are "successful" today but didn't go to an elite school

[Anonymous]

I went to a large state school then a second-tier grad school and I'm doing very well.

[Anonymous]

I went to AU and never, until I started reading DCUM, had any inkling of a clue that people thought it sucked.
Went to one of the top schools for my grad program and now doing well. Still loved AU and still glad I went there.

[Anonymous]

Yes OP. It is possible if you work hard. Went to third tier state u and third tier law. DH 3rd tier state u & sucky GW MBA. We are million
aires many times over. We both started out lower middle class. No loans/no debt. Key is for both people work and stay married. Live within means.

[Anonymous]

Once you have a few years of experience, nobody cares about where you went to college.
Talking about where you went to college is about as lame as talking about high school sports!

[Anonymous]

DH and I have lived in DC for 17 years. Out of school I worked in finance, then for a prestigious think tank, and now I'm a high level tech industry consultant with the luxury of working as few or many hours as I please. DH worked for big law, became an equity partner, and then founded his own boutique firm and has clients nationwide, but mostly on Wall Street. We both attended schools that would be considered 2nd or even 3rd tier on this forum. DCUM is a very strange and snotty place but the real world, in my opinion, is not. If you are at a Brookings or other TT panel or conference nobody asks where you went to school - that's not what you talk about. If you are likable, work hard,achieve goals and exude confidence all doors will be open to you in life.

[Anonymous]

I know people who make well into the 7 figures. They were to schools such as:

JMU
U MD
WVU
UNC
W&L
ECU
UVA

Nothing spectacular. Just get into a high paying industry or start you own business if you want to make that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know people who make well into the 7 figures. They were to schools such as:

JMU
U MD
WVU
UNC
W&L
ECU
UVA

Nothing spectacular. Just get into a high paying industry or start you own business if you want to make that much.

UNC, W&L, and UVA are spectacular schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once you have a few years of experience, nobody cares about where you went to college.
Talking about where you went to college is about as lame as talking about high school sports!

Agree! I'm early 40's, product of middling upper south public university, and have competed very well in my field (global affairs/policy) in DC. DH also attended a middling public university on the west coast, and is doing well as a Fed. People often ask where I grew up, but nobody cares about the schooling. Work experience matters much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a random liberal arts college in California for undergrad and then a top grad school. I don't understand why people are so concerned about undergrad because grad school is the most important.

When it comes to medical school, elites have upwards of 25% of their seniors applying to US medical schools. Inferior, less selective colleges, even flagship public universities, have only 1-5% of their seniors applying to US medical schools. That's a VASTLY different atmosphere and access to resources.

If you think peers, network, atmosphere & resources play no part in your growth as a college student and your post-grad opportunities, well, I guess your "top" grad school didn't screen very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to AU and never, until I started reading DCUM, had any inkling of a clue that people thought it sucked.
Went to one of the top schools for my grad program and now doing well. Still loved AU and still glad I went there.

Proud and very successful grad of CUA, had nothing but good comments when people saw it on my resume at all stages of my career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a random liberal arts college in California for undergrad and then a top grad school. I don't understand why people are so concerned about undergrad because grad school is the most important.

When it comes to medical school, elites have upwards of 25% of their seniors applying to US medical schools. Inferior, less selective colleges, even flagship public universities, have only 1-5% of their seniors applying to US medical schools. That's a VASTLY different atmosphere and access to resources.

If you think peers, network, atmosphere & resources play no part in your growth as a college student and your post-grad opportunities, well, I guess your "top" grad school didn't screen very well.

newsflash you don't become a millionaire by working for some elite company.... you start your own business, do sales, etc none of which require any kind of fancy degree/college

high 6 figures JMU undergrad and that's it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both my husband and I went to the same Big 10 school undergrad. You're right, when we were young we used to run into a lot of snobbery AND we even run into it now again as our kids are applying to / attending college.

But did it stand in our way? No. Are we proud of our school? You betcha! Do we fly our flag on game days? Yup.

I'm not sure if it ever bothered us that people were snobby snots about their elite schools and looked down on our Big 10 pedigree. We attended a school we loved, we thrived there and we have been successful in life beyond our wildest dreams. We have no complaints and would do it all again.

My advice to you, OP, if you encounter people who are snobbish about their school is for you to own it for your school. Don't let little people with little minds negatively impact the way that you talk about your school. Hopefully, in matriculating there, you made the best choice you could under the circumstances you had.

Keep in mind, that people can be like wolf packs when they sense weakness. So the more robustly and happily you talk about your non-elite school the less inclined the pack will be to attack you and the more likely they will be to go after easier prey.

+1

[Anonymous]

Nobody would ever claim there aren't successful alums from gigantic 10,000-40,000 student universities.

But it's like, great, you know one person from Indiana University who is a multi-millionaire? Good for him. Really. That's awesome. But that's one person. On average, from which school (Harvard or Indiana) would you say their respective graduates are enjoying better relative success? Since that data is readily available, let's take a look:

Kelley: https://kelley.iu.edu/recruiters-companies/graduate/_files/GCSEmploymentReport17-18.pdf
Harvard: http://ocs.fas.harvard.edu/files/ocs/files/final_20152016_annual_report.pdf

It's clearly Harvard. To say that "it doesn't matter where you go to school" is objectively idiotic. So, brush up on those logical reasoning skills, too. Ever hear of a small sample size? An anecdote doesn't combat hard data.

Sharp parents pay big bucks to live in the tippy top public districts or claw their way into expensive premier privates to get a shot at the creme de la creme colleges. The "only grad school matters" and "we're not into the rat race" memes are what parents tell themselves after they've raised merely average children. You're just trying to rationalize your underachieving kids.

[Anonymous]

Mean pp. OP is looking for examples of people who didn't go to Great U. And, we gave them to her. My DH and I are doing great from lousy state u., but be assured that once we entered the upper middle class, our kid went to Ivy.

Try to give hope pp to those who didn't go somewhere great. Yes, they can still be successful but it will be harder

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know people who make well into the 7 figures. They were to schools such as:

JMU
U MD
WVU
UNC
W&L
ECU
UVA

Nothing spectacular. Just get into a high paying industry or start you own business if you want to make that much.

UNC, W&L, and UVA are spectacular schools

Only if you following rankings.