What is with the obsession with Ivies?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're old -- the world has changed. The elites are not only a status badge, they're a ticket to a high-paying gig for even history majors, working in the best cities, they give the best financial aid, and it's a leg up in graduate admissions.

I'm 33.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is with the obsession with Ivies? I get it if it's your alma matre, but if it's not, why are people so obsessed. I went to a never heard of public university. I work with Harvard grads, MIT grads, UMD, UVA, and some schools no one has ever heard of (like mine). My boss went to Gearge Mason. He manages Harvard grads. We all make over $200K/year. I'm not alone. My husband whent to an Ivy (and doesn't care if our kids go to one or not). He is managed by a UMich grad. He works with people who went to all sorts of colleges. He also makes well over $200K/yr. Shouldn't college be about fit and what you can afford (I graduated with no debt). Why are people obsessed with sending their kids to an Ivy, or heck in this area UVa (which is a weird local obsession)?

you get a D- but you know that already I think.

I'm a horrible speller. Thank God for spell check when I was in school. I actually did quite well in college, in my lowly public college. Still can't spell. My point remains. They don't pay me well to spell.

[Anonymous]

I'm a litigator and on the recruiting committee at my firm. Kids who graduate from Ivy law schools make the worst litigators. Too much in their heads. I don't get the obsession either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMC fear of downward mobility combined with very little actual knowledge about various universities and very little respect for or understanding of education[b].

+1,000 especially the bold part.

I would add: Very little respect for their own kids' strengths and interests, and very little understanding of their own kids' weaknesses and dislikes too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a litigator and on the recruiting committee at my firm. Kids who graduate from Ivy law schools make the worst litigators. Too much in their heads. I don't get the obsession either.

Basically... All Ivy kids are undereducated and underachieving idiots that can't perform any real jobs in the real world.....please.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're old -- the world has changed. The elites are not only a status badge, they're a ticket to a high-paying gig for even history majors, working in the best cities, they give the best financial aid, and it's a leg up in graduate admissions.

What kind of high paying fields are history majors working in?

Liberal Arts degrees are a breeze compared to majors like engineering. What do employers value about these graduates? Are they just enthralled with the Ivys?

Are you trolling? Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, K Street, MBB consulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is with the obsession with Ivies? I get it if it's your alma matre, but if it's not, why are people so obsessed. I went to a never heard of public university. I work with Harvard grads, MIT grads, UMD, UVA, and some schools no one has ever heard of (like mine). My boss went to Gearge Mason. He manages Harvard grads. We all make over $200K/year. I'm not alone. My husband whent to an Ivy (and doesn't care if our kids go to one or not). He is managed by a UMich grad. He works with people who went to all sorts of colleges. He also makes well over $200K/yr. Shouldn't college be about fit and what you can afford (I graduated with no debt). Why are people obsessed with sending their kids to an Ivy, or heck in this area UVa (which is a weird local obsession)?

What field are you in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're old -- the world has changed. The elites are not only a status badge, they're a ticket to a high-paying gig for even history majors, working in the best cities, they give the best financial aid, and it's a leg up in graduate admissions.

What kind of high paying fields are history majors working in?

Liberal Arts degrees are a breeze compared to majors like engineering. What do employers value about these graduates? Are they just enthralled with the Ivys?

Are you trolling? Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, K Street, MBB consulting.

Why would Silicon Valley or Hollywood hire an Ivy educated History major over someone with a more relevant degree either from the same school or a tier below? And how does a 22 year old History major get the schools that these industries would find attractive?

[Anonymous]

^^ I think the bolded was sarcasm.

We need an emoji to indicate this for those lacking sarcasm sensors.

[Anonymous]

OP. I got a first class education with lots of attention lavished on us. I met people who were smarter and more intellectually ambitious than I knew people could be. As a shy kid, the "you can get a good education anywhere" would have been hard for me, and I might have been overlooked.

I wrote 12 papers in my freshman comp class. I have taught college at a big ten school and at a small state's flagship. No one assigned that much work or gave that much feedback at the public institutions.

They are good schools. That said, they are not for everyone. They are filled with people dripping in entitlement (there is even an accent) and very expensive.

Also, just as it turns out you can get a good education anywhere, it also turns u can get a bad education anywhere.
It is almost impossible to fail out and there are plenty of losers wasting their parents money.

[Anonymous]

No one is saying you can't be successful if you do not get an Ivy League education. Many many people are. However statistically speaking Ivy League and other elite school grads tend to proportionally occupy more top positions in business and government, rich lists etc. Also the connections you make at the ivies both while there and through the alumni network are far reaching and very valuable. Also there are some industries that that really favor elite schools. If you work at elite consulting firms, big law, high finance for example the preference for brand name schools is blatant.

I work at consulting and 80% of the people in our firm are Ivy League, Stanford, MIT, Duke grads either undergrad or masters/PhD. Most of the remaining 20% went to elite LACs.

[Anonymous]

Status, caliber of peers & network, $ offers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you're old -- the world has changed. The elites are not only a status badge, they're a ticket to a high-paying gig for even history majors, working in the best cities, they give the best financial aid, and it's a leg up in graduate admissions.

What kind of high paying fields are history majors working in?

Liberal Arts degrees are a breeze compared to majors like engineering. What do employers value about these graduates? Are they just enthralled with the Ivys?

My friend's husband has a BA in history from Yale. He was recruited straight into i-banking after college and they're rolling in it. This was in 2008. He's smart, analytical, writes well, and is fluent in the social scene for these types of professions.

[Anonymous]

I'm a big law partner. Didn't go to an Iby for undergrad or law. Went to good schools though. I work next to and attorneys who went to Ivy's. I even made partner before some of them despite stating in the same class. Clearly there is no downside to going to an Ivy, but I agree with OP. The obsession is comical when you get into the real world and realize they're not smarter or richer than you are. If my daughter wants to go to one and is accepted, we will gladly pay for it, but we're not pushing it. Our focus for her is about fit based on her personality and career goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is with the obsession with Ivies? I get it if it's your alma matre, but if it's not, why are people so obsessed. I went to a never heard of public university. I work with Harvard grads, MIT grads, UMD, UVA, and some schools no one has ever heard of (like mine). My boss went to Gearge Mason. He manages Harvard grads. We all make over $200K/year. I'm not alone. My husband whent to an Ivy (and doesn't care if our kids go to one or not). He is managed by a UMich grad. He works with people who went to all sorts of colleges. He also makes well over $200K/yr. Shouldn't college be about fit and what you can afford (I graduated with no debt). Why are people obsessed with sending their kids to an Ivy, or heck in this area UVa (which is a weird local obsession)?

What field are you in?

I'm in IT Sales at Oracle.