How do you think “prestige” matters?

[Anonymous]

Can a kid who is not wealthy and doesn’t have family connections succeed at these schools? Yes, but they often never feel like they quite fit. They tend to carve their own path and congregate toward clubs that have people like them. They’re not suddenly playing squash with Rockefellers and joining dining clubs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can a kid who is not wealthy and doesn’t have family connections succeed at these schools? Yes, but they often never feel like they quite fit. They tend to carve their own path and congregate toward clubs that have people like them. They’re not suddenly playing squash with Rockefellers and joining dining clubs.

This. I did not attend prestigious school, but have heard from numerous family members and colleagues who did that elite wealthy or famous at those schools stayed amongst themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So the question is will people think my kid is smart if she goes to....? And/or will my kid meet/befriend famous (and/or rich) people if s/he goes to ...?

In which case, (a) very few schools generate a yes answer (and you already know which schools they are, so if you have to ask...)(b) people will find out pretty quickly whether your kid is smart (regardless of where s/he want to school) after dealing with your kid and (c) even if your kid goes to Harvard or Stanford, odds are strong s/he won’t become BFF with a President’s daughter.

So maybe “will school X help my kid acquire mad skillz?” would be a better focus than “prestige?”

Yeah, people will find out whether your kid is smart later, but often times a decision has to be made for taking a meeting or giving the person a chance before you know much about the person. In those cases the signal helps. And remember instead of going thru 20 to find one smart kid, your odds of finding a smart kid increases when you choose from these schools. That helps everybody at that school, even if you have to prove yourself later. Catching a break is almost as important as being able to shine when you get that break. Some folks never catch the break

You may not meet the President's daughter, but if a larger percentage of your peers are from well connected and well heeled families whose parents have good connections and you become good friends with a few of them, then yes, that connection will help you later in life, including the alum network of these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can a kid who is not wealthy and doesn’t have family connections succeed at these schools? Yes, but they often never feel like they quite fit. They tend to carve their own path and congregate toward clubs that have people like them. They’re not suddenly playing squash with Rockefellers and joining dining clubs.

I dunno. I went to Harvard and Princeton without having wealth or connections and I felt like I fit/belonged. But my center of gravity was academic more than social. Plenty of people like me around. And I think that’d be true of lots of (different types of) kids.

[Anonymous]

To put it a different way, to the extent that the rich kids socialize among themselves, they’re a margin, not the center.

[Anonymous]

While acknowledging NOTHING is guaranteed, prestige colleges can certainly aide...

#1 dating pool
#2 career mobility



https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/01/31/how-colleges-affect-social-mobility-in-america

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My prestigious degrees (more than one HYPS degree) have made it really easy to make two career changes. That's the value to me...not everyone would care about this.

I went to SUNY Binghamton and then five years later, to Boston U for law school. Neither is prestigious. I was a CPA and then became a lawyer, then went in-house. The fact that I didn't go to a prestigious school either time hasn't hurt me at all.

But you went to law school in between being a CPA and then becoming a lawyer, right?

I got all of my degrees, and I've had a couple of really varied careers since then. It's completely possible to do what I did without my degrees, obviously, but it was much easier with them. Interviewers cited by "prestigious" degrees as a reason they were willing to give me a chance. Also, it matters where you work. In my case, these were transitions into high prestige jobs as well. Again, prestigious degrees are not a requirement to make career changes, but both the network and the name recognition have made it much easier for me.

[Anonymous]

I went to crappy schools and had crappy grades. But once you hit 30 no one cares about schools or GPAs that much.

Your life is not over cause you went to state college and had a C average.

[Anonymous]

Here's how it matters, IMO. You may get to the same place in your career by going to a top tier school or by going to a much lower rated school, but the road to get there will be a lot easier with the top tier school on your resume. The top tier school opens doors automatically. Going to the lower rated, unknown school means you will have to knock on a lot of doors, and work harder to make and use connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's how it matters, IMO. You may get to the same place in your career by going to a top tier school or by going to a much lower rated school, but the road to get there will be a lot easier with the top tier school on your resume. The top tier school opens doors automatically. Going to the lower rated, unknown school means you will have to knock on a lot of doors, and work harder to make and use connections.

Did you go to a top tier school?

[Anonymous]

It's mostly about the ambitious, high IQ dating pool. You want your grandkids to have high IQs, yes?

[Anonymous]

Alas, they’re likely to keep regressing to the mean....

Not sure that the highest IQ mates are to be found at the schools with the most “prestige,” but yeah, in the end, I think some of this obsession with prestige boils down to I hope my DC marries “up,” whatever that means.

[Anonymous]

There's little regression when both parents are above average IQ, UMC and ambitious themselves. Plenty of average people who hit 'home runs' because they were born on second or third. Like is on easy mode with top schools and connections.

[Anonymous]

Parental bragging rights. Priceless!

[Anonymous]

I think all of the people talking about dating must be women. As a guy, I can tell you, we don't care where a woman goes to school. Just looks.