How much do you think college truly influences the trajectory of someone's life?

[Anonymous]

Generally speaking, the quality of the student matters a *lot* more than the where they go for their education. Though data does suggest people do better as ninetieth percentile students at weaker institutions than bottom quintile at stronger institutions, this doesn't effect the baseline that much.

[Anonymous]

I went from a conservative boarding school with rigid rules to a CA college that embraced bucking tradition on every level. College shaped what I read, how I thought, my sense of right and wrong, my interests, my career choice etc. So while it didn't necessarily change the trajectory of my life in the sense that I needed to move out of a depressed town, it most certainly shaped the trajectory of my life by giving me a different framework to think in. Not sure if that makes sense but that's what happened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College had a massive influence on the trajectory of my life, but I'm not typical of the college bound kids whose parents post on this board.

I was a working class kid who was only the second person to earn a bachelor's degree in my family over many generations. I earned two bachelor's, a master's, then a JD.

My college education didn't result in a massive change to my standard of living, as the burden of student loans ate up most of my earnings beyond what I paid basic living expenses (and I lived not a lot better than I did as a student) because I went into public service lawyering (legal aid, then public defense, then prosecution) and earned a modest income. I got some assistance from LRAP at my former law school, but was only chipping away at my student loans when very serious health issues caused me to be forced to leave the practice of law. I'll be repaying my student loans until I die.

I'm an entirely different person than I would have been had I not gone to college. While many aspects of my core personality remain the same (empath, loving, trusting, hopelessly idealistic, down to earth) my world view was very shaped by the knowledge I gained in my university studies, and sadly to some degree alienated me from many members of my immediate family who are very conservative, very anti-intellectual and cannot put politics aside for the sake of family bonds.

I struggle with my feelings about whether I made the right choice going to college. I am certain that had I not gone, I'd be better off financially than I am now and better situated in retirement. I know that might sound absurd to some of you, but it's a truth that many working class/lower middle class kids experience whose parents don't help them with financing college and whose student loan burden often stands as an obstacle to home ownership and even parenthood. I have many peers who did technical programs or associates degrees or apprenticeships or started businesses who own homes, have shiny new cars every few years, have kids, etc. It's frustrating.

On the other hand, where I grew up and the people I knew and associated with - I think I would have been a person with a worldview that from where I stand now I would find sad, if not repugnant. But I'd be blissfully ignorant! So there would be that.

I have a very curious mind and I'm glad I had the opportunity to fill it with so many years of learning and that I continue to be a critical thinker who is still always learning and open-minded about new ideas, new horizons, etc. But it's hard to have one foot in one world and the other in a different world. I really wish I'd been born into a different kind of family, I guess. I do spend a fair amount of time wondering 'what if?', and I wish I could know how my life would have turned out on a different trajectory. I'm not sure that's a normal preoccupation for people whose college experience isn't so intensely transformative as mine was, for the reasons articulated.

Thank you for sharing. The post moved me.

[Anonymous]

I grew up middle class in the Midwest and attended a top 15 school. College definitely widened my perspective, but the particular college I attended hasn’t influenced my career trajectory. Turns out, I find most jobs a bore and have never found a deep passion. That said, I’m a hiring manager at a prestigious federal agency, and resumes with prestigious schools grab my attention. Maybe I have unknowingly benefited from my school’s reputation, but I have never been told that.

[Anonymous]

In my case, enormously. I went from an underfunded inner city public school to one of the best universities in the world. I gained lifelong friends, an excellent education, and access to a much wider array of possibilities than I would have had if I had made a different choice when it came to picking a college.

[Anonymous]

I am an executive recruiter focusing on the nonprofit sector (salaries of 150-500K). Most of the people I speak to did not go to a "big name" or even reasonably big name school. They went to school, learned as much as they could, got out of school and worked their butts off. Yes certainly schools influence that first job out of college, and that is important, but the work you do in the world is what will make you successful.

I can count the number of Ivy degrees I have come across in 6 years doing this on two hands. And actually am not sure we ever placed any of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up middle class in the Midwest and attended a top 15 school. College definitely widened my perspective, but the particular college I attended hasn’t influenced my career trajectory. Turns out, I find most jobs a bore and have never found a deep passion. That said, I’m a hiring manager at a prestigious federal agency, and resumes with prestigious schools grab my attention. Maybe I have unknowingly benefited from my school’s reputation, but I have never been told that.

Lol, there’s no such thing as “prestigious” government agency. PP sounds like a federal comedian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up middle class in the Midwest and attended a top 15 school. College definitely widened my perspective, but the particular college I attended hasn’t influenced my career trajectory. Turns out, I find most jobs a bore and have never found a deep passion. That said, I’m a hiring manager at a prestigious federal agency, and resumes with prestigious schools grab my attention. Maybe I have unknowingly benefited from my school’s reputation, but I have never been told that.

Lol, there’s no such thing as “prestigious” government agency. PP sounds like a federal comedian.

PP probably works at US Postal Service. Hey, they are essential employees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up middle class in the Midwest and attended a top 15 school. College definitely widened my perspective, but the particular college I attended hasn’t influenced my career trajectory. Turns out, I find most jobs a bore and have never found a deep passion. That said, I’m a hiring manager at a prestigious federal agency, and resumes with prestigious schools grab my attention. Maybe I have unknowingly benefited from my school’s reputation, but I have never been told that.

It sounds like your perspective is narrow if you are classifying a federal agency as prestigious and if only [/b]prestigious[b] schools grab your attention. How about the kids who graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from what you consider to be less prestigious schools? Do they grab your attention?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up middle class in the Midwest and attended a top 15 school. College definitely widened my perspective, but the particular college I attended hasn’t influenced my career trajectory. Turns out, I find most jobs a bore and have never found a deep passion. That said, I’m a hiring manager at a prestigious federal agency, and resumes with prestigious schools grab my attention. Maybe I have unknowingly benefited from my school’s reputation, but I have never been told that.

I'm a manger who hires at a federal agency (I'd like to think it's prestigious, but...) and it very much depends on the position for what schools impress.

[Anonymous]

Attending college vs. not - measurable and quantified difference on average to SES
Friends you make in class, activities, socializing - big difference later in life as a professional network
Undergrad degree specialization with some exceptions - not a ton
Refining writing and analytical skills - if it works, lots
Brand of the school - Ivy or big local following with what I'd describe jokingly as 'culty alumni' (big school spirit) - can get you an edge, foot in the door, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went from a conservative boarding school with rigid rules to a CA college that embraced bucking tradition on every level. College shaped what I read, how I thought, my sense of right and wrong, my interests, my career choice etc. So while it didn't necessarily change the trajectory of my life in the sense that I needed to move out of a depressed town, it most certainly shaped the trajectory of my life by giving me a different framework to think in. Not sure if that makes sense but that's what happened.

It makes sense to me. If the question is "Did going to an T20 college help you become rich and important?" then no, it didn't, because I'm not rich or important. I'm financially secure and we are all God's children. I have strong personal relationships and the respect of my coworkers. But to outsiders, I am very much a nobody.

What college did do is expose me to a much wider range of people and ideas in an environment that encouraged me to explore different ways of seeing the world and my place in it. College made thinking fun. It offered me a lot of opportunities to spot my own bullshit and to reconsider what I valued.

One of my kids is deciding between colleges right now, and I worry that he is worrying about the wrong things. I don't care if we have to pay more for him to go somewhere that will really expand his view of the world and figure out how to create a life for himself that he can be happy with. College isn't just about what you earn when you graduate. (We're not paying his bills so he can live at home indefinitely. We do expect him to learn how to take care of himself by the time he graduates, but that's not just a financial issue.)

[Anonymous]

Undergrad - not at all
Grad - could be significant, if your professors/thesis committee become part of your peer network

[Anonymous]

I got my pricey private engineering degree in the late 1980s. Somehow, I've never turned that into a six figure income but my degree continues to affect my life into middle age: I got laid off (again!) in 2014 and kicked around for almost a year before finding another job. The hiring manager specifically said he picked it up because he fancied the school that I had attended decades earlier. Whatever, dude.

[Anonymous]

The idea that an elite college degree matters a great deal in life is ridiculous.

The idea that it does not matter at all is equally ridiculous.