My child attends an elite college. It is overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sit on a committee which awards college generous scholarships to local high school seniors, so I've seen a lot of bright applicants over the last decade plus. We also request updates from recipients and most tend to respond. From what I've seen, there is little difference in outcomes between those who went to a prestigious college and those who chose a less glamorous college. If you really pressed me, it actually seems like a teen becomes more likely to pursue something low paying and indulgent or artsy after attending an Ivy (or perhaps those artsy students were attracted to Ivies in the first pace?). Motivated teens who finish in the very top of their high school class do well in life, period, no matter where they go to college. And maybe you wouldn't believe it reading forums like this, but most extremely ambitious teens have zero interest in going to an Ivy League college or Duke or Vanderbilt. They are grew up wanting to attend a state school (often their family attended) or they fell in love with some semi-selective private college a few hours from home.

This is different from my experience with kids in high school. Many do want to go to an Ivy or Vanderbilt or Duke, my kid included. He realizes that the chances are slim and he will likely not be able to go but he definitely would pick Duke or Vanderbilt as his first choices. And the valedictorians have gone to Ivies the pat several years, if memory serves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is true. There are some schools that are elite enough that you can use that brand to your advantage when you leave (Harvard) but the reality is, all those rigorous application processes do is allow the schools to discriminate in favor of the genteel, inbred elites, while letting a few plebeians in who know their place: to increase test scores, to feel inferior to the rich kids, and, to one day be the brainpower behind (but never the leadership of) major institutions in this country.

. I know, I know, you will say, but look at Mr. Free Lunch Program, he is a CEO. But the dirty secret of these universities is he would have been just as successful at a state u as an elite one, because that kind of drive is unstoppable. He used them and they used him to keep the myth alive that elite Universities are worth it for the kind of people who need to take out college loans.

Remeber that for the supperrich, of course, it matters not a bit where they send their kids. Will Blue Ivy be any less powerful if she attends Stanford vs Hamilton?

What a great comment. "Plebs who know their place...and feel inferior to the rich kids." Spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sit on a committee which awards college generous scholarships to local high school seniors, so I've seen a lot of bright applicants over the last decade plus. We also request updates from recipients and most tend to respond. From what I've seen, there is little difference in outcomes between those who went to a prestigious college and those who chose a less glamorous college. If you really pressed me, it actually seems like a teen becomes more likely to pursue something low paying and indulgent or artsy after attending an Ivy (or perhaps those artsy students were attracted to Ivies in the first pace?). Motivated teens who finish in the very top of their high school class do well in life, period, no matter where they go to college. And maybe you wouldn't believe it reading forums like this, but most extremely ambitious teens have zero interest in going to an Ivy League college or Duke or Vanderbilt. They are grew up wanting to attend a state school (often their family attended) or they fell in love with some semi-selective private college a few hours from home.

Only true if you take into account that there are a lot of extremely ambitious teens who don't necessarily have the qualifications to gain admission to an Ivy or similar school. And there's a fairly obvious disconnect between suggesting that a kid is an ambitious go-getting and then asserting they want to attend state schools attended by other family members.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I sit on a committee which awards college generous scholarships to local high school seniors, so I've seen a lot of bright applicants over the last decade plus. We also request updates from recipients and most tend to respond. From what I've seen, there is little difference in outcomes between those who went to a prestigious college and those who chose a less glamorous college. If you really pressed me, it actually seems like a teen becomes more likely to pursue something low paying and indulgent or artsy after attending an Ivy (or perhaps those artsy students were attracted to Ivies in the first pace?). Motivated teens who finish in the very top of their high school class do well in life, period, no matter where they go to college. And maybe you wouldn't believe it reading forums like this, but most extremely ambitious teens have zero interest in going to an Ivy League college or Duke or Vanderbilt. They are grew up wanting to attend a state school (often their family attended) or they fell in love with some semi-selective private college a few hours from home.

Only true if you take into account that there are a lot of extremely ambitious teens who don't necessarily have the qualifications to gain admission to an Ivy or similar school. And there's a fairly obvious disconnect between suggesting that a kid is an ambitious go-getting and then asserting they want to attend state schools attended by other family members.

"Asserting"? No. I've interviewed hundreds of applicants and read their scholarship applications and essays. Their bio, grades, class rank, SAT/ACT/AP scores, and where they're heading to college and why is all on the table. And then years later we ask for and publish updates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's too early to tell or maybe she just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities (I suspect very few do) but it most certainly has not changed her life. The thing I do notice is overall a higher percentage of deeply committed pre-med students than my son's peers at the state flagship. Other than that there's this laughable idea that an elite college is a golden ticket to a $150,000 job offer and a rich spouse and that's just not accurate. The plum six-figure job offers are scarce and go to the connected and elbowy overachievers with perfect grades. And generally the rich socialize with the rich. If you want your child in that orbit they need to be in that orbit by 9th grade at some ritzy prep or boarding school.

I have a niece at Cornell who is close with my daughter and she has had a similar experience. At Cornell the rich are in the rich kid sororities and fraternities.

A few years back we were caught up in the admissions frenzy but in retrospect it seems so nutty. I'm [now] far more impressed with a parent who tells me their kid is at a less selective school but just got into medical school than some Ivy League parent who tells me their ubiquitous kid is going into "consulting" for $60,000 a year or some second rate grad program.

Seems like OPs problem is “60,000 a year” salary.

Elite school students don’t necessarily chase $$$$. They don’t need to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and this is a pretty accurate (and bitter) summary. I wish I had gone to a cheaper school close to home, and maybe done pre med or something. But I wasn’t really organized enough to take advantage of the opportunities available. Oh well. I did end up going to law school on the cheap with scholarships so I learned my lesson!

I didn’t realize Duke is considered an elite school. I mean, I went to a second tier university and it never crossed my mind to GAF about what school anyone went to until I moved to DC which is apparently full of insecure social climbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Duke and this is a pretty accurate (and bitter) summary. I wish I had gone to a cheaper school close to home, and maybe done pre med or something. But I wasn’t really organized enough to take advantage of the opportunities available. Oh well. I did end up going to law school on the cheap with scholarships so I learned my lesson!

I didn’t realize Duke is considered an elite school. I mean, I went to a second tier university and it never crossed my mind to GAF about what school anyone went to until I moved to DC which is apparently full of insecure social climbers.

Well, in case you're ever curious...

Undergraduate Elites:
Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley
Amherst Williams Swathmore Pomona

Overall Elites:
Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley Caltech
Duke Northwestern
Cornell JHU

[Anonymous]

This thread goes back to April. Someone resurrected it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's too early to tell or maybe she just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities (I suspect very few do) but it most certainly has not changed her life. The thing I do notice is overall a higher percentage of deeply committed pre-med students than my son's peers at the state flagship. Other than that there's this laughable idea that an elite college is a golden ticket to a $150,000 job offer and a rich spouse and that's just not accurate. The plum six-figure job offers are scarce and go to the connected and elbowy overachievers with perfect grades. And generally the rich socialize with the rich. If you want your child in that orbit they need to be in that orbit by 9th grade at some ritzy prep or boarding school.

I have a niece at Cornell who is close with my daughter and she has had a similar experience. At Cornell the rich are in the rich kid sororities and fraternities.

A few years back we were caught up in the admissions frenzy but in retrospect it seems so nutty. I'm [now] far more impressed with a parent who tells me their kid is at a less selective school but just got into medical school than some Ivy League parent who tells me their ubiquitous kid is going into "consulting" for $60,000 a year or some second rate grad program.

avg base pay for consultants (entry) is $83.5k

[Anonymous]

My brother went to Princeton and it opened so many doors for him. That alumni network is SOLID. He makes more than 1 mil per year (that's his base pay - he also gets a bonus). The rest of us went to Virginia state schools and we are not even CLOSE to him in salary or success. He's no smarter nor more hard working than any of his siblings - he just made a very good decision to go to Princeton and take out student loans (which are long since paid off).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother went to Princeton and it opened so many doors for him. That alumni network is SOLID. He makes more than 1 mil per year (that's his base pay - he also gets a bonus). The rest of us went to Virginia state schools and we are not even CLOSE to him in salary or success. He's no smarter nor more hard working than any of his siblings - he just made a very good decision to go to Princeton and take out student loans (which are long since paid off).

I went to Princeton and barely make any money, as do most of my Princeton friends. Most of us have kids and work PT or less, and no, we do not have loaded spouses. There are definitely people like your brother, but it’s a small percentage. Still, I really value the experience I had and value my friends and education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's too early to tell or maybe she just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities (I suspect very few do) but it most certainly has not changed her life. The thing I do notice is overall a higher percentage of deeply committed pre-med students than my son's peers at the state flagship. Other than that there's this laughable idea that an elite college is a golden ticket to a $150,000 job offer and a rich spouse and that's just not accurate. The plum six-figure job offers are scarce and go to the connected and elbowy overachievers with perfect grades. And generally the rich socialize with the rich. If you want your child in that orbit they need to be in that orbit by 9th grade at some ritzy prep or boarding school.

I have a niece at Cornell who is close with my daughter and she has had a similar experience. At Cornell the rich are in the rich kid sororities and fraternities.

A few years back we were caught up in the admissions frenzy but in retrospect it seems so nutty. I'm [now] far more impressed with a parent who tells me their kid is at a less selective school but just got into medical school than some Ivy League parent who tells me their ubiquitous kid is going into "consulting" for $60,000 a year or some second rate grad program.

My hope for my DC to go to an elite is better financial aid than the upper tier colleges just below them. Did they offer good financial aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My brother went to Princeton and it opened so many doors for him. That alumni network is SOLID. He makes more than 1 mil per year (that's his base pay - he also gets a bonus). The rest of us went to Virginia state schools and we are not even CLOSE to him in salary or success. He's no smarter nor more hard working than any of his siblings - he just made a very good decision to go to Princeton and take out student loans (which are long since paid off).

I went to Princeton and barely make any money, as do most of my Princeton friends. Most of us have kids and work PT or less, and no, we do not have loaded spouses. There are definitely people like your brother, but it’s a small percentage. Still, I really value the experience I had and value my friends and education.

I went to Princeton too. Everyone I know from school makes a boatload of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My brother went to Princeton and it opened so many doors for him. That alumni network is SOLID. He makes more than 1 mil per year (that's his base pay - he also gets a bonus). The rest of us went to Virginia state schools and we are not even CLOSE to him in salary or success. He's no smarter nor more hard working than any of his siblings - he just made a very good decision to go to Princeton and take out student loans (which are long since paid off).

I went to Princeton and barely make any money, as do most of my Princeton friends. Most of us have kids and work PT or less, and no, we do not have loaded spouses. There are definitely people like your brother, but it’s a small percentage. Still, I really value the experience I had and value my friends and education.

I went to Princeton too. Everyone I know from school makes a boatload of money.

Like Jeff Bezos. He makes his money by making his workers pee in bottles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother went to Princeton and it opened so many doors for him. That alumni network is SOLID. He makes more than 1 mil per year (that's his base pay - he also gets a bonus). The rest of us went to Virginia state schools and we are not even CLOSE to him in salary or success. He's no smarter nor more hard working than any of his siblings - he just made a very good decision to go to Princeton and take out student loans (which are long since paid off).

Plenty of people making your brother's salary did not attend elite colleges, including my brothers.