Does where you go to college actually matter?

[Anonymous]

Why are people so focused in this thread on only income? The real question is how satisfied are these people with their accomplishments within their field, and how much do they enjoy the totality of their life? My guess is that the vast majority of Princeton or MIT or Wellesley grads are the type of people who make about $125K and have an interesting and enjoyable job doing something they love like running a charter school they founded or leading a team of engineers trying to develop some new tool, and these people are almost universally considered a high status person in their community in NOLA or Denver or wherever they settled. The ones in places like NYC, DC, SF tend to be the go getters so they probably make more money OR they have much more prestigious jobs and operate at the national elite level. But overall, these schools' grads are almost universally doing what they want to be doing and making a comfortable living. In contrast, the vast majority of people who graduated from Navarro College aren't making $125K by age 50 and they probably wouldn't do the jobs they do if they didn't have to earn a living. And only a handful are considered high status people by others in their chosen community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are people so focused in this thread on only income? The real question is how satisfied are these people with their accomplishments within their field, and how much do they enjoy the totality of their life? My guess is that the vast majority of Princeton or MIT or Wellesley grads are the type of people who make about $125K and have an interesting and enjoyable job doing something they love like running a charter school they founded or leading a team of engineers trying to develop some new tool, and these people are almost universally considered a high status person in their community in NOLA or Denver or wherever they settled. The ones in places like NYC, DC, SF tend to be the go getters so they probably make more money OR they have much more prestigious jobs and operate at the national elite level. B[b]ut overall, these schools' grads are almost universally doing what they want to be doing and making a comfortable living. In contrast, the vast majority of people who graduated from Navarro College aren't making $125K by age 50 and they probably wouldn't do the jobs they do if they didn't have to earn a living. And only a handful are considered high status people by others in their chosen community.

Presumptuous much??

[Anonymous]

And also, yuck, charter schools.

[Anonymous]

DH went to a low ranked no-name state school.
I went to a too 25.
We’re both engineers and had basically identical jobs out of college.

So… in general, no, I don’t think it matters all that much.
However…. I don’t think I would have been happy at his college and probably wouldn’t have done as well at school. So, going to the particular school Inwent to matter to me. And I suspect that’s true for a lot of people

[Anonymous]

It matters in some walks of life.

I went to a middling state school that most DCUMers regard as a safety school, at best. While I am doing just fine, I would never be permitted to work at places like Goldman or Cravath, nor could I get a tenure-track position at a top school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It matters in some walks of life.

I went to a middling state school that most DCUMers regard as a safety school, at best. While I am doing just fine, I would never be permitted to work at places like Goldman or Cravath, nor could I get a tenure-track position at a top school.

That would prevent you from working at Goldman or Cravath, but it wouldn’t necessarily prevent the latter.

[Anonymous]

"That would prevent you from working at Goldman or Cravath, but it wouldn’t necessarily prevent the latter."

I've been on faculty search committees. It absolutely would make it extremely unlikely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is devolving into another gross thread where the rich and connected pat themselves on the back for what they think is a job well done.

You keep telling yourselves you're better than the rest of us, though.

Yes, so gross. Same crowd who has a bit of a tough time grasping the concept of systemic racism over generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There was a pop-science guy (name escapes me at the moment) who said there was some data showing that the ranking of the college you went to was less important for your prospects than being in the top half of whichever college you ended up choosing.

Malcom Gladwell

He’s a Canadian. Canada doesn’t rank colleges and universities the way the USA and the U.K. do. When was the last time the U.K. prime minister didn’t graduate from oxford or Cambridge? Likewise in the US, Joe Biden made news not because he went to an ivy but because he’s a rare non-ivy prez.

“The USA” doesn’t rank colleges, for goodness sake. One magazine ranks colleges because it sells magazines. And people became completely obsessed with it about 30 years ago so they never stopped.

The great irony here is that Malcolm Gladwell’s mission lately through his podcasts has been to take down the US News ranking system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It matters in some walks of life.

I went to a middling state school that most DCUMers regard as a safety school, at best. While I am doing just fine, I would never be permitted to work at places like Goldman or Cravath, nor could I get a tenure-track position at a top school.

Uh, no. Law firms don’t give a crap where you go to undergrad. It’s all about the law school. Goldman cares for the folks they recruit straight out of undergrad, but they also recruit from MBA schools- and in that case, again, it doesn’t really matter where you went to undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe harvard or yale make a difference but does any other school? I’m pretty underemployed and I went to a top 25 university. Would have been much cheaper to have gone to Maryland or Towson

I know someone who has a bachelor's in communications from Yale, a master's in International Affairs from Georgetown, a PhD in Psychology from Harvard, and is underemployed and still paying student loans at the age of 47. I myself only have a bachelors from Coppin State in Information Systems and make way more than her without any debt. It is really about what you get your degree in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe harvard or yale make a difference but does any other school? I’m pretty underemployed and I went to a top 25 university. Would have been much cheaper to have gone to Maryland or Towson

I know someone who has a bachelor's in communications from Yale, a master's in International Affairs from Georgetown, a PhD in Psychology from Harvard, and is underemployed and still paying student loans at the age of 47. I myself only have a bachelors from Coppin State in Information Systems and make way more than her without any debt. It is really about what you get your degree in.

You realize Yale doesn’t have a communications major right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are in investment banking or want to be a Supreme Court justice, yes. If you are working for Craptastic, Inc., probably not unless the top execs all have the same background.

Tell that to Amy Coney Barrett

[Anonymous]

These posts make me LOL. People who went to Crap U say it does not matter to make themselves feel better. My favorites are the ones quoting some white guy who dropped out of college saying it does not matter. That is white male privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe harvard or yale make a difference but does any other school? I’m pretty underemployed and I went to a top 25 university. Would have been much cheaper to have gone to Maryland or Towson

I know someone who has a bachelor's in communications from Yale, a master's in International Affairs from Georgetown, a PhD in Psychology from Harvard, and is underemployed and still paying student loans at the age of 47. I myself only have a bachelors from Coppin State in Information Systems and make way more than her without any debt. It is really about what you get your degree in.

This post is a proof it’s always the small peckers who claim that size doesn’t matter.