For those who attended non-Ivies, do you regret not trying harder to get into an Ivy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No because getting into an Ivy (for me at least) would have required family support and I didn't have that. I'm glad I didn't get hung up on it was okay going to a state flagship on scholarship and graduated from undergrad without loans.

My biggest regret was that I didn't take advantage of that to major in what I really wanted (English) and instead did a more practical major and went to law school. I wish I knew now what I didn't know then -- that you are the one who actually has to live your life, so you might as well do something you enjoy with it.

I grew up in a state that had basically free in state tuition and the practical reality was that the cost of an Ivy league education (which was half what it is now back then) simply didn't make financial sense. Not for middle class families. I'm very happy with my career and trajectory.

[Anonymous]

I wish I had applied to some. I hate wondering “what if” and I feel like I sold myself short. My school as “ranked” around 25 when I went. I think I could have gone somewhere more highly ranked, but at the time I applied I was convinced that that was the best I could possibly do. (My Highschool was no help and my parents didn’t know better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was accepted into an Ivy and I chose to attend UVA. My parents did not want to pay the Ivy tuition; they could pay cash for UVA. No regrets.

Just based on college culture alone I would have taken out loans to go to Harvard or Brown than a state school in a southern state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. I am not sure regret is a useful way to spend your time.
2. I received an excellent education. It is a lot more about what you put in than where you go.

This.

No one in my office went to an ivy. Top tier gov affair firm.

And we laugh sometimes in front of 40 year olds who mention they went to Harvard. I tilt my head and say “awww you were smart at 18 to get in why is that relevant now.”

So at 40 you’ll be telling the 23 year old Harvard graduates that you went to the Flagship state school, not just any old state school.

[Anonymous]

I went to an Ivy on a crap-ton of financial aid. One thing you learn very quickly in the working world is that there are whip-smart people graduating from many colleges and universities.

Partly, this is because Ivy holistic admissions back in the day rewarded well-roundedness, while many jobs reward particular skills. My Ivy degree has come in handy, because I am a techie with good writing skills, while many of my state university colleagues are tech geniuses who struggle with writing. Working together, we get the job done and communicate our results. The world is a big place, and it takes all of us to make it work. Arguably, though, a just world would put plumbers at the top of the heap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think it's affected your career or is any difference negligible?

No lol

Just no

That’s because of degree earned and hustle and network and work ethic

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. I am not sure regret is a useful way to spend your time.
2. I received an excellent education. It is a lot more about what you put in than where you go.

This.

No one in my office went to an ivy. Top tier gov affair firm.

And we laugh sometimes in front of 40 year olds who mention they went to Harvard. I tilt my head and say “awww you were smart at 18 to get in why is that relevant now.”

So at 40 you’ll be telling the 23 year old Harvard graduates that you went to the Flagship state school, not just any old state school.

No, at 40 no one should still be talking about where they went to college.
DP

[Anonymous]

Test scores say i was smart enough, but I was far to ADHD to have been particularly successful at a school which would have really pushed my academic limits. As it was, I got a lot of faculty attention and other opportunities that would have passed me by at a more intense school, e.g. I started working as a TA freshman year.

[Anonymous]

My brother got into 3 Ivies but our parents would not pay the tuition. He ended up at Delaware on a full ride (the full ride is why the refused to pay for the Ivies).

He is complete proof that it's not the school but the person who determines one's trajectory. He is now an executive a major US corporation.

[Anonymous]

I went to Berkeley. I could have gotten into an Ivy but my parents couldn't afford to send me to one.

I just looked up how much I paid at Berkeley vs how much an Ivy would have cost in 1988:

Public '87-'88 '88-'89
UC Berkeley: $1,374. $1434
Min wage in 1988 was $4.24. I was able to work part time senior year and the summer before college to pay my tuition working around 337 hours. My parents then paid for room and board. By the time my younger sibling attended UCLA in 93-94 tuition/fees had risen to $3454. I remember thinking how ridiculous it was tuition had doubled and almost tripled.


Tuition Rates Around the Ivy League College
'87-'88 '88-'89
Harvard $17,100 $18,210
Dartmouth $17,085 $18,199
Yale $17,020 $18,060
Princeton $16,918 $17,967
Brown $16,950 $17,962
Penn $16,841 $17,800
Cornell $16,320 $17,460

Sometimes I think whether it would have been worth it to have $45k worth of loans to have gone to an Ivy. I have no idea.

[Anonymous]

My husband went to an Ivy League school for both undergrad and law school.

Not once has he said his education makes him superior to anyone else. Not once has he brought it up in conversation. In fact, if someone asks him where he went to school, he simply says, "Up north." If they push further, he will say, "New England." He never brags about where he went because he recognizes that he is no better a person nor attorney than someone who went to a different school.

Our kids are encouraged to go wherever they feel is best for them-- Ivy, state school, community college, military, trade school, workforce, etc. We will never push them to follow a certain path.

[Anonymous]

I attended an Ivy and think the effect on my career has been negligible. It helped for the first few years after college, but after that my actual skills and accomplishments have led to job opportunities, not my alma mater. And I truly don’t care at all where mh colleagues went to school — what matters is whether they are good at their job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's easy to see why so few of you ended up at an Ivy. You either didn't understand the question OP asked or are ignoring it.

Clearly it's directed at folks who in retrospect had an actual, realistic chance at admission to an Ivy but didn't push it. Many of you don't qualify to respond -- by a long shot -- and those of you who got in a turned it down don't qualify either.

I suppose I qualify based on your statement above.

No, I don’t regret it. I received a great education at a state flagship, a school I selected because I loved the program and the positive energy.

(Also… if your negativity and elitism are representative of your Ivy, you gave me another reason I don’t regret my choice.)

[Anonymous]

DD got accepted at 2 Ivy Law Schools but instead chose a Law School not even in the top 100, because 1) the gave her full tuition and 2) They were ranked #1 in the field she wanted to specialize in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD got accepted at 2 Ivy Law Schools but instead chose a Law School not even in the top 100, because 1) the gave her full tuition and 2) They were ranked #1 in the field she wanted to specialize in.

I should add, she studied Health Care Law