Do Prestigious Schools Matter for Future Success?

[Anonymous]

Prestige is a great substitute for talent. Ask me how I know

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:nice duke trolling. it is no way better than most of the ivy league.

Better in terms of outcomes? It's basically smack dab in the middle of the pack, better than Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, and closest to Columbia/Penn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your how far down you are comparing schools. UVA vs VT, no. UVA vs GMU, maybe, but probably not. UVA vs Longwood, absolutely

Oh honey. Educate yourself before you post. UVA is ranked 24 for all universities. VT is only 51. GMU is 109 and Longwood is 15 in Regional colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your how far down you are comparing schools. UVA vs VT, no. UVA vs GMU, maybe, but probably not. UVA vs Longwood, absolutely

Oh honey. Educate yourself before you post. UVA is ranked 24 for all universities. VT is only 51. GMU is 109 and Longwood is 15 in Regional colleges

DP with no connection to any of these schools.

The irony of someone referencing US News using the word "educate" is clearly lost on this fool. Let me give it to you straight: you're an idiot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at bios of successful people in the field you are interested in. It will give you an idea. I know CEOs and very rich people from unremarkable schools. But if you are not able to figure out how to make it on your own and need to be at Goldman Sachs or something, then yes, it will matter.

I would say in the past it has not mattered much except in a few fields. That may change with this obsession with prestige we have going. Maybe not once people figure out many of these kids are not special and just cheated their way to 4.0.

Even at Goldman Sachs, there's a spread of schools. Just look at their leadership:

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO: Hamilton College (undergraduate)
John Waldron, President & COO: Middlebury College (undergraduate)
Robert Kaplan, Vice Chairman: University of Kansas, Lawrence (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Ashok Varadhan, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate) + Stanford (PhD)
Dan Dees, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate)
Marc Nachmann, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: Wesleyan (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Tucker York, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)

All of these individuals are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they had a range of education journeys. Of course you see degrees from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford, but the top 2 executives didn't need that.

You didn't do a very good job proving your point. With the exception of Kansas, all of these are top schools in their respective categories.

[Anonymous]

There are lobbyists, attorneys, medical professionals and self employed that make seven figure salaries at schools rarely discussed at DCUM. See it everyday at work. While not executive management at Goldman, they make a hell of a living. Just because you haven't heard of them, doesn't mean they aren't out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at bios of successful people in the field you are interested in. It will give you an idea. I know CEOs and very rich people from unremarkable schools. But if you are not able to figure out how to make it on your own and need to be at Goldman Sachs or something, then yes, it will matter.

I would say in the past it has not mattered much except in a few fields. That may change with this obsession with prestige we have going. Maybe not once people figure out many of these kids are not special and just cheated their way to 4.0.

Even at Goldman Sachs, there's a spread of schools. Just look at their leadership:

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO: Hamilton College (undergraduate)
John Waldron, President & COO: Middlebury College (undergraduate)
Robert Kaplan, Vice Chairman: University of Kansas, Lawrence (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Ashok Varadhan, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate) + Stanford (PhD)
Dan Dees, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate)
Marc Nachmann, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: Wesleyan (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Tucker York, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)

All of these individuals are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they had a range of education journeys. Of course you see degrees from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford, but the top 2 executives didn't need that.

Other than University of Kansas, all of these schools are well regarded for banking (and Middlebury and Wesleyan probably are in the prestigious SLAC category), have strong Wall Street alumni networks and are very expensive. It's not as though Hamilton is some $20k/year SUNY. I gather the Kansas graduate needed the Harvard MBA to break into Wall Street.

This was BEFORE GS only looked at applications from target schools. Look it up — it matters for all of the Wall Street. Google those words. Also WSJ has a list of top schools for high paying jobs in chosen careers. In DMV, Georgetown is on all the lists but UVA, AU, GW are not, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at bios of successful people in the field you are interested in. It will give you an idea. I know CEOs and very rich people from unremarkable schools. But if you are not able to figure out how to make it on your own and need to be at Goldman Sachs or something, then yes, it will matter.

I would say in the past it has not mattered much except in a few fields. That may change with this obsession with prestige we have going. Maybe not once people figure out many of these kids are not special and just cheated their way to 4.0.

Even at Goldman Sachs, there's a spread of schools. Just look at their leadership:

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO: Hamilton College (undergraduate)
John Waldron, President & COO: Middlebury College (undergraduate)
Robert Kaplan, Vice Chairman: University of Kansas, Lawrence (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Ashok Varadhan, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate) + Stanford (PhD)
Dan Dees, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate)
Marc Nachmann, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: Wesleyan (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Tucker York, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)

All of these individuals are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they had a range of education journeys. Of course you see degrees from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford, but the top 2 executives didn't need that.

Other than University of Kansas, all of these schools are well regarded for banking (and Middlebury and Wesleyan probably are in the prestigious SLAC category), have strong Wall Street alumni networks and are very expensive. It's not as though Hamilton is some $20k/year SUNY. I gather the Kansas graduate needed the Harvard MBA to break into Wall Street.

This was BEFORE GS only looked at applications from target schools. Look it up — it matters for all of the Wall Street. Google those words. Also WSJ has a list of top schools for high paying jobs in chosen careers. In DMV, Georgetown is on all the lists but UVA, AU, GW are not, for example.

+100, target has a very narrow definition and it comes from populations, rather than speaking on student quality. Banks hire by tradition over peak talent; they’re looking to hire who they’ve historically hired.

[Anonymous]

Do you people have jobs? What schools did your coworkers go to? Your manager? Senior leaders at your company?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at bios of successful people in the field you are interested in. It will give you an idea. I know CEOs and very rich people from unremarkable schools. But if you are not able to figure out how to make it on your own and need to be at Goldman Sachs or something, then yes, it will matter.

I would say in the past it has not mattered much except in a few fields. That may change with this obsession with prestige we have going. Maybe not once people figure out many of these kids are not special and just cheated their way to 4.0.

Even at Goldman Sachs, there's a spread of schools. Just look at their leadership:

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO: Hamilton College (undergraduate)
John Waldron, President & COO: Middlebury College (undergraduate)
Robert Kaplan, Vice Chairman: University of Kansas, Lawrence (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Ashok Varadhan, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate) + Stanford (PhD)
Dan Dees, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate)
Marc Nachmann, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: Wesleyan (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Tucker York, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)

All of these individuals are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they had a range of education journeys. Of course you see degrees from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford, but the top 2 executives didn't need that.

Other than University of Kansas, all of these schools are well regarded for banking (and Middlebury and Wesleyan probably are in the prestigious SLAC category), have strong Wall Street alumni networks and are very expensive. It's not as though Hamilton is some $20k/year SUNY. I gather the Kansas graduate needed the Harvard MBA to break into Wall Street.

Interestingly enough, the head of Morgan Stanley also went to Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at bios of successful people in the field you are interested in. It will give you an idea. I know CEOs and very rich people from unremarkable schools. But if you are not able to figure out how to make it on your own and need to be at Goldman Sachs or something, then yes, it will matter.

I would say in the past it has not mattered much except in a few fields. That may change with this obsession with prestige we have going. Maybe not once people figure out many of these kids are not special and just cheated their way to 4.0.

Even at Goldman Sachs, there's a spread of schools. Just look at their leadership:

David Solomon, Chairman & CEO: Hamilton College (undergraduate)
John Waldron, President & COO: Middlebury College (undergraduate)
Robert Kaplan, Vice Chairman: University of Kansas, Lawrence (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Ashok Varadhan, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate) + Stanford (PhD)
Dan Dees, Co-Head of Global Banking & Markets: Duke (undergraduate)
Marc Nachmann, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: Wesleyan (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)
Tucker York, Co-Head of Global Wealth Management: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (undergraduate) + Harvard Business School (MBA)

All of these individuals are worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they had a range of education journeys. Of course you see degrees from Harvard, Duke, and Stanford, but the top 2 executives didn't need that.

Other than University of Kansas, all of these schools are well regarded for banking (and Middlebury and Wesleyan probably are in the prestigious SLAC category), have strong Wall Street alumni networks and are very expensive. It's not as though Hamilton is some $20k/year SUNY. I gather the Kansas graduate needed the Harvard MBA to break into Wall Street.

This was BEFORE GS only looked at applications from target schools. Look it up — it matters for all of the Wall Street. Google those words. Also WSJ has a list of top schools for high paying jobs in chosen careers. In DMV, Georgetown is on all the lists but UVA, AU, GW are not, for example.

no one wants to hear truth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you people have jobs? What schools did your coworkers go to? Your manager? Senior leaders at your company?

owners/senior leaders, private firm outside of DC, brings in 9-10 million gross per anum:
undergraduate schools:
3 from T10, 1 from WAS, 7 from T30 incl Uva, 2 from outside t30

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Prestige is a great substitute for talent. Ask me how I know

It's a signalling device.

[Anonymous]

I’m an Ivy grad who came from a lmc family where no one had ever gone “away” to college. It mattered for me—I would not have gotten into the right rooms without it. However, my top-performing employee went to a much less-prestigious school—one of those with a “rich kid party school” reputation. She came from an affluent, educated family so it didn’t hold her back. One of my other top performers came from poverty and went to a lower-ranked state school (non-flagship) and then got a graduate degree from a prestigious school. The graduate degree helped her make the connections my other employee had her entire life.

[Anonymous]

The simple true answer is NO.

School prestige is neither necessary nor sufficient. There are many paths to success and success is never guaranteed.