Forum Index
»
Off-Topic
Ivy League grads...
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
I'm an HYP grad,my brother went to one of the 'others,' and my DH went to another 'elite' school that is not HYP. While in part it may be the the thought that HYP are the best of the best, I can also tell you that a lot of the impact isn't that people necessarily see you as smarter as that HYP have really mastered the art of alumni connections, networking, and school spirit. I can literally be sitting on a train/plane/subway and if it happens to come up that the person next to me went to the same school there is an instant connection that could lead anywhere (like job or mentoring or something). HYP work very hard to keep that benefit alive - they have unbelievable outreach programs to alumni - I probably get invited to 1-2 events a month in DC sponsored by my school, usually free or like $10; they have alumni listservs on all subjects, intellectual forums on public policy issues that alumni are invited to, amazing reunions, etc. Neither my brother nor DH have this kind of thing from their also-excellent schools. Schools that do this sort of thing foster a level of loyalty and a feeling of connection long after you've left, and that is what leads alumni to connect so well. Add to that that the people who come out are by and large smart and successful, and you have a real and long-term life impact. |
Anonymous
| My husband went to Harvard for grad school. It has 100% helped him in his career. He graduated in 2001 and before he had his degree he was making $45,000 a year, the first year after he graduated he made $120,000. He now makes over $300,000 plus a year. He's not a lawyer. |
Anonymous
They impress the morons who don't know better. |
Anonymous
| I went to an Ivy undergrad and so did most of my friends, none of whom makes much money. All work for gov or non-profits. I SAH with kids, so my degree is useless there. My kids are not impressed with me. DH went to a no name school and he makes way more money than I or my Ivy grad friends ever have made. I think the degree is basically worthless unless you are a lawyer or want to be a CEO. I'm not urging my kids to go to an Ivy unless they want to very, very badly. |
Anonymous
| In a similar vein to PP I went to a Big 3 school here and most of my friends from there, including the ones who went on to Ivy League schools, are not making much money. Many professors, journalists, etc. They are happy of course, but so are people who went to "lesser" schools and colleges. The parent driven obsession with pushing their kids in to the right pre school so that they can get in to Ivy League schools seems so out of touch sometimes. |
Anonymous
I agree. I'm in public health/policy, and no one gives a shit where I went to school, though I'm sure the fact that both undergrad and grad degrees were from schools people had heard of helped. But honestly in my career you just need a degree and a grad degree and what got me my current job was the organization and position I had before this job and so on. It's all connections and resumes here on out. It was much more important that I didn't leave DC to go to grad school, it wouldn't have made sense to go off to New England for two years and try to land a DC health policy job from there. I think ivy league is great for a doctor, a lawyer who wants to make a lot of money, or someone on the c-track but for a lot of us it just doesn't matter. |
Anonymous
I don't buy this- esp. on the money front, which is not the sole criterion for professional success, but certainly something the Ivies can often facilitate. Basically those I knew in my Ivy who had the goal to make big money and who graduated in the top quartile, went on to make immense sums of money in banking/financial services/private equity, e.g. back around 1999 first jobs out of college through corporate recruiting often started between $90-$100k. These were 22 years olds. Most of those firms only recruited at Ivies and other similar institutions. It also affected the transition into grad school (high end MBAs are dominated by elite college grads). Less well paying fields also have strong Ivy/elite-school cliques like high-end journalism (NYT etc.) For me, I had a tremendous personal and educational experience at my Ivy, but after the first few years of my career (where it helped with early credibility) it hasn't made much of a difference in the DC public policy world, though almost all those doing well around me do have top-tier grad degrees even if they came from avg. colleges. |
Anonymous
|
As a very successful state school grad I will tell you it makes a HUGE difference in career path if you went to HYP.
At this point in my career, most of MY social network went to an ivy. (I'm not a lawyer). That's what I expect to meet at parties and work and neighborhood (Bethesda) functions. It is a rare pleasure to meet someone else from a state school, or even "lesser" private. I see people hired all the time for no reason other than that degree. But I will say some things about my friends behind their backs  :
1) not CEO's. State schools dominate the real business world that makes and does things. As PP said, ivies dominate the management consulting and financial wizardry world. Thanks for that
2) for some reason, ivy women seem to SAH more. Not judging, just sayin. Maybe it's those ambitious ivy men they marry or maybe it's the financial cushion from likely affluent parents. Or maybe the professional security of a strong network. 3) a LOT of ivy grad parents would be thrilled to have their kids get into my state school (Wisconsin) these days. They come to ask me for my advice and connections during admission season. Cracks me up! Now that ivy tuition is on a needs based scale the alum will be culturally different in the next generation. |
Anonymous
Op PP here. I meant to say MAYBE they will be different. But maybe not. I'm interested to see if the power of the network will work for a more diverse crowd instead of just establishment elite and a few minorities, immigrants, and working class kids who busted their butts to fit in and pass for establishment elites. 
|
Anonymous
|
I went to a "big two" Ivy and I don't make very much money, but I also don't think that is the only thing that determines if the degree was worth it.
I am now an academic and I think the degree helped in the early stages of my career - getting first jobs, getting into grad school. Now it doesn't matter much since other professional accomplishments are more important than old credentials. I think this is how it often is - helps alot at the beginning and less so as time goes on. By far the most important thing I got out of my Ivy was meeting my husband. I didn't go to college to get my MRS degree - and have a satisfying if not high-flying career of my own. Maybe I would have met and married a great guy that I met after college, but I did marry an incredibly smart, interesting, ambitious man, whose whose extremely well-paying job gives me a sense of security that I probably wouldn't have without such a big safety net. One of the side benefits of going to an Ivy is the big pool of high-quality potential spouses. From watching friends and collegues, the post-college dating scrum seems like it is an exhausting crap-shoot. |
Anonymous
| I'm wondering how many Ivy women got thier Mrs degree from another Ivy. Seems like a pretty worth while benefit |
Anonymous
| My H and I are both Ivies, different ones. The benefit to our career that continues is where we went to law school. Your graduate degree, if you get one, has more effect. Our undergrad institutions no doubt helped us get into top law schools. |
Anonymous
| princeton grad here. think my degree would have helped more had I decided to pursue law/business/policy or related fields. I went into the humanities, and i think the biggest help was that it got me into a top grad program, but for my field, it's the grad program and how you do in that--and your recommendations--that matters for your career. the only other time it ever really came up was occasionally when I was dating and soemone felt that they had to make a big issue out of it, which was really annoying. |
Anonymous
23:00 here. Among my friends, I would say most married Ivy or equivalent like Stanford, Duke, etc. It turns out that way especially if you have graduate or professional degrees too from those schools b/c a lot of men get intimidated. The reason a lot of my gfs stayed single - "H" bomb sucks when dating... FWIW, When I was an undergrad, a lot of my guy friends would joke that women were more interested in their PEP (potential earning power) than anything else, which in many cases was a good thing...
|
Anonymous
|
PP. No one has pointed out that a lot of HYP are legacies? I'm not but my DH is, as are most of the other Ivy grads we know. So most of them have already had connections.
I already know where my children, under 5, will be doing internships and such. |