How much do you think college truly influences the trajectory of someone's life?

[Anonymous]

I went to the highest ranked college out of all my current friends and I make less money than all of them in a job that gets little respect so the prestige didn’t help me. BUT I loved college, made good friends & loved to learn. If I had gone to a party school where most students weren’t serious about school I would have been miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

[Anonymous]

I chose the wrong college, I dropped out early in my Sophomore year with a terrible eating disorder that I needed inpatient help for.

I never went back and I make $400,000 a year in sales. Depending on your skill set and what field you are going into, college can not matter much, or it can be very defining and important.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

The difference between kids of lower-earning parents and higher-earning parents are their teeth and how good they are at downhill skiing*.

* Except kids whose lower-earning parents work in the ski industry.

[Anonymous]

There's no real answer to the OP's question.

[Anonymous]

College matters to the trajectory of many people's lives. I would not be who I am today or who I have been without the college I went to. It formed my life. My growth there was off the charts. I had great experiences. So it matters a lot. But could I have received the same experience and grown the same maybe not in the same way but with the same stuff at another college. Yes I am certain of that. I went to a top 30 school. Could I have replicated that at peer schools or schools ranked above -- yes at some. I never looked but I bet I could have. Could I have gone lower and the same. Yes I am sure that is true.

What is not true is that you can go anywhere and be launched in the same way. To me the goal in picking where to go is to find that place where you ---you ---- will be launched like that.

My like romantic interests, there is not only one right person for you out there in the world. But there may only be a few hundred or thousand depending.

Pick the schools that will do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

The difference between kids of lower-earning parents and higher-earning parents are their teeth and how good they are at downhill skiing*.

* Except kids whose lower-earning parents work in the ski industry.

This is BS. I am UC. Was at least UMC growing up. Belong to country club. Golf club or sailing get you zip in this world especially in this area. It is MC fantasy to think this works. You don't go to the club to get business. Now if you lived in Omaha then yes I agree. But no sailing there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

All of the non academic life skills are easily mastered and refined at elite colleges. I hope that those are not the accomplishments that make one successful because it will cause many brilliant people to be left behind. It is completely obviously what type of family college students or young professional come from unless they have absorbed unspoken rules. Not knowing what to wear, say, drink or eat is often an unspoken reason for excluding smart people who otherwise would make substantial contributions. They show up green and never get invited back to anything important. People would rather deal with someone who is less bright but polished, in friend groups and in business. Hopefully this will change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

My HS junior DD LOVES WashU and I know she’d get a great education but is it worth paying full-price for? It has a good reputation, but not great. Where’s the line?

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

[Anonymous]

My HS junior DD LOVES WashU and I know she’d get a great education but is it worth paying full-price for? It has a good reputation, but not great. Where’s the line?

[Anonymous]

Interesting question. My first thought is that among my colleagues at work, who all do exactly the same job, one of us went to a large Midwest state school, one went to a small Jesuit Midwest school, one of us went to a “public Ivy”, and one went to an Ivy League school. So, range of schools, our families have a range of backgrounds, we all studied different things (all liberal arts background) and we all ended up in the same place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

The difference between kids of lower-earning parents and higher-earning parents are their teeth and how good they are at downhill skiing*.

* Except kids whose lower-earning parents work in the ski industry.

Sorry; I forgot skiing.

Maybe cricket should go somewhere on that list, too, but I don’t know anything about cricket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My HS junior DD LOVES WashU and I know she’d get a great education but is it worth paying full-price for? It has a good reputation, but not great. Where’s the line?

I’m the PP who went to Wash. U.

I loved it there, and it does have some merit aid.

In my opinion, for undergraduates, for most programs, it’s probably roughly at the same level as UVa., UNC or Texas. Those are all great schools, and good graduates from those schools probably have about the same chance of getting into top grad schools and professional schools as otherwise similar Harvard grads, but no employer will swoop in and suck up the Wash. U. or UVa. art history majors with a tractor beam just to get into their contact lists.

Wash. U. probably has a lot less red tape than a typical state school, but it was big enough and cold enough that when I was there, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, anxious people had problems.

So, it was great for a serious student who wanted a flexible curriculum and a reasonably down-to-earth atmosphere, but it wasn’t necessarily any better than UVa. for students intimidated by the idea of going to a big school.

If I could figure out how to make it happen, I’d be open to paying $10,000 or $15,000 more for Wash. U. than my state flagship if the state flagship was known mainly for its sports teams. But I wouldn’t be quick to pay more for Wash. U. if the flagship was UVa. or UNC.

If I were willing to pay extra because I had a nervous kid, I’d focus more on liberal arts colleges than on a place like Wash. U.

[Anonymous]

I married a guy I met in college, so it changed pretty much the entire trajectory of my life. I probably would have ended up in a similar professional field wherever I went, but I’m glad everyday that I went to that college. DH is still amazing 25 years later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

I went to a school (Wash. U.) that’s seen as prestigious by some and just OK by some. My cousins all had comfortable middle-income or upper-income parents, and all went to schools ranging from Harvard to University of California schools.

I have friends who’ve gone to all sorts of schools.

I think “higher-ranked schools” tend to be more comfortable and more fun. But I don’t think going to a higher-ranked school makes a big difference in terms of financial outcomes.

I think what distinguishes high-earning kids from lower-earning kids are general intelligence; social graces; parental connections; the ability to play golf and tennis; and the ability to make intelligent comments about baseball, football and basketball games. Excellence at sailing may be able to compensate for general sports illiteracy.

Parents who are obsessed about having high-earning kids should obsess less about SAT prep and more about joining a golf club or signing their kid up for sailing lessons.

The difference between kids of lower-earning parents and higher-earning parents are their teeth and how good they are at downhill skiing*.

* Except kids whose lower-earning parents work in the ski industry.

It depends more on the choice of toothpaste. If you brush your teeth with Colgate, your smile with become your career asset.