Elite colleges matter less that you think

[Anonymous]

Big new Gallup study finds no correlation between prestige of college and later income or happiness:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303417104579544161033770526

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/06/308382912/poll-prestigious-colleges-wont-make-you-happier-in-life-or-work

[Anonymous]

"The poll didn't measure graduates' earnings."

please read the article.

Engagement is different. I've seen traders making 300k quit to take 50k jobs in major league baseball.

Elite colleges are not the be-all, end-all and do not guarantee anything, but they do provide more margin for error/bigger opportunity. This is definitely the case in finance and consulting.

Engagement is a function of self-actualization and that is not connected to earnings - that is down to the individual.

[Anonymous]

No it's not a big deal if DC doesn't go to an elite school. But, this study was done at the behest of the president of Purdue, so it does have an ax to grind.

All the social science research has been based on looking at kids admitted to an elite school who chose another college. So one of the rare kids admitted to Princeton who chooses to go to Penn State will do just as well in life because it is the kid, not the school, that makes the difference.

The problem among the competitive parenting cohort is that there are real and big differences between the average kid who goes to Harvard and those who go to Virginia Tech. For them, the issue isn't what's the best fit for their child, but rather which school makes the parent look/feel better. And the neighbor's kid at Yale really is more impressive than my kid at College Park. But, that doesn't mean my kid doesn't have a bright future.

[Anonymous]

It's true. When I hire, I don't look at GPA and sometimes being Ivy league makes me less interested in hiring the person. I'd rather get a scrappy Big Ten grad who I know will put in the time with the low level work to learn, vs an ivy league kid who is spoiled (not that this holds true for every big ten or ivy grad).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Big new Gallup study finds no correlation between prestige of college and later income or happiness:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303417104579544161033770526

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/06/308382912/poll-prestigious-colleges-wont-make-you-happier-in-life-or-work

Yes, we know.

http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/382814.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it's not a big deal if DC doesn't go to an elite school. But, this study was done at the behest of the president of Purdue, so it does have an ax to grind.

All the social science research has been based on looking at kids admitted to an elite school who chose another college. So one of the rare kids admitted to Princeton who chooses to go to Penn State will do just as well in life because it is the kid, not the school, that makes the difference.

The problem among the competitive parenting cohort is that there are real and big differences between the average kid who goes to Harvard and those who go to Virginia Tech. For them, the issue isn't what's the best fit for their child, but rather which school makes the parent look/feel better. And the neighbor's kid at Yale really is more impressive than my kid at College Park. But, that doesn't mean my kid doesn't have a bright future.

Rather than an ax to grind I would say he had good questions to ask, for which there were yet answers.

[Anonymous]

Oh gosh...Here we go with this again.

SO WHAT? WHO CARES?

Those who CAN will go to elite schools and those who can't won't. (And will snuggle up to any article to try to rebuild their self-esteem about not going.)

The bottom line is that there's a hierarchy in this world. Some schools are more elite than others. Some cars are more luxurious than others. Some neighborhoods and homes are better. Some companies are Fortune 500, some high schools are more prestigious, etc.

It is what it is.

[Anonymous]

No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to chose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to chose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

Quite frankly, I've never known or cared about where a doctor graduated from.

[Anonymous]

No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to choose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

Fat fingered it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to chose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

Quite frankly, I've never known or cared about where a doctor graduated from.

Stunning. You do know that there are some really good and some really bad medical schools out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to chose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

Quite frankly, I've never known or cared about where a doctor graduated from.

Stunning. You do know that there are some really good and some really bad medical schools out there.

Of course, I'm sure there are. But when looking for a doctor, I look at things TRACK RECORD...reputation, etc. If I hear several people died at a doctor's hands, I will not be giving him a call whether he graduated from a 'good' medical school or not.

Most of my doctors have come from referrals from others. I was told they're good...great...awesome...etc. And never once did I ask "Where'd he go to school".

[Anonymous]

Here's the NPR version of the poll story:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/06/308382912/poll-prestigious-colleges-wont-make-you-happier-in-life-or-work?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140506

...the take-home message for students is clear, says Brandon Busteed, who leads Gallup's education work: "If you can go to Podunk U debt free vs. Harvard for $100,000, go to Podunk. And concentrate on what you do when you get there."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the NPR version of the poll story:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/05/06/308382912/poll-prestigious-colleges-wont-make-you-happier-in-life-or-work?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140506

...the take-home message for students is clear, says Brandon Busteed, who leads Gallup's education work: "If you can go to Podunk U debt free vs. Harvard for $100,000, go to Podunk. And concentrate on what you do when you get there."

If only it was that black and white.

Podunk is not always free or even close to affordable for some families. Just as Harvard does not always leave students strapped with loans and send families into bankruptcy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one seems to care about the elite nature or rigor of a particular school until it comes time to chose the doctor that will perform your quadruple bypass surgery. In that moment, everyone becomes an educational snob.

Quite frankly, I've never known or cared about where a doctor graduated from.

Same here