HYPSM/Elite School Alums - What has been the downside of your degree?

[Anonymous]

Also, I wouldn't lump MIT into that group in the same way. People don't expect you to be the same type of overall leader from MIT, at least not in my experience.
If anything, they make assumptions that you are awkward and work in engineering or tech (not the case from MIT, which isn't as narrowly focused as CalTech). MIT has a top business school and very good other programs outside of eng.
I hear the classic "you are not what I expected" fairly frequently in informal settings based on those MIT stereotypes.
Outside of eng, the expectations are not there in the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a URM it’s a downside because people assume you didn’t get in on your own merits.

You know what happens when you assume? You make an ass out of u and me
Don't pay any attention to what people might say or not say behind your back. Most are not going to say anything beyond an anonymous board! Also, remember that no one "deserves" a spot at a top college and if you hadn't had something genuine to add beyond any category, you wouldn't have been admitted.

[Anonymous]

Why do people in DC want to talk about where you went to school so often? I have a pretty interesting job and do things outside of work but it still pops up a lot in conversation. Talking about my education in my 30s feels weird, regardless of how "elite" it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do find myself mumbling in social settings about having gone to school "in the Boston area"--a verbal tick that seems common with other Harvard graduates.

Ridiculous. Just say it. Why are you trying to draw more attention to this tiny little fact?
-Harvard graduate

I agree it is ridiculous--but it also a "thing" Harvard students and graduates do. https://slate.com/culture/2014/05/harvard-grads-say-i-went-to-college-in-boston-and-call-it-the-h-bomb-get-over-yourselves-ivy-leaguers.html

[Anonymous]

HYP alum here - attending one of these schools can put a target on your back.

At one of the places I worked, if I ever made a mistake one of my co-workers would make comments such as "How come you didn't know that, you went to HYP!" or "You guys are not so smart after all, are you?!" He'd take any opportunity he could get to take me down a notch.

It was a very irritating, unhelpful work dynamic at the time.

[Anonymous]

Viewed as a snob. People assume you think you are better than others. You have to prove you don’t. Puts pressure on your kids. And for the “just say it” poster: I do. It gets a reaction. Every. Single. Time. Which is what makes me not want to say it. The reaction BTW is never anything like a vanilla that’s nice.

I think it has helped with every job I have ever gotten but I am in a field where the credential matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Viewed as a snob. People assume you think you are better than others. You have to prove you don’t. Puts pressure on your kids. And for the “just say it” poster: I do. It gets a reaction. Every. Single. Time. Which is what makes me not want to say it. The reaction BTW is never anything like a vanilla that’s nice.

I think it has helped with every job I have ever gotten but I am in a field where the credential matters.

THIS! 100% my experience.

[Anonymous]

The ones I’ve met are brilliant. MIT and Stanford as well.

One talks all the time like he’s giving a TED talk, which is annoying. We make fun of that behind his back. If he didn’t go to HYP we might not get such a kick out of the joke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there is a ton of discussion on this and other forums about all the benefits that a degree from HYPSM or other elite schools confers. However, I have not seen much discussion about the potential downsides or costs of attending such a school.

When I say costs or downsides, I am not referring to debt you had to take on or the high stress level during undergrad. I am referring to costs and downsides you have experienced once you graduated, it can be related to your career or life overall. I have recently been working with a bright Princeton graduate. I noticed that she did not list Princeton on her LI. We were having a casual convo once and the topic of LI came up. I asked her how come she doesn't list her alma mater on there, and she said that she hates the assumptions people make about her only because of where she went to school, such as being entitled and privileged, when in fact she was first gen and came from a working class family.

This is really the encounter that made me think about what are some of the negative sides of attending one of these schools, especially once you leave, that are not discussed enough, yet I feel is important to talk about given the ongoing obsession with these places.

None

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you’re a URM it’s a downside because people assume you didn’t get in on your own merits.

Some people will assume such regardless of school.

That's just racial bias.

Let the haters hate.

[Anonymous]

There’s no downside if you work at a place where having an elite school degree is the norm. The downside comes when elite school degrees are rare, and you are “the other” and resented.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Graduate schools esp. law & medical schools boast how many different colleges their students come from. Harvard Medical School loves saying how their students come from 200 different colleges. It’s a geographic, religious, ethnic & economy diversity thing.

If you’re at a HYPSM undergrad expect to have to find somewhere else to go for grad school.

Please, anyone reading this, look at the data published by the graduate schools on where their students attended undergrad. When I last looked, the #1 represented undergrad at HLS and HBS was Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Graduate schools esp. law & medical schools boast how many different colleges their students come from. Harvard Medical School loves saying how their students come from 200 different colleges. It’s a geographic, religious, ethnic & economy diversity thing.

If you’re at a HYPSM undergrad expect to have to find somewhere else to go for grad school.

Please, anyone reading this, look at the data published by the graduate schools on where their students attended undergrad. When I last looked, the #1 represented undergrad at HLS and HBS was Harvard.

That is true but don't "expect" to get in! Same with Stanford. Nonetheless, your chances are probably better than from anywhere else (they don't share applicant #s to really delve into it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I do find myself mumbling in social settings about having gone to school "in the Boston area"--a verbal tick that seems common with other Harvard graduates.

Ridiculous. Just say it. Why are you trying to draw more attention to this tiny little fact?
-Harvard graduate

I agree it is ridiculous--but it also a "thing" Harvard students and graduates do. https://slate.com/culture/2014/05/harvard-grads-say-i-went-to-college-in-boston-and-call-it-the-h-bomb-get-over-yourselves-ivy-leaguers.html

If you aren't an ivy grad, you won't understand.

[Anonymous]

No downside.

Biggest upside: you're not intimidated by people who went to "elite" schools because you know that there are plenty of people who are went to those schools and are dumb as posts.