I don’t get it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People chase after anything perceived as the best or prestige VIP. It’s why we have idiots driving recalled Cybertrucks

This.

It’s the insecure/brand-chasing parents. They want to brag and keep up with the Joneses.

Agree that I’d give a closer look to the resume of a state school grad with excellent internships over a top name school kid.

-An HYP grad

What if the top name school kid has excellent internships too and you can only select one for an interview?

I’m the alum to whom you responded. To answer your question, literally has never happened. There is always enough variation that the school brand has never tipped the balance. And people are not their resumes. Some resumes look stellar and do not match the person in front of you when you interview them.

And agree with the poster who said writing and analytical skills are key. And being a team player. And social skills (reading the room, etc.).

And I haven’t seen anyone care about where I went to school. If they ask, I’ll respond, but otherwise, whatever.

[Anonymous]

OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

[Anonymous]

OP, step away from DCUM and you’ll find this isn’t real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People chase after anything perceived as the best or prestige VIP. It’s why we have idiots driving recalled Cybertrucks

This.

It’s the insecure/brand-chasing parents. They want to brag and keep up with the Joneses.

Agree that I’d give a closer look to the resume of a state school grad with excellent internships over a top name school kid.

-An HYP grad

What if the top name school kid has excellent internships too and you can only select one for an interview?

NP. I've been an F500 recruiter for MBA interns. Never heard of an internship process that interviewed only one person.

Typically there are campus teams and if a campus is visited at all there will be a full day of interviews.

When the economy is bad, the list of visited campuses slims down. In my industry, that usually means slims down to the campuses that yield the most hires. Which can mean jettisoning the more elite schools where students are less likely to accept an offer.

Students are evaluated on personal characteristics and knowledge once they have gotten an interview. School stops mattering once you are in the pipeline. In the olden days, there was some formulaic salary discrimination (schools like Wharton led to $K more in offers) but I believe that is gone.

One of the most impressive candidates and liars whom I recruited was a former Goldman Sachs analyst. We offered him a job based on his interview and resume. I can't convey succinctly the back story on his later revealed in-interview lying but it was memorable in a bad way. There clearly is an extra level of polish on candidates from elite schools and elite employers. But sometimes it's the kind of polish that leads to corporate bankruptcies, global financial crises, and Occupy Wall Street. An ex-McKinsey executive CEO drove my grandfather's lifetime F500 employer straight into the ditch by betting wrong on nearly every big strategic decision that was made. My conclusion is that these prestige companies don't really deserve their reputations for excellence. They are mostly about smarts, greed, and strivery conformity.

[Anonymous]

I think perceived prestige is the main reason parents and kids are so crazy to get their kids into certain schools. I do think these schools offer a leg up for some kids, but it is certainly no success path for everyone.

My kid was also an academic high flyer / magnet student. Perfect stats, internships, 4 year varsity athlete, etc. Ivy all waitlist and reject. At UMD CS and doing great. Applying the same hustle and smarts he did in HS. Being at a bigger school there are maybe even more opportunities. Doing paid research and had internships after both freshman and sophomore years. Honestly don't think he'd be doing better if he was at an Ivy.

[Anonymous]

I find it hard to believe OP doesn’t “get it” when folks know that schools like Cambridge and Oxford or ETF Zurich have the same cachet in Europe/internationally and highly sought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is a drop in dignity and respect given once your kid goes to a uni ranked beyond around #70 that I have witnessed. People don't say anything, of course, but behind others backs they judge. For LACs it's a lot less clear cut, I think, since many people don't know LACs as well.

I’ve read a lot of ridiculous comments on DCUM, and this one is in contention for first place. How the view from that ivory tower? FFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, step away from DCUM and you’ll find this isn’t real life.

I wish this was true. Many comments were made when my kid went to a state school. For whatever reason people assume going to T20 a badge of success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

Well if you'd read what I wrote I mentioned other colleges, Oxford, The Sorbonne etc. I only site Harvard because that's where my particular friend attended. You really need to pay more attention. I'm sure Penn State does have an amazing network of car salesmen and pharmaceutical reps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are correct. I think some of this, especially in the DC area, is that a lot of these parents went to these highly ranked schools back when it was a lot easier to get into them (not as many kids going to college, fewer looking at schools outside their region). And they think any success they have in life is a result of going to a particular college and/or are unaware at how much less selective their own school used to be. While also being completely unaware of the opportunities available at not-so-selective schools and somehow not noticing that lots of their peers likely went up a wide range of schools.

NYU, for example, currently #30 has a 9% acceptance rate. In the 90s it had a 65% acceptance rate. USC is 10% and was 70% in the 90s.

The T30 or bust families would faint at the idea of their kid don't to a 65%+ acceptance rate college with at the same time being proud of their own degrees and happy with their experience at schools that were that high when they went.

And NYU is looked down upon by many here because of its relatively easy ED admission standards and its LS backdoor program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

No. Tons of schools have great alumni networks, and tons of alumni are not in positions to help anyone out or don’t particularly care to do so just because they went to the same school as you. And plenty of your peers/friends/connections from a school will never be in a position to help you either, often because they are at the same level as you or in different fields (this can be a bit different at the graduate school level). This is an overstated benefit.

The networking you do once you join the workforce is likely to be massively more important to your career than your undergrad’s alumni.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People chase after anything perceived as the best or prestige VIP. It’s why we have idiots driving recalled Cybertrucks

This.

It’s the insecure/brand-chasing parents. They want to brag and keep up with the Joneses.

Agree that I’d give a closer look to the resume of a state school grad with excellent internships over a top name school kid.

-An HYP grad

What if the top name school kid has excellent internships too and you can only select one for an interview?

NP. I've been an F500 recruiter for MBA interns. Never heard of an internship process that interviewed only one person.

Typically there are campus teams and if a campus is visited at all there will be a full day of interviews.

When the economy is bad, the list of visited campuses slims down. In my industry, that usually means slims down to the campuses that yield the most hires. Which can mean jettisoning the more elite schools where students are less likely to accept an offer.

Students are evaluated on personal characteristics and knowledge once they have gotten an interview. School stops mattering once you are in the pipeline. In the olden days, there was some formulaic salary discrimination (schools like Wharton led to $K more in offers) but I believe that is gone.

One of the most impressive candidates and liars whom I recruited was a former Goldman Sachs analyst. We offered him a job based on his interview and resume. I can't convey succinctly the back story on his later revealed in-interview lying but it was memorable in a bad way. There clearly is an extra level of polish on candidates from elite schools and elite employers. But sometimes it's the kind of polish that leads to corporate bankruptcies, global financial crises, and Occupy Wall Street. An ex-McKinsey executive CEO drove my grandfather's lifetime F500 employer straight into the ditch by betting wrong on nearly every big strategic decision that was made. My conclusion is that these prestige companies don't really deserve their reputations for excellence. They are mostly about smarts, greed, and strivery conformity.

This. For some reason, this forum seems weirdly unaware of on-campus recruiting, which is how most of these kids are finding jobs.

[Anonymous]

Because the reason the Ivy League has its prestige is because of who traditionally sent their offspring there once up on a time. People today want a taste of that old timey fairy tale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are correct. I think some of this, especially in the DC area, is that a lot of these parents went to these highly ranked schools back when it was a lot easier to get into them (not as many kids going to college, fewer looking at schools outside their region). And they think any success they have in life is a result of going to a particular college and/or are unaware at how much less selective their own school used to be. While also being completely unaware of the opportunities available at not-so-selective schools and somehow not noticing that lots of their peers likely went up a wide range of schools.

NYU, for example, currently #30 has a 9% acceptance rate. In the 90s it had a 65% acceptance rate. USC is 10% and was 70% in the 90s.

The T30 or bust families would faint at the idea of their kid don't to a 65%+ acceptance rate college with at the same time being proud of their own degrees and happy with their experience at schools that were that high when they went.

And NYU is looked down upon by many here because of its relatively easy ED admission standards and its LS backdoor program.

Yes, the 9% is a totally fudged number. It has some fabulous programs though.