Why top tier* is important:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A lifetime of not having to prove how smart you are (especially important for women).

2. Many organizations only hire top tier* (especially in high-level finance, consulting and top law firms)

3. You never have to apologize for where you went, ex. "Why would you go to GWU and pay private tuition when a great state university would be cheaper?

4. Marriage market.

5. If you have to ask...

*top 15 US News

I graduated from GMU and AU. I have never had to prove how smart I am beyond an initial conversation, nor have I ever had to apologize for my choices. I'm doing just fine in my career. And, I am happily married to another non-Top Tier grad.

Really? Must be nice. I went to George Washington and American and in my circles I am always having to prove how smart I am. I went for an interview for my kids to a top local private and they asked where I went to college and I said GW and the admissions director said "Oh".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A lifetime of not having to prove how smart you are (especially important for women).

2. Many organizations only hire top tier* (especially in high-level finance, consulting and top law firms)

3. You never have to apologize for where you went, ex. "Why would you go to GWU and pay private tuition when a great state university would be cheaper?

4. Marriage market.

5. If you have to ask...

*top 15 US News

I graduated from GMU and AU. I have never had to prove how smart I am beyond an initial conversation, nor have I ever had to apologize for my choices. I'm doing just fine in my career. And, I am happily married to another non-Top Tier grad.

Really? Must be nice. I went to George Washington and American and in my circles I am always having to prove how smart I am. I went for an interview for my kids to a top local private and they asked where I went to college and I said GW and the admissions director said "Oh".

I think that reflects more on the admissions director and your insecurity than the quality of GW.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

What's your alma mater?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. I went to Binghamton. I'm happily married to someone who went to a state school in their state. I've NEVER apologized for where I went to school and never would. I've never had a hard time getting a job. I've never felt I have to PROVE how smart I am.

This seems like a load of crap.

All due respect, you have no idea what an elite college is like. As Rumsfeld would put it, the elite college experience is a known unknown to you.

All due respect, you have no idea what an state school is like. The state school experience (aka not being coddled) is an known unknown to you. (you actually have to earn an A)

In high school I dual enrolled at a top 50 flagship U and the kids were largely idiots. Half the time they were asleep and the prof carried the conversation. Most didn't read the material and tried to bullshit. There were kids that did read the material but were so dumb their comprehension was middle school. I have no idea how so many of those kids were actually in college. I cringed at least 5 times every lecture because they were all so stupid. I took five courses total at this U.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

They're only 'a-holes' because they intimidated you. I let younger cousins visit me at college and they all talked like you; this place is full of a-holes, everyone is so aggressive, etc. Much cozier to settle in a slower paced U full of slackers where you feel smarter and less beta, huh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

They're only 'a-holes' because they intimidated you. I let younger cousins visit me at college and they all talked like you; this place is full of a-holes, everyone is so aggressive, etc. Much cozier to settle in a slower paced U full of slackers where you feel smarter and less beta, huh.

Perhaps the place actually was filled with a-holes. Certainly your education would've led you to believe that's a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

They're only 'a-holes' because they intimidated you. I let younger cousins visit me at college and they all talked like you; this place is full of a-holes, everyone is so aggressive, etc. Much cozier to settle in a slower paced U full of slackers where you feel smarter and less beta, huh.

NOt PP... but no. They are a-holes. My family owns a catering company. I will stand in when a bartender get the stomach flu or something...

All the clients are top law firms and financial services. They are a-holes, they drink too much they treat the staff like minions (even though one staff member is an MD, who moved from another country and can't practice here because the license did not transfer.)

You could not even understand how fing rude your peers are, they may put a nice face on toward you but they are stabbing you in the back.

You can say we took a "slower pace" because we can't handle the fast pace (since catering is such a slow pace) ... that is deflecting and showing your low EQ and inability to self examine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

They're only 'a-holes' because they intimidated you. I let younger cousins visit me at college and they all talked like you; this place is full of a-holes, everyone is so aggressive, etc. Much cozier to settle in a slower paced U full of slackers where you feel smarter and less beta, huh.

I went to a graduate STEM program at a top 15 university and some 18 year old kid who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground intimidates me? That's not a likely scenario. They just weren't used to being held to standards.

[Anonymous]

Although you still have to prove yourself (as you should), I do think certain schools can help you get your foot in the door and be given a chance to prove yourself, either by getting in for an interview and/or getting an offer.

I went to an elite undergrad and law school (after a decent but certainly not elite public HS to the extent anyone cares). Twice in my career I found myself caught up in organizational changes out of my control and had to scramble to find something new. I was able to relatively quickly find good options, even when the overall market was poor. One time I directly leaned on a classmate to help me get an interview and another I imagine my background helped in the other where I didn't have a connection. Once in the door for the interview and job, I have to prove myself like anyone else, but I do believe this helped me get that chance.

Otherwise, I could have easily been one of the legions of lawyers really struggling to find decent work over the last number of years.

This doesn't mean you should necessarily go into debt for elite and people I work with have all sorts of backgrounds, so elite schools is certainly not a must. But, I don't think it is accurate to say it doesn't help.

[Anonymous]

My sister went to GWU, is a Senior Vice President in a top tier company. 2 Harvard, 1 Duke and 1 Yale graduate report to her, success is a combination of things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top 40 undergrad and a top 15 grad. I taught undergrads in grad school, and I'll tell you this, the proportion of them who were a-holes was striking. Such entitled little nits. So, they've got that going for them.

Awww pushy-aggressive-gunner kids intimidated you. You prefer the slower paced slackers who coast and don't make you feel beta. #SafeSpace

Amusing that you have details of my experience that are unknown to me. Pushy aggressive gunner kids are a-holes. Not sure why that's a great thing.

They're only 'a-holes' because they intimidated you. I let younger cousins visit me at college and they all talked like you; this place is full of a-holes, everyone is so aggressive, etc. Much cozier to settle in a slower paced U full of slackers where you feel smarter and less beta, huh.

I went to a graduate STEM program at a top 15 university and some 18 year old kid who doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground intimidates me? That's not a likely scenario. They just weren't used to being held to standards.

Maybe because their mothers told them that getting into a top tier university means no longer having to prove how smart you are. So just give them the A already, damn it. You know they're "A" students. And if you don't, it's probably because *you* didn't go to a top tier school so you don't understand how it works....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh. I went to Binghamton. I'm happily married to someone who went to a state school in their state. I've NEVER apologized for where I went to school and never would. I've never had a hard time getting a job. I've never felt I have to PROVE how smart I am.

This seems like a load of crap.

All due respect, you have no idea what an elite college is like. As Rumsfeld would put it, the elite college experience is a known unknown to you.

All due respect, you have no idea what an state school is like. The state school experience (aka not being coddled) is an known unknown to you. (you actually have to earn an A)

In high school I dual enrolled at a top 50 flagship U and the kids were largely idiots. Half the time they were asleep and the prof carried the conversation. Most didn't read the material and tried to bullshit. There were kids that did read the material but were so dumb their comprehension was middle school. I have no idea how so many of those kids were actually in college. I cringed at least 5 times every lecture because they were all so stupid. I took five courses total at this U.

At a very well known Ivy, I knew someone who was getting a D in class, and the university let this person drop out a few weeks before the end of the session. They let this person take the class over 2x to get a passing grade. They do this so that the average GPA of the school doesn't get affected.

In a state Univ. (and probably some other privates) if you are getting a D in class, they won't let you drop out a couple of weeks before the semester (or quarter) ends. You just get stuck with a D, and they don't let you retake the class to get a better grade.

After I heard about this incident from my "friend", I lost some respect for that Ivy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Although you still have to prove yourself (as you should), I do think certain schools can help you get your foot in the door and be given a chance to prove yourself, either by getting in for an interview and/or getting an offer.

I went to an elite undergrad and law school (after a decent but certainly not elite public HS to the extent anyone cares). Twice in my career I found myself caught up in organizational changes out of my control and had to scramble to find something new. I was able to relatively quickly find good options, even when the overall market was poor. One time I directly leaned on a classmate to help me get an interview and another I imagine my background helped in the other where I didn't have a connection. Once in the door for the interview and job, I have to prove myself like anyone else, but I do believe this helped me get that chance.

Otherwise, I could have easily been one of the legions of lawyers really struggling to find decent work over the last number of years.

This doesn't mean you should necessarily go into debt for elite and people I work with have all sorts of backgrounds, so elite schools is certainly not a must. But, I don't think it is accurate to say it doesn't help.

Exactly