What happens to the bottom 10% of the class at an elite?

[Anonymous]

Consulting I meant, and managerial rotation programs and think tanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They become Republican candidates for President.

So hey we still haven't seen Obama's grades. Just sayin'

Umm, his transcripts were released in full, and his bar-pass notice and admission status were publicly posted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, it's hard to get bad grades at an elite school due to grade inflation.

Second, if you have an HYPS degree, no one cares about your grades. I've literally never put my GPA on a resume. I wasn't advised to do so by our career office, and I find it very odd when people do it.

Basically, unless you include it on your resume, no one hiring you knows where you ranked in your class. And at least at my undergrad, the only signifier of rank was whether you were Phi Beta Kappa or not.

when did you go through recruiting at HYPS?

even at H, the banks and consulting firms ask for gpa during resume drops. there are def cut offs for initial screenings

NP, I also landed a wall street job/investment banking after graduation and did not disclose my GPA or class ranking. HR didn't ask for a transcript. This was the late 90s so maybe it is different now.

Same here. I wonder how many of us there are.

[Anonymous]

I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?

+1. It doesn't help when I recently read a Times piece about t15 college alums based on 2002-2006 college graduates. Not only have all these elites changed so much, but kids entering college this fall are class of 2022, they have nothing in common with young gen X'ers 20 years older.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?

Because experience matters and nearly all the people who run institutions and large organizations are 40+. We aren't necessarily limited by an overwhelming status anxiety and narrow competitiveness that causes some teens to obsess over "upper Ivies" and "lower Ivies" or think their self-worth is based on their standardized test scores or class rank. One of the great things that happens when you grow up is that you gain perspective and appreciate that talent and skill and brains are widely distributed and come in many different forms.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?

Because experience matters and nearly all the people who run institutions and large organizations are 40+. We aren't necessarily limited by an overwhelming status anxiety and narrow competitiveness that causes some teens to obsess over "upper Ivies" and "lower Ivies" or think their self-worth is based on their standardized test scores or class rank. One of the great things that happens when you grow up is that you gain perspective and appreciate that talent and skill and brains are widely distributed and come in many different forms.

Makes sense however postings about what you seek and how young graduates today navigate their journeys for your industries would be appreciated. IMO how we got to where we are has lost relevance and much of the anxiety is coming from parents who aren't as familiar with the shifts since we climbed out ladders before you.

[Anonymous]

Also you see career trajectories. “Winning” the first round of hiring post-BA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient step in establishing a successful career.

[Anonymous]

To put this another way, the only way you could know what happens to the bottom 10% of the class is if they were summarily executed at dawn the day before graduation or all killed themselves because of the shame they’ve brought on their families. Graduation is a beginning point, not an endpoint. And, in most cases, it’s the last time your college GPA will matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also you see career trajectories. “Winning” the first round of hiring post-BA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient step in establishing a successful career.

PP - Please elaborate.

[Anonymous]

"I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?
+1. It doesn't help when I recently read a Times piece about t15 college alums based on 2002-2006 college graduates. Not only have all these elites changed so much, but kids entering college this fall are class of 2022, they have nothing in common with young gen X'ers 20 years older."

What is really frightening is that you both don't understand that it takes 10 to 20 years after graduation from college to have any idea "what happens to someone" or what happens to any particular cohort. The first job people get and if they "have 3 job offers in January" has much more to do with the economy (expected economy) at that time than where they went to school. Over those 10 to 20 years, the economic cycles average out and the benefit of one type of background or another plays out. Any "study" that was based on the last two or three years would have cherry picked the data by definition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also you see career trajectories. “Winning” the first round of hiring post-BA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient step in establishing a successful career.

PP - Please elaborate.

One reason you look at earlier cohorts is you don’t get meaningful results re outcomes unless you follow a group of grads for a period of years (at which point they aren’t, by definition, recent grads). In the first round of post-BA hires, it will look like schools and GPAs matter the most because that’s about the only data there is to work with. But no one gives a damn about your college GPA if, after 2 years you aren’t producing. Also, lots of first jobs after college (e.g. consulting, TfA, paralegal) are really way stations — temporary gigs where people improve their credentials for grad school admissions, try out an industry or a city, rebuild their finances, overcome academic burnout, etc. It takes a while for people to sort out what they want to do where and for employers to sort out who they want to keep/fire/promote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They become Republican candidates for President.

So hey we still haven't seen Obama's grades. Just sayin'

Umm, his transcripts were released in full, and his bar-pass notice and admission status were publicly posted.

Where? Link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I never really understand people who come on here and post their first post-grad experiences from 20+ years ago. How is that relevant?

If they were in the bottom 10% at an elite school back then, then their answer is relevant.

[Anonymous]

Some of them become president.