My child attends an elite college. It is overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

[Anonymous]

Typo on CEO and CIO. Should be CEO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

Yes, the pattern here and elsewhere is that none of them got their C-suite jobs because of the names on their diplomas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

$2M/year at a nonprofit….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

$2M/year at a nonprofit….

Many hospital systems are technically NPOs and pay a ton...you also have groups like the Gates Foundation and others set up by super-wealthy folks that would think nothing of paying top management $2MM+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

Yes, the pattern here and elsewhere is that none of them got their C-suite jobs because of the names on their diplomas.

The moral of the story is not about how much you know but who you know (or who know you).

[Anonymous]

It would be so interesting to be in the same room as the rest of the posters here for just one night…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have things changed since the late 90s? Genuine question. Your experience sounds a lot like mine at an elite ivy undergrad in the late 90s. However — at an elite law school, I WAS handed a 150k job right out of the gate. So I guess in that respect it paid off. My Dh who went to an elite ivy had a different experience in that he did take advantage of a lot of opportunities and really made deep connections (not necessarily wealthy ones) that lasted a lifetime.

CS/eng majors from top state schools also get six figures right out of college. A lot cheaper than an expensive private.

So? If both get rich, the expensive private is a drop in the bucket. But they odds and expected value are higher in one case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have things changed since the late 90s? Genuine question. Your experience sounds a lot like mine at an elite ivy undergrad in the late 90s. However — at an elite law school, I WAS handed a 150k job right out of the gate. So I guess in that respect it paid off. My Dh who went to an elite ivy had a different experience in that he did take advantage of a lot of opportunities and really made deep connections (not necessarily wealthy ones) that lasted a lifetime.

CS/eng majors from top state schools also get six figures right out of college. A lot cheaper than an expensive private.

Look at which companies are the top hiring ones from ivies/stanford/MIT/CMU/Berkeley etc CS and which are the top from T40-100 state schools. it is a very different group of jobs open to elite grads: more management-tech jobs or top of team jobs with more upward mobility potential. The salaries fresh out are about 120k vs 90k until 2024....2024 has had a huge decrease in hiring for CS. Only the elite schools have continued to get hired at the same rates as prior years. 2023 data shows the beginning of the CS bubble bursting. When this happened in the early 2000s the top name schools weathered the storm a lot better. Plus, those schools are favored in top-cs/engineering MS/PhD hiring, serving as a backup if needed. MS at top schools in tech are often funded. All phDs worth getting are funded, and the best ones provide summer funds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am the odd one, but that wasn't really the point for me going to an elite college, nor my children. The education was the first consideration, and I am certain I could not have received a better one elsewhere after leaving my LAC for grad school and then moving a bit around before becoming a professor. Secondly, the people-they are just overall more interesting and better students than at non-elite colleges.

agree with this.
but that's not the crowd here.
they are all grinder, simply looking for ROI.
state school works best for them - and that's great for all of us!!

For the most part, the ROI is best for top in state schools, not expensive schools, including elite colleges.

ROI alone is not the main goal for many of us. The most challenging curriculum coupled with the most intelligent and creative peer group /faculty is the goal. The educational environment of an elite private U or LAC is vastly different than all but about 5 state schools, and moderately different from those 5. If it were not worth it these schools would not continue to have application increases year over year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

Yes but they are sure to win the inevitable workplace college prestige dick-measuring contests.

Really depends on the workplace. In offices dominated by state schoolers, they don't give a flying f*** a random young colleague went to an elite private. Most of them have no idea how challenging it was to get into such a school, so it means nothing to them. It might even bring you scorn and contempt.

Even in offices with people who went to top schools, they usually don’t give a flying f*** because they are grown professionals who stopped caring about the names on diplomas long ago and there is work to be done.

+1

I only know where my CEO and my boss attended. They both went to state schools.

I work at a non-profit, and both the CEO and CIO graduated from Harvard (BS from Harvard, MS from Oxford, and JD from Harvard), and the CIO graduated from University of Chicago with an MBA from University of Chicago Booth school. The Chief Legal Officer attended Bowdoin and JD from Harvard. The CFO attended Harvard with an MBA also from Harvard. All of them make over 2M/year. I guess you can see there is a pattern here.

$2M/year at a nonprofit….

Many hospital systems are technically NPOs and pay a ton...you also have groups like the Gates Foundation and others set up by super-wealthy folks that would think nothing of paying top management $2MM+.

That’s pretty disgusting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do any kids want to go to a top college for an intellectual challenge? That’s what mine is hoping for. If these schools are filled with students who just want to be in elite social circles, this is disappointing.

Mine are at different ivies and that was a main goal. Both have said for the first time they have a large group of friends who like learning and want to discuss what books they read for fun, what research they do with professors, and interesting classes. Elite social circles has never come up. I only read about that on DCUM but it does not exist irl at ivies. Competition in clubs happens with some, but that is at Gtown, WM, UVa...everywhere. Sure they complain about tough professors sometimes but they also respect the tough yet good professors. They each had only 2-3 students who "got" them in HS. Those others went off to elite/ivy or top LAC or W&M which overlaps a lot with the intellectual vibe of ivies. Ivies are highly intellectual and yet also down to earth kids. There is far more socioeconomic diversity than their DMV private which had no poor kids. Racial diversity too which is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maybe I am the odd one, but that wasn't really the point for me going to an elite college, nor my children. The education was the first consideration, and I am certain I could not have received a better one elsewhere after leaving my LAC for grad school and then moving a bit around before becoming a professor. Secondly, the people-they are just overall more interesting and better students than at non-elite colleges.

agree with this.
but that's not the crowd here.
they are all grinder, simply looking for ROI.
state school works best for them - and that's great for all of us!!

For the most part, the ROI is best for top in state schools, not expensive schools, including elite colleges.

ROI alone is not the main goal for many of us. The most challenging curriculum coupled with the most intelligent and creative peer group /faculty is the goal. The educational environment of an elite private U or LAC is vastly different than all but about 5 state schools, and moderately different from those 5. If it were not worth it these schools would not continue to have application increases year over year

It’s called brand marketing. My high stats daughter was flooded with personalized letters, brochures, you name it from the Ivies including Harvard and Yale (and many Ivy+). She chose not to apply. Is very happy at a top public with interesting and challenging courses, engaging and accessible professors, and intelligent and fun peers. The resources and opportunities at her in-state public are endless. Many state publics know how to do it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do any kids want to go to a top college for an intellectual challenge? That’s what mine is hoping for. If these schools are filled with students who just want to be in elite social circles, this is disappointing.

Mine are at different ivies and that was a main goal. Both have said for the first time they have a large group of friends who like learning and want to discuss what books they read for fun, what research they do with professors, and interesting classes. Elite social circles has never come up. I only read about that on DCUM but it does not exist irl at ivies. Competition in clubs happens with some, but that is at Gtown, WM, UVa...everywhere. Sure they complain about tough professors sometimes but they also respect the tough yet good professors. They each had only 2-3 students who "got" them in HS. Those others went off to elite/ivy or top LAC or W&M which overlaps a lot with the intellectual vibe of ivies. Ivies are highly intellectual and yet also down to earth kids. There is far more socioeconomic diversity than their DMV private which had no poor kids. Racial diversity too which is great.

I so want this for my kids who love to discuss current events, books, anything and everything. They found that the move from private MS/HS to public HS has helped them find more of their kind, which surprised me. We feel so fortunate to have found a high performing public school system with diversity and grounded families. I'm crossing my fingers that the admissions process still works and that kids who love learning are getting into the top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The handful of recent Ivy League, Vanderbilt and Notre Dame grads we know have normal jobs any young person can get with a state school degree.

But. As a DC resident that Ivy League degree was a third of the cost as an OOS state school.

How? Financial aid? Genuine question.