Pervasive Myths - set the record straight

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's A2C? Are you talking about applyingtocollege on reddit?

And discord

https://applyingto.college/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dumbest myth perpetuated on this board (by loser parents of kids who didn't get in) is that the University of Richmond is not an elite school.

Who's going to tell him/her...

Sorry your kid didn't get in.

[Anonymous]

myth - ranking and prestige don’t matter

truth - they matter in every aspect of
life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:myth - ranking and prestige don’t matter

truth - they matter in every aspect of
life!

No, this is not a truth.

[Anonymous]

Myth - sorry your kid didn’t get in
Fact - not sorry at all, didn’t apply (or rush)

[Anonymous]

I was at a career day and a kid asked me how much rank of school matters.

I told him what I believe, that it matters a little bit, especially earlier in your career and all other things being equal, but it doesn’t matter as as much as people think it does and especially later in your career no one even knows that I went to a top school.

Also, if a bright kid who is at a high ranked school can’t look me in the eye or socialize with me normally or express why they want this job over others, and I don’t wanna spend the summer with them, they’re not getting the internship.

[Anonymous]

Do people really believe kids are elites can’t look people in eyes and are socially inept? You see the hoops to getting accepted. The reality is nearly all are the full package.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That kids who attend any school less than a T20 are bound to be jobless.

My kid attends an OOS flagship that is probably T40-60 and is currently doing a paid internship abroad doing research alongside PhDs and postdocs at a lab.

+1 I wonder who these people are who believe this. Do they really think all the professionals they interact with, all their UMC neighbors, coworkers, etc. went to the same small set of schools?

My kid at a non-flagship public U had a great internship last summer that resulted in a good-paying data scientist job for after graduation. My kid at a mid-range LAC has had summer jobs in her field each year and is also building her resume through experience she's getting on campus.

I'm not surprised since DH and I have done well in our careers with our low/mid ranked public university degrees.

Totally agree w this. My kid is at an OOS public not in the top 100, but he is doing well both socially and academically. He works hard and will definitely be fine and gainfully employed but more importantly, happy.

I however remember spending my first few semesters at a top/coveted school on this bored wholly miserable, and actually the first few years of my jobs out of school, because I didn’t know what I wanted out of life.

Rank is not everything, and it’s a crutch for some people on this board. It’s an overly simplistic hierarchy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:myth - ranking and prestige don’t matter

truth - they matter in every aspect of
life!

Al Roker, Bob Moritz, Linda Cohn and I are rocking 7 figures plus out of good old SUNY Oswego.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:myth - ranking and prestige don’t matter

truth - they matter in every aspect of
life!

Al Roker, Bob Moritz, Linda Cohn and I are rocking 7 figures plus out of good old SUNY Oswego.

Who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That kids who attend any school less than a T20 are bound to be jobless.

My kid attends an OOS flagship that is probably T40-60 and is currently doing a paid internship abroad doing research alongside PhDs and postdocs at a lab.

+1 I wonder who these people are who believe this. Do they really think all the professionals they interact with, all their UMC neighbors, coworkers, etc. went to the same small set of schools?

My kid at a non-flagship public U had a great internship last summer that resulted in a good-paying data scientist job for after graduation. My kid at a mid-range LAC has had summer jobs in her field each year and is also building her resume through experience she's getting on campus.

I'm not surprised since DH and I have done well in our careers with our low/mid ranked public university degrees.

Totally agree w this. My kid is at an OOS public not in the top 100, but he is doing well both socially and academically. He works hard and will definitely be fine and gainfully employed but more importantly, happy.

I however remember spending my first few semesters at a top/coveted school on this bored wholly miserable, and actually the first few years of my jobs out of school, because I didn’t know what I wanted out of life.

Rank is not everything, and it’s a crutch for some people on this board. It’s an overly simplistic hierarchy.

+1 your performance, what you do with the opportunities available matters more than ranking. I went to a solid but not elite public school. That led to a good job at a marketing research firm where I really liked the work. At the time, we were one of McKinsey's preferred vendors for research and I ended up the main project manager for the McKinsey work. I worked regularly with one lead person there who wanted to recruit me to her team, didn't care where I went to college. Ultimately, I decided not to pursue it because I'd worked with enough of the associates to see that I thought it looked miserable. I pursued a different opportunity with a client whose work appealed to me more. I care about finding what makes me happy not what will look impressive to others and encouraged my kids to do the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at a career day and a kid asked me how much rank of school matters.

I told him what I believe, that it matters a little bit, especially earlier in your career and all other things being equal, but it doesn’t matter as as much as people think it does and especially later in your career no one even knows that I went to a top school.

Also, if a bright kid who is at a high ranked school can’t look me in the eye or socialize with me normally or express why they want this job over others, and I don’t wanna spend the summer with them, they’re not getting the internship.

It totally depend on the person’s major/field. STEM it matters the least. Humanities/polysci/history/psych/english, etc., it matters a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:that northeastern gamed the system for rankings

But that’s not a myth. It’s actually true. Took about 2 decades but they did it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at a career day and a kid asked me how much rank of school matters.

I told him what I believe, that it matters a little bit, especially earlier in your career and all other things being equal, but it doesn’t matter as as much as people think it does and especially later in your career no one even knows that I went to a top school.

Also, if a bright kid who is at a high ranked school can’t look me in the eye or socialize with me normally or express why they want this job over others, and I don’t wanna spend the summer with them, they’re not getting the internship.

It totally depend on the person’s major/field. STEM it matters the least. Humanities/polysci/history/psych/english, etc., it matters a lot.

Reputation matters, more or less depending on field, but I think the myth is that there is a firm, ordinal ranking like USNWR perpetuates (e.g. Princeton > Stanford because USNWR has them 1 and 4 respectively). I don't think it is that defined and rigid in the minds of recruiters and those in positions of influence.

In my field, high tech, school literally never comes up at this point in my career.

[Anonymous]

It is either:

- a well rounded, normal, happy kid in typical activities

Or

- a curated cv of an unhappy kid which was implemented by mom and dad over many years