Do T20s actually matter?

[Anonymous]

I think it does help as a low income student. I say this as a low income student who graduated around 8 years ago.

There were a lot of opportunities-career treks abroad to places like Helsinki and Dubai, funded study abroad, funded summer/academic internships, and robust networking opportunities. particularly during the summer. All my internship opportunities were through the school- I was able to do 4 paid internships- 2 over the summer and 2 during the school year. My focus was nonprofits/politics.

I used campus recruiting as one channel for my job search/secured a few interviews, but ultimately got an offer outside of campus recruiting If my goal (at the time) had been a business career/the aim was consulting/banking path senior year recruiting would have been even more helpful.

I think my first employer was pretty equal opportunity school wise. But in subsequent roles/opportunities, I have seen where my school has helped. I have encountered lots of job descriptions which indicate “ attended top schools.” Certainly some hiring managers/my past managers have/had a preference. That being said, at a certain point, probably around 2-4 years in the workforce, your work experience starts mattering more than your school — maybe the school adds a

Overall, I’m doing extremely well income wise and have a lot of savings. I think my parents always thought I might have a bright future, but they’re always in awe when we discuss things like income, etc.

Perhaps my path would have been the same if I went to College Park. I really don’t know. I don’t think I would have had the same internship/trek opportunities though. Not sure how senior year campus recruiting would have worked out. I do know a few College Park students/recent graduates that have fallen through the cracks with respect to recruiting/job opportunities.

My second choice (after the school I went to) was BC, which has risen a lot the past decade and was still strong my senior year of high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

This is it. My kid is with students who are smarter than her. As she figured out how to think of that as a blessing rather than a hit to her ego, she has grown to love it. She is not just going through the motions. She is being challenged and stretched.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

With holistic admissions and current preferences for athletes, first gen and pell grant eligible, this is not true, Lots if kids at T50 or even T75 who have stats for T20 but didn’t get in due to the aforementioned preferences, were hurt by average ecs, or college’s desire for geographical diversity.

Nope. Lots of qualified great kids don’t get in. But almost nobody who gets in isn’t up to par (in the truly selective schools).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Here we go again. Yo people are insane.

It’s an illnesses

x10000000

You win, OP. Your schools is the best ever, no contest. Every other student's schools sucks. You happy now?

Please don't feed into OP's mental illness!

+1. Here we go again and again and again!!!

And again. The obsession will NEVER stop. It takes over their every waking moments.

[Anonymous]

Graduating from Ivys matter if you want to turn American into Hamas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it does help as a low income student. I say this as a low income student who graduated around 8 years ago.

There were a lot of opportunities-career treks abroad to places like Helsinki and Dubai, funded study abroad, funded summer/academic internships, and robust networking opportunities. particularly during the summer. All my internship opportunities were through the school- I was able to do 4 paid internships- 2 over the summer and 2 during the school year. My focus was nonprofits/politics.

I used campus recruiting as one channel for my job search/secured a few interviews, but ultimately got an offer outside of campus recruiting If my goal (at the time) had been a business career/the aim was consulting/banking path senior year recruiting would have been even more helpful.

I think my first employer was pretty equal opportunity school wise. But in subsequent roles/opportunities, I have seen where my school has helped. I have encountered lots of job descriptions which indicate “ attended top schools.” Certainly some hiring managers/my past managers have/had a preference. That being said, at a certain point, probably around 2-4 years in the workforce, your work experience starts mattering more than your school — maybe the school adds a

Overall, I’m doing extremely well income wise and have a lot of savings. I think my parents always thought I might have a bright future, but they’re always in awe when we discuss things like income, etc.

Perhaps my path would have been the same if I went to College Park. I really don’t know. I don’t think I would have had the same internship/trek opportunities though. Not sure how senior year campus recruiting would have worked out. I do know a few College Park students/recent graduates that have fallen through the cracks with respect to recruiting/job opportunities.

My second choice (after the school I went to) was BC, which has risen a lot the past decade and was still strong my senior year of high school.

Couldn’t agree more with all of this. Going to a T10 school changed the trajectory of my life….i was a Pell grant recipient.

I have earned millions every year since I was in my mid 30s (almost 50 now). My parents cannot fathom how much my NW has increased and the things I can now do/buy for them without a second thought.

The university opened doors. And still does now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do elite schools actually matter? Besides prestige and connections, what are the pros?

They don’t matter. It’s just more toxic-achievement-culture BS!

Save yourself the headache and stress. The T20s are not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

With holistic admissions and current preferences for athletes, first gen and pell grant eligible, this is not true, Lots if kids at T50 or even T75 who have stats for T20 but didn’t get in due to the aforementioned preferences, were hurt by average ecs, or college’s desire for geographical diversity.

Nope. Lots of qualified great kids don’t get in. But almost nobody who gets in isn’t up to par (in the truly selective schools).

Sounds like you haven’t seen the recent studies about the performance of test optional students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here we go again. Yo people are insane.

Why? This isn’t a crazy thing to want to know.

But no one is going to find an answer here. You’ll get 2 camps:

the prestige obsessed mob that says anything below a T25 or T10 SLAC a travesty and you’ll never get X, Y, Z jobs or get into ABC grad/professional school if you don’t attend

And

The flagship/landgrant/engineering college crowd who seem to assume a university should be the shortest path to a paycheck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Quality of the peer group is vastly different vs. non T20 IMO.

This.
The networking. The connections. The opportunities.

I went to a T-20 in the 90s and my siblings did not. There’s a huge divergence in earnings and peer group (my college friends and their outcomes compared to theirs)….

Agree with this. I went to a top Ivy, sibling did not. We both did fine in our careers and lives, but we went on to very different paths. And the people we associate with now are very, very different.

Three decades ago is very different from now. More poor kids can attend top schools. More international students, many of whom will never work in the U.S.n More high stats kids are attending publics due to doughnut hole.

top schools are even more barbell these days…. While OOS flagships are more donut hole - solidly MC families….

Let’s see what happens in 10 years where those kids end up.

I suspect the poor /1G T20 and rich Ivy kids will still be getting most of the $$$$$ gigs after graduation.

While the public flagship kids go to med school, law school or work in back office banking or tech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you’ll never get X, Y, Z jobs or get into ABC grad/professional school if you don’t attend

Replace never with "be less likely to" and your characterization might be less disingenuous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If T20 schools are so great, why can’t their leaders figure out how to clear a field full of fat ugly female antisemites?

Employers, thankfully, are starting to notice things like this. They are also expanding their recruiting horizons and doing their own preemployment testing.

A 3.8 from Harvard or Stanford means you won the admissions lottery and paid the bills for 4 years.

[Anonymous]

Your view on this is dictated purely by your own experience

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do elite schools actually matter? Besides prestige and connections, what are the pros?

I have heard from parents of MIT kids of them getting summer research internship and earning 50K over 3 months which pretty much covers the difference between in-state and out of state tuition (MIT does not give any merit based scholarship since it is pretty much the whole school; only need based scholarship). After graduation I have seen them earning twice more than my salary after 20 years of exp in IT. Lot of T20 school kids end up starting their own startups as well with their classmates. There is a reason why students and parents (like us) crave for top schools.

How do you know it’s the institution and not the kid?

They don't. 99% of the time, it's the kid. Those internships are in Boston, so yes most tech internships in a VHCOL area are paying well. Key is the jobs paying them so well are 9/10 also hiring kids from State U and paying them the same thing. There is also a good chance some are making their own connections just from their family/friends (rich kids) and would have similar jobs no matter where they did undergrad. So many factors you haven't accounted for

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Your view on this is dictated purely by your own experience

Not necessarily, I went to a T10 and my husband went to Harvard. We both have had very successful careers and very few of our work colleagues have similar educational backgrounds, plenty went to lesser ranked school. Also, we both plenty of classmates with pedestrian careers. Absolutely think posters on this board way overvalue T20.