St. Albans School - how big a deal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did the hiring partner gig at a national law firm for several years. For the first cut of interviews, I always looked for top quality academic accomplishments (not necessarily the best school, but always a high level of achievement) and, almost as important, a meaningful tie to the area. If the tie to the area included a connection to a well-respected institution, then all the better. The goal was to find talent and a reason to commit to the community for a long term. Hiring a young lawyer who is only going to be around for 2-3 years is a bad investment. Having an STA pedigree does mean something in this town. Could it be polarizing to some? Absolutely. Still, if I was a younger (under 30) STA/NCS/Sidwell grad, then I would list the school on my resume when applying for work in the DMV. The badge may not help in some places, but I expect it will open more doors than it will close. For those that are prone to judge/reject applicants based upon inclusion of that information, I suspect you are harboring some insecurities that are negatively impacting your job function. Many of the kids that are turned out by STA/NCS/Sidwell are very accomplished and comfortable as high achievers in the DC scene. Why would you exclude them from the hiring process based upon a presumption that inclusion of their high school information makes them a hiring risk? Makes no sense to me.

Do you check if the kid indeed graduated from these HS? If yes, how? Calling the schools?

Just want to know.....

Because unless you check, not sure the info is worth a dime.

Different poster. At least when I was at a DC firm and somebody came in who had gone to one of the well-known private school, there was almost always at least one partner who had kid(s) at the school at the same time as the applicant. And so many people had kids at those schools it would have been easy to check.

Interestingly, from what I've seen the "current crop" of partners in their 30s, 40s, and early 50s mostly do NOT live in the District because of the high housing costs when they were associates. So lots of their kids go or went to MoCo or FFX County public schools. So, I'm not sure that down the road having the private school on the resume will give the same boost in the DC BigLaw hiring process. But it was a real boost in the 90s and first decade of the 2000s from my observation.

[Anonymous]

I hope people stuck on this need to advertise a prep school pedigree as adults stay in DC where that is a safer old boy play. You'd look like clowns putting it in on for NYC financial, Silicon Valley, Chicago, etc. positions.

But it seems to help for local law firm associate positions and for selling commercial real estate in the DMV, and that is what it is.

[Anonymous]

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I hope people stuck on this need to advertise a prep school pedigree as adults stay in DC where that is a safer old boy play. You'd look like clowns putting it in on for NYC financial, Silicon Valley, Chicago, etc. positions.

But it seems to help for local law firm associate positions and for selling commercial real estate in the DMV, and that is what it is.

IDK I bet if you do an analysis of grad outcomes, there will be STA grads in those fields.

[Anonymous]

If you put a DC prep school on a resume for a job in NYC or on the West Coast, you'd look like a rank bottom fool. If you have a college degree or graduate degrees, those are the data points. There are also a lot of billionaire college dropouts in the technology sector who have hired a lot of plain IQ people who also don't carry a lot of academic prestige value. The real world is a lot more egalitarian outside of middle or high middle income law firm and commercial real estate local jobs. I see the point made that the old boy network from places like STA can travel in town here. Outside of DC it isn't a real smart brag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you put a DC prep school on a resume for a job in NYC or on the West Coast, you'd look like a rank bottom fool. If you have a college degree or graduate degrees, those are the data points. There are also a lot of billionaire college dropouts in the technology sector who have hired a lot of plain IQ people who also don't carry a lot of academic prestige value. The real world is a lot more egalitarian outside of middle or high middle income law firm and commercial real estate local jobs. I see the point made that the old boy network from places like STA can travel in town here. Outside of DC it isn't a real smart brag.

From where I sit, this sounds like a rationalization as to why you are not putting your offspring into Sidwell, NCS or STA. Sorry, but that is how it reads.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

Amherst grads can't compete with the H-Y-P grads or the top tier state school honors grads. Harsh but it's the world we live in. You're wasting your money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

Amherst grads can't compete with the H-Y-P grads or the top tier state school honors grads. Harsh but it's the world we live in. You're wasting your money.

You are wrong. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

Amherst grads can't compete with the H-Y-P grads or the top tier state school honors grads. Harsh but it's the world we live in. You're wasting your money.

You are wrong. Period.

Agreed. I mean, maybe if the only thing you want for your child is that they become an investment banker? But the richest hedge fund guy I know in real life went to a mid-tier LAC. I legitimately have never come across a job populated solely or even predominantly by HYP grads, and I work with high-level political appointees, talking heads, think tank folks, Hill staff, etc. every day. I think your graduate degree is MUCH more important than a HYP undergraduate degree, and my extremely selective graduate program had students from all sorts of undergraduate institutions.

[Anonymous]

Hmm. Here is a different lens. We're finishing up a two year stint here and are returning to Silicon Valley. Our son would have applied to some local prep schools, but we were pretty on the fence about it considering we liked the publics in our NoVa town. At Google we look for the best and the brightest. Sometimes those people come from a background including top schools and sometimes not. Our interview process is brutal and we will figure out how bright on your feet a person is, which is really all that matters.

I would say that we really struggle to hire people here, and most of my colleagues at other companies who have started tech outposts in Tysons have failed here. There are some very bright people here, so this isn't a snarky point, but we have never had luck with younger professionals here looking to escape a law firm or other initial career path and a lot of them seem stuck on a resume (where they went to school, etc.). It is also a shock we can't get people to come over for low six figure salary with performance stock upside. I don't know why that is but we have never had luck pulling people comfortable and set making north of two hundred thousand in this area.

Very successful people take risks. This STA or Sidwell then onto Northeastern exclusive colleges is a good foundation, but it isn't one to rest on or get use out of once you have some work experience. Just my opinion. BTW it doesn't look like anyone on this board mentioned the one place that does lead to a fast start in a profession. Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

Interesting reply to the comment re rationalization. Truly though, your reply comes off as insecure -- stating where your kids are in school is trying to show that going to the Big 3 is not worth it. Pretty much the definition of rationalizing, but I am glad it has worked out well for you and yours. Amherst is an awesome college and you are justifiably proud that you have one there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you put a DC prep school on a resume for a job in NYC or on the West Coast, you'd look like a rank bottom fool. If you have a college degree or graduate degrees, those are the data points. There are also a lot of billionaire college dropouts in the technology sector who have hired a lot of plain IQ people who also don't carry a lot of academic prestige value. The real world is a lot more egalitarian outside of middle or high middle income law firm and commercial real estate local jobs. I see the point made that the old boy network from places like STA can travel in town here. Outside of DC it isn't a real smart brag.

+ 1. I lived on the West Coast, and attended one of the most well-known and highly regarded prep schools out there. I do not know a single one of my high school classmates who includes the name of our school on their resume.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm rationalizing. Our oldest graduated from a MOCO public and is at Amherst. Our middle boy is boarding at a NE prep and is happy there. Insecure much?

Interesting reply to the comment re rationalization. Truly though, your reply comes off as insecure -- stating where your kids are in school is trying to show that going to the Big 3 is not worth it. Pretty much the definition of rationalizing, but I am glad it has worked out well for you and yours. Amherst is an awesome college and you are justifiably proud that you have one there.

This is a typical response by a Big 3 booster that is totally beside the point. The question isn't whether it's worth the money to go to STA -- that's a personal choice -- but whether it's smart to list STA or another elite high school on a resume. As I've said before, for every hiring partner or HR person who has a connection to the school and/or is impressed by the name, there are many others who, whether fair or not, are less so. Since no one is going to get hired based on where they went to high school, and because some folks are prejudiced against prep school kids, why take the risk?

Remember, most successful people who do the hiring did not go to prep school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to a top NE boarding school and posted yesterday that first I saw or heard of a prep school on a resume of anyone over the age of say 26-28 was when I arrived here at age 40. I'm pretty stumped by the self elitism coming from St Albans and now Sidwell parents. I never mention Andover or would any Andover alum ever do that or state it unless asked. It cheapens the way a lady or a gentleman presents and projects insecurity and a lack of confidence. On this board it leads to defensiveness, which along with dishonesty is the worst thing in business.

I didn't come from money and went to Andover on what my parents worked hard to partially pay and then the charity of the school's scholarship programs. I never experienced any anxiety about money or anything else at Andover because my dorm mates and peers never made a moment of their wealth, status or lack of it. That gave me a lot of confidence early in life for which I am still grateful. The best line I ever heard came from my roommate's father. They were a family with a tremendous amount of wealth and were public figures, and he told us over dinner once "a gentleman never projects, it is more powerful to impress than to sell an impression"

You now see the difference between Mid-Atlantic/Southern money (showy and braggarts) vs. New England money (stoic and unassuming)