My child attends an elite college. It is overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

Look at this hot take. Did you even go to college? 😂🤣😂

Honey, even an idiot that uses emojis like you very likely went to college, how could I have not?

Is this what passes for "snark" on this board now? It's just pitiful.

Good, at least you skipped the emojis this time.

What a burn

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

+1

Who are most people? Just cause you say it doesn’t make it so.

Selective firms in industry, graduate, medical and law schools.

A history major at Harvard, Princeton or Yale can waltz into a McKinsey consulting or Goldman Sachs investment banking job with little experience. Stanford, MIT graduates have a huge advantage in raising funds for start up ventures in Silicon Valley.

The name carries enough prestige and aura to give a significant advantage in hiring or business ventures.

The same simply does not hold true for Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc. In fact, many top investment firms that recruit at Berkeley, Michigan, UT-Austin don't bother recruiting at Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc.

Medical and law schools are generally less undergrad-prestige-obsessed, but admissions officers are people. Graduate schools care about the department quality within a given range.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

+1

Who are most people? Just cause you say it doesn’t make it so.

Seriously. Some really deranged folks on here who find gratification spewing nonsense on Internet forums at some ill-conceived hope of hoarding an imaginary measure of prestige in an imaginary zero-sum game. I genuinely pity these people's children.

In SoCal, USC’s rivalry is is with UCLA.

what does that have to do with absolutely anything

It supports one of PPs' theory schools like Cornell, Vanderbilt, USC, Northwestern, Duke rival Public Ivies such as UCLA, UC Berkely, UMich, UVA, UTexas Austin...

Some of these schools are not at all like the others. And that's perfectly fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

+1

Who are most people? Just cause you say it doesn’t make it so.

Selective firms in industry, graduate, medical and law schools.

A history major at Harvard, Princeton or Yale can waltz into a McKinsey consulting or Goldman Sachs investment banking job with little experience. Stanford, MIT graduates have a huge advantage in raising funds for start up ventures in Silicon Valley.

The name carries enough prestige and aura to give a significant advantage in hiring or business ventures.

The same simply does not hold true for Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc. In fact, many top investment firms that recruit at Berkeley, Michigan, UT-Austin don't bother recruiting at Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc.

Medical and law schools are generally less undergrad-prestige-obsessed, but admissions officers are people. Graduate schools care about the department quality within a given range.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Either put up an argument or shut up. Show me that the top industry firms recruiting at Vanderbilt are the same ones recruiting at Harvard rather than Michigan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

+1

Who are most people? Just cause you say it doesn’t make it so.

Selective firms in industry, graduate, medical and law schools.

A history major at Harvard, Princeton or Yale can waltz into a McKinsey consulting or Goldman Sachs investment banking job with little experience. Stanford, MIT graduates have a huge advantage in raising funds for start up ventures in Silicon Valley.

The name carries enough prestige and aura to give a significant advantage in hiring or business ventures.

The same simply does not hold true for Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc. In fact, many top investment firms that recruit at Berkeley, Michigan, UT-Austin don't bother recruiting at Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc.

Medical and law schools are generally less undergrad-prestige-obsessed, but admissions officers are people. Graduate schools care about the department quality within a given range.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Either put up an argument or shut up. Show me that the top industry firms recruiting at Vanderbilt are the same ones recruiting at Harvard rather than Michigan

What’s your background? Who are you? What makes you an expert on this?

Duke and Northwestern are functionally a tier above schools like Vanderbilt, Wustl et al. If you had even a remote understanding of how recruiting works at MBB you wouldn’t be making such bold claims. You’re almost there, but you land short, and ultimately are just confidently wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe it's too early to tell or maybe she just didn't capitalize on all the opportunities (I suspect very few do) but it most certainly has not changed her life. The thing I do notice is overall a higher percentage of deeply committed pre-med students than my son's peers at the state flagship. Other than that there's this laughable idea that an elite college is a golden ticket to a $150,000 job offer and a rich spouse and that's just not accurate. The plum six-figure job offers are scarce and go to the connected and elbowy overachievers with perfect grades. And generally the rich socialize with the rich. If you want your child in that orbit they need to be in that orbit by 9th grade at some ritzy prep or boarding school.

I have a niece at Cornell who is close with my daughter and she has had a similar experience. At Cornell the rich are in the rich kid sororities and fraternities.

A few years back we were caught up in the admissions frenzy but in retrospect it seems so nutty. I'm [now] far more impressed with a parent who tells me their kid is at a less selective school but just got into medical school than some Ivy League parent who tells me their ubiquitous kid is going into "consulting" for $60,000 a year or some second rate grad program.

The bolded is a hard pill to swallow for many when they come to this realization.

[Anonymous]

There is no golden ticket to a good life at the end of the day. I think most kids attending Ivys understand that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Duke ARE elite, and people recognize them as such. They may not be great economic deals for UMC families who pay full freight and have UVA, Michigan, or Berkeley as an in-state option, but for those who receive substantial grant-based financial aid or have enough money that full-freight doesn’t matter, these are awesome schools with a high-quality lifestyle experience. Yes, they are not HPYSM, but no one thinks these students are dumb rich kids or the equivalent of a Roll Tide graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no golden ticket to a good life at the end of the day. I think most kids attending Ivys understand that.

This. It’s an opportunity like so many other things in life. If it’s a really good school, it opens up more opportunities for success and that is the point of going. No, it’s not an automatic guarantee. What is. You still have to work hard, have some luck or benefit, and seek out additional opportunities. My husband went to Stanford and some of his classmates are very successful because they took advantage of the many and varied options for finding a fulfilling career. Not necessarily the most lucrative one although others did that. The most successful are the ones that dropped out and went to tech companies before they went public lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

+1

Who are most people? Just cause you say it doesn’t make it so.

Selective firms in industry, graduate, medical and law schools.

A history major at Harvard, Princeton or Yale can waltz into a McKinsey consulting or Goldman Sachs investment banking job with little experience. Stanford, MIT graduates have a huge advantage in raising funds for start up ventures in Silicon Valley.

The name carries enough prestige and aura to give a significant advantage in hiring or business ventures.

The same simply does not hold true for Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc. In fact, many top investment firms that recruit at Berkeley, Michigan, UT-Austin don't bother recruiting at Vanderbilt, Washington University, etc.

Medical and law schools are generally less undergrad-prestige-obsessed, but admissions officers are people. Graduate schools care about the department quality within a given range.

You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about.

Either put up an argument or shut up. Show me that the top industry firms recruiting at Vanderbilt are the same ones recruiting at Harvard rather than Michigan

What’s your background? Who are you? What makes you an expert on this?

Duke and Northwestern are functionally a tier above schools like Vanderbilt, Wustl et al. If you had even a remote understanding of how recruiting works at MBB you wouldn’t be making such bold claims. You’re almost there, but you land short, and ultimately are just confidently wrong.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Duke ARE elite, and people recognize them as such. They may not be great economic deals for UMC families who pay full freight and have UVA, Michigan, or Berkeley as an in-state option, but for those who receive substantial grant-based financial aid or have enough money that full-freight doesn’t matter, these are awesome schools with a high-quality lifestyle experience. Yes, they are not HPYSM, but no one thinks these students are dumb rich kids or the equivalent of a Roll Tide graduate.

+1.

[Anonymous]

OP, I agree with you that it may be too early to tell. See how it plays out in the future in terms of grad school acceptances, job interviews, job offers, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Duke ARE elite, and people recognize them as such. They may not be great economic deals for UMC families who pay full freight and have UVA, Michigan, or Berkeley as an in-state option, but for those who receive substantial grant-based financial aid or have enough money that full-freight doesn’t matter, these are awesome schools with a high-quality lifestyle experience. Yes, they are not HPYSM, but no one thinks these students are dumb rich kids or the equivalent of a Roll Tide graduate.

+1.

Cornell, USC, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke are good schools. Lori Loughlin bribed $500,000+ and risked 40 yrs behind bars to get her dumb (but rich) kids in to one of these. However, as good as they are, no one will confuse these schools for T5 ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does elite mean here?

Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and perhaps Princeton & Yale are elite.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc. etc. are not.

And yes, even Harvard/MIT/Stanford/Princeton/Yale won't give your kid a $150k job, wealthy spouse (a 1950's reason to go to a elite school, but okay), and a wealthy, highly-connected friend group off the bat. And thank god for that.

The purpose of top schools is to have top professors and top students to learn from and compete with, and improve oneself in the process. Not a $150k job, wealthy spouse and highly-connected wealthy network.

What these schools do provide beyond the education though is a pedigree that lasts through 40+ years of one's careers, and certainly can come in handy down the line - if you want to use it.

As for the rest - Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, Duke, etc., most people do not view these schools to be more "elite" than top state flagships like Berkeley, Michigan, etc. Most will consider these students to either be wealthy dumb kids (too dumb for HYPSM) or top middle-class kids, the same that attend top flagships.

Cornell, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth, Northwestern, and Duke ARE elite, and people recognize them as such. They may not be great economic deals for UMC families who pay full freight and have UVA, Michigan, or Berkeley as an in-state option, but for those who receive substantial grant-based financial aid or have enough money that full-freight doesn’t matter, these are awesome schools with a high-quality lifestyle experience. Yes, they are not HPYSM, but no one thinks these students are dumb rich kids or the equivalent of a Roll Tide graduate.

+1.

Cornell, USC, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, and Duke are good schools. Lori Loughlin bribed $500,000+ and risked 40 yrs behind bars to get her dumb (but rich) kids in to one of these. However, as good as they are, no one will confuse these schools for T5 ivies.

T5 Ivies, LOL. HYPSM, yes, none of these schools are like HYPSM, and that's OK. They're still elite.

Also, don't know why you're grouping USC (or even Vanderbilt, if we're being strict) here. I get that you're trying to bolster your argument by muddying the waters, but it just makes you look dumb. It'd be like if I said Penn, Columbia, and WashU are all excellent schools, but aren't at the level of Harvard or Yale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op are you just figuring out that rich people hang outside with other rich people? That’s why people send their kids to private school.

+1

Or go to country clubs. I know someone who sells houses through her country club membership.