What exactly is a “grind school” (undergraduate)?

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11/24/2025 16:43

Subject: What exactly is a “grind school” (undergraduate)?

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Anonymous wrote:To me it means a school where there is no work life balance. Kids are overworked and living with a lot of anxiety; they are not learning for the sake of knowledge, discovery and innovation, but to get good grades and stay afloat.

I always wonder if these kids graduate to become leaders and bosses, or if they simply transition to become work horses in the work place.

Basically the college version of TJ, Stuyvesant, etc.

TJ and Stuy produced way more successful “leaders and bosses” than any TT private schools.

Not sure if this is true proportionately. Sure TJ Stuy could have more in absolutely number bc the class size is literally 10x that of a private HS.

Also am noticing the kids who went from Stuy to LACs and HYP are more likely to become leaders. The Stuy kids who went to CMU or even MIT work for those leaders

Exactly. If you want your kid to be a CEO/Bulge Bracket MD/PE Partner/Big Law Partner (which is the definition of "making it" for many of us), they are much more likely to get there from a good private than TJ or Stuy. I'm guessing half the kids and families at TJ and Stuy have no idea what these things even are. But as you noted, given the huge size of these schools, there definitely will be plenty of kids who do accomplish this. But most of them are the kids of white collar professionals.

None of this is true other than likely the kids family doesn’t know about it. When they get to college, there’s no difference, because many students are trying to get into these top firms. The information eventually reaches these students and they’re much better grinders than private school kids.

More often than not, TJ/Stuy kids end up in the front office, private kids in the back office but their parents can still claim they are on their way to "PE Partner".

Law is essentially a grind contest, LSAT, GPA, billable hours, clients you bring in. Not for the faint of heart.

Actually the opposite is school. Front office rewards soft skills which TJ/Stuy kids tend to lack (again, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule on both sides before you get your panties in a bunch). Except I wouldn't say that TJ/Stuy end up in back office. They just don't end up in the elite front office. Not sure what you do but most of the people I know in these types of elite roles come from money so know how to act the part.

I'm guessing you are a TJ/Stuy parent who has never worked in the elite world or interacted with these people and seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder about it. Rather than broadcasting your ignorance, just stay quiet and learn. You are really proving my point.

DP

I don't know what this front office/back office bullshit is but I am biglaw and there are plenty of public school kids in the partnership. I'd say the ratio of public school kids in the partnership approximates the ratio of public school kids in ivy. I went to Stuy then ivy/ivy college/law school and there more kids from stuy at top schools than almost every other school. My kid went to TJ and I think he would laugh at your characterization of where the TJ students end up. There is a reason why there is a Jane Street lounge at TJ, the TJ, MIT Jane Street pipeline is a real thing. Same for MBB, bulge bracket, and pretty much everything in tech and finance. Everywhere you go, you will find Stuy and TJ grads.

The average pre-2020 TJ grad will probably has career results that are every bit as good as sidwell.

Why are people so obsessed with Jane Street? I don't get it. I know one kid who ended up there - went to an mid-tier NYC private then an Ivy. But is that really the be all, end all?

The PP was not saying that no alums from TJ/Stuy go on to these types of roles. Just that there are many who don't. And many kids from TT privates also don't.

You are a talented lawyer. Take what someone else is saying then change it slightly to achieve your goals. Bravo. W&C? Skadden? C&B? Your partners would be proud. Who did you bill for the time spent on this? The billable amount probably could have covered a TJ kid's first flight to MIT.