Think Twice Before Sending Your Kid To An Elite School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article for parents who are fixated on their children attending elite colleges. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-rejections-stress/2021/04/22/ba475d4c-a2ce-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html

Hiring managers, "On average they gave the most importance to the nature of student internships. That was followed in descending order by what jobs applicants had in college, their college majors, volunteer experiences, extracurricular activities, relevance of coursework and grade point averages. What happened to college reputation... ? It was on average at the very bottom of the hiring executives’ priority lists."

The Q on everyone's mind is how to land great internships. The author is trying to say it's the internship that's the dominating factor - yet fails to explain what leads to great internships. The original question issue is, what is the relationship between internships and college reputation? Top companies don't recruit from community colleges. Clearly, college reputation leads to greater and better internship opportunities. The WashPo article is only begging the question.

You're completely right. Do you think Goldman Sachs is hiring from Ohio State? That was one of the dumbest WaPo articles I've ever read (and that's saying a lot!).

People who have an offer by GS will have equally lucrative offers elsewhere. I suspect school reputation has something to do with these offers in the first place.

Did it occur to you that:
-most people don't want to work for GS, McKinsey or the like
-many of those who do do it because they're somewhat aimless and are lured by the supposed glamour and riches(that was my case)
-the lifestyle is really rough and the "work" often extremely shallow
-it's a ruthless up or out culture with most people ending up out. You're generally no better off once you're out than if you'd never joined one of those firms. Sometimes you're worse off because you could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article for parents who are fixated on their children attending elite colleges. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-rejections-stress/2021/04/22/ba475d4c-a2ce-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html

Hiring managers, "On average they gave the most importance to the nature of student internships. That was followed in descending order by what jobs applicants had in college, their college majors, volunteer experiences, extracurricular activities, relevance of coursework and grade point averages. What happened to college reputation... ? It was on average at the very bottom of the hiring executives’ priority lists."

The Q on everyone's mind is how to land great internships. The author is trying to say it's the internship that's the dominating factor - yet fails to explain what leads to great internships. The original question issue is, what is the relationship between internships and college reputation? Top companies don't recruit from community colleges. Clearly, college reputation leads to greater and better internship opportunities. The WashPo article is only begging the question.

You're completely right. Do you think Goldman Sachs is hiring from Ohio State? That was one of the dumbest WaPo articles I've ever read (and that's saying a lot!).

Did it occur to you that:
-most people don't want to work for GS, McKinsey or the like
-many of those who do do it because they're somewhat aimless and are lured by the supposed glamour and riches(that was my case)
-the lifestyle is really rough and the "work" often extremely shallow
-it's a ruthless up or out culture with most people ending up out. You're generally no better off once you're out than if you'd never joined one of those firms. Sometimes you're worse off because you could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience.

People who have an offer by GS will have equally lucrative offers elsewhere. I suspect school reputation has something to do with these offers in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article for parents who are fixated on their children attending elite colleges. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-rejections-stress/2021/04/22/ba475d4c-a2ce-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html

Hiring managers, "On average they gave the most importance to the nature of student internships. That was followed in descending order by what jobs applicants had in college, their college majors, volunteer experiences, extracurricular activities, relevance of coursework and grade point averages. What happened to college reputation... ? It was on average at the very bottom of the hiring executives’ priority lists."

The Q on everyone's mind is how to land great internships. The author is trying to say it's the internship that's the dominating factor - yet fails to explain what leads to great internships. The original question issue is, what is the relationship between internships and college reputation? Top companies don't recruit from community colleges. Clearly, college reputation leads to greater and better internship opportunities. The WashPo article is only begging the question.

You're completely right. Do you think Goldman Sachs is hiring from Ohio State? That was one of the dumbest WaPo articles I've ever read (and that's saying a lot!).

Did it occur to you that:
-most people don't want to work for GS, McKinsey or the like
-many of those who do do it because they're somewhat aimless and are lured by the supposed glamour and riches(that was my case)
-the lifestyle is really rough and the "work" often extremely shallow
-it's a ruthless up or out culture with most people ending up out. You're generally no better off once you're out than if you'd never joined one of those firms. Sometimes you're worse off because you could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience.

People who have an offer by GS will have equally lucrative offers elsewhere. I suspect school reputation has something to do with these offers in the first place.

NP here. You have no clue what you're talking about if you're saying that someone is worse off from a GS/McKinsey stint because they "could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience."

Sorry your kid couldn't get into an Ivy. There, there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article for parents who are fixated on their children attending elite colleges. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/college-rejections-stress/2021/04/22/ba475d4c-a2ce-11eb-a774-7b47ceb36ee8_story.html

Hiring managers, "On average they gave the most importance to the nature of student internships. That was followed in descending order by what jobs applicants had in college, their college majors, volunteer experiences, extracurricular activities, relevance of coursework and grade point averages. What happened to college reputation... ? It was on average at the very bottom of the hiring executives’ priority lists."

The Q on everyone's mind is how to land great internships. The author is trying to say it's the internship that's the dominating factor - yet fails to explain what leads to great internships. The original question issue is, what is the relationship between internships and college reputation? Top companies don't recruit from community colleges. Clearly, college reputation leads to greater and better internship opportunities. The WashPo article is only begging the question.

You're completely right. Do you think Goldman Sachs is hiring from Ohio State? That was one of the dumbest WaPo articles I've ever read (and that's saying a lot!).

Did it occur to you that:
-most people don't want to work for GS, McKinsey or the like
-many of those who do do it because they're somewhat aimless and are lured by the supposed glamour and riches(that was my case)
-the lifestyle is really rough and the "work" often extremely shallow
-it's a ruthless up or out culture with most people ending up out. You're generally no better off once you're out than if you'd never joined one of those firms. Sometimes you're worse off because you could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience.

People who have an offer by GS will have equally lucrative offers elsewhere. I suspect school reputation has something to do with these offers in the first place.

NP here. You have no clue what you're talking about if you're saying that someone is worse off from a GS/McKinsey stint because they "could have been doing real work in a real company getting real industry experience."

Sorry your kid couldn't get into an Ivy. There, there.

PP is unnecessarily snarky but as a BB IB alum, I agree that anyone saying you're worse off after a stint is horribly misinformed.

[Anonymous]

This is it. Same poster as “Depressed About My Kid” thread. Clearly this entire family needs therapy. LOL

[Anonymous]

I am sorry you were sold an expensive education that you assumed would lead to a job....

THe schools failed your son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry you were sold an expensive education that you assumed would lead to a job....

THe schools failed your son.

Did the school really fail her son? Or did he fail himself by not choosing STEM? He’s the only one who should be held accountable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some kids really just think that getting into an elite college is the end-all-be-all and immediately stop trying once they get there. In some ways, I feel like going to a lower-ranked school lights a fire in your belly in a "yeah, I'll show those AOs they were wrong!"

I made a post earlier on this forum about my kid at a T5 school not doing very well in his classes or getting involved in extracurriculars and research because he stopped hitting the gas pedal once he got to college. He just received his last rejection from the dozens of summer internships he applied to and it looks like he'll have to work a retail or camp counselor job this summer. He feels like he just can skate by with his prestigious undergrad and when DH and I ask him about his plans for the future or what in the world he wants to do after graduation, he just shrugs and goes "I don't know." When we tell him our financial support for him will end after graduation, he still can't come up with an answer for what he plans on doing after he leaves school. Super disappointing.

Moral of the story: If you're full pay at an Ivy but making huge financial sacrifices to pay for it like us (DH and I moved halfway across the country to a much lower COL area where we rent a crappy two-bedroom apartment while renting our house back in our old state for extra money), it's probably not worth it. And make sure your kid is organized and motivated enough to take advantage of all their school has to offer. Ours got a lot lazier after coming to his elite college and it's been a pretty big embarrassment ever since.

Maybe your kid has an undiagnosed learning or executive function disorder/difference. It is not uncommon for highly intelligent students with such a disorder or difference to go undiagnosed through high school because their intelligence helps them compensate. College puts more demands on their plate, especially executive function skills), and it becomes hardee to compensate. I’ve known several really smart kids that were diagnosed late in high school or in college. All had really high gpas in high school and were very bright so their learning disorders weren’t as obvious earlier.