How much do you think college truly influences the trajectory of someone's life?

[Anonymous]

Answer honestly.

I'm thinking of some of the most fulfilled people I know. One is a restaurateur who didn't go to college. One is a lawyer who went to two state schools and is doing what he loves. Another is an author who went to an "average" school and is wildly successful.

I know this is a stressful time, but the long view helps. What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I think there are some top tier jobs that are much more accessible from top schools. Your double state school lawyer friend is far less likely to ever be a Supreme Court Justice, White House counsel or Solicitor General than a dual Harvard / Yale / Stanford graduate. It doesn't mean it's impossible from other schools, just more difficult.

[Anonymous]

College had a massive influence on the trajectory of my life, but I'm not typical of the college bound kids whose parents post on this board.

I was a working class kid who was only the second person to earn a bachelor's degree in my family over many generations. I earned two bachelor's, a master's, then a JD.

My college education didn't result in a massive change to my standard of living, as the burden of student loans ate up most of my earnings beyond what I paid basic living expenses (and I lived not a lot better than I did as a student) because I went into public service lawyering (legal aid, then public defense, then prosecution) and earned a modest income. I got some assistance from LRAP at my former law school, but was only chipping away at my student loans when very serious health issues caused me to be forced to leave the practice of law. I'll be repaying my student loans until I die.

I'm an entirely different person than I would have been had I not gone to college. While many aspects of my core personality remain the same (empath, loving, trusting, hopelessly idealistic, down to earth) my world view was very shaped by the knowledge I gained in my university studies, and sadly to some degree alienated me from many members of my immediate family who are very conservative, very anti-intellectual and cannot put politics aside for the sake of family bonds.

I struggle with my feelings about whether I made the right choice going to college. I am certain that had I not gone, I'd be better off financially than I am now and better situated in retirement. I know that might sound absurd to some of you, but it's a truth that many working class/lower middle class kids experience whose parents don't help them with financing college and whose student loan burden often stands as an obstacle to home ownership and even parenthood. I have many peers who did technical programs or associates degrees or apprenticeships or started businesses who own homes, have shiny new cars every few years, have kids, etc. It's frustrating.

On the other hand, where I grew up and the people I knew and associated with - I think I would have been a person with a worldview that from where I stand now I would find sad, if not repugnant. But I'd be blissfully ignorant! So there would be that.

I have a very curious mind and I'm glad I had the opportunity to fill it with so many years of learning and that I continue to be a critical thinker who is still always learning and open-minded about new ideas, new horizons, etc. But it's hard to have one foot in one world and the other in a different world. I really wish I'd been born into a different kind of family, I guess. I do spend a fair amount of time wondering 'what if?', and I wish I could know how my life would have turned out on a different trajectory. I'm not sure that's a normal preoccupation for people whose college experience isn't so intensely transformative as mine was, for the reasons articulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are some top tier jobs that are much more accessible from top schools. Your double state school lawyer friend is far less likely to ever be a Supreme Court Justice, White House counsel or Solicitor General than a dual Harvard / Yale / Stanford graduate. It doesn't mean it's impossible from other schools, just more difficult.

But so many people have zero desire to be in those roles, so I guess it works out?

[Anonymous]

For me it did. Like Pp, I grew up working class. My parents didn’t go to college. None of my grandparents had a full K-12 education.

It wasn’t a huge worldview change for me, other than a realization of how poor I was growing up, but college was a golden ticket out of my depressed home town.

For my UMC+ friends, they would have been fine no matter where they went to school.

[Anonymous]

How much do you think college truly influences the trajectory of someone's life?

TONS.

[Anonymous]

Well it did for me, in terms of steering me toward the DC area and introducing me to people who had big influence on my life (I would not be married to my DH if I hadn't gone to my college). I wouldn't have had many excellent experiences, including living/working abroad, if it hadn't been for my college.

If I hadn't gone to college I'd probably still be living in the middle of the country. Who knows what I'd be doing, but certainly not the job I have now, which requires the post-graduate degree I have.

[Anonymous]

I think going to a top tier school can do a lot to give kids from less privileged backgrounds access to higher paying etc jobs.

[Anonymous]

For a very wealthy person? Not much.

For a very poor person? A ton.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at an ivy. This only taught her not to be impressed by other ivy grads.

[Anonymous]

College itself does.

Which college you attend, not as much.

[Anonymous]

For many, a college degree provides a floor for employment, standard of living, and security far above the average person without a degree. However, that floor can also make you lazy and risk adverse. In turn, that floor can encourage you to assume responsibilities, like a mortgage and family, that will reinforce risk adversity. Before you know it, many are “trapped” on a comfortable tread mill. Of course, this doesn’t have to be one’s fate, but it is for many. That said, it’s better than wondering where to find your next meal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there are some top tier jobs that are much more accessible from top schools. Your double state school lawyer friend is far less likely to ever be a Supreme Court Justice, White House counsel or Solicitor General than a dual Harvard / Yale / Stanford graduate. It doesn't mean it's impossible from other schools, just more difficult.

But so many people have zero desire to be in those roles, so I guess it works out?

I'll be sure and tell my kids, for those top tier jobs (let's see, there have been 12 justices named in the last 40 years), better make sure to go to a top school.

[Anonymous]

An LSU degree will open as many doors as an Ivy degree. It's all about the person wielding it.

[Anonymous]

"where you go is not who you'll be" -- it's a book all about this. And how it doesn't matter.

But that said yes pedigree matters still for certain academics and supreme court justices though it may matter less over time.