Questions for HYPSM alumni

[Anonymous]

Do you feel that going there affected your life in ways that wouldn't have happened if you had attended a less selective school?

If your kid wanted to go there, would you recommend it?

[Anonymous]

Yes. I was admitted to a top-5 doctoral program based largely on my prestigious UG degree, I believe. I had a related degree but had done little to no work in the field to which I applied. I sincerely doubt I would have been admitted, much less fully funded, otherwise.

Depends on the kid. My more brilliant child would more likely thrive at a smaller LAC. If he really wanted to attend HYPSM, I'd support it but I doubt he will. Too soon to tell for sure with my younger child, but I suspect he will not be interested in the grind necessary to be competitive for admission.

For the right kid, I do think it is a fabulous experience and very worthwhile academically and professionally. Is it necessary to become highly successful? No. Anyone who truly excels at a T-50 school has a good shot at top grad school programs.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it definitely eased my path. As a woman of color, I was often questioned and doubted earlier in my career- as in, literally questioned where I went to school and how I got the job. Naming my alma mater always resulted in my being shown more respect.
DS has higher scores than I had, but less internal drive. He will likely end up at a LAC or design school.

[Anonymous]

Yes, attending a HYPSM school opened to me all the doors conceivable by humankind, and the unrivaled education and superior peers enlightened me in such a way that I am now worthy to become a leader of this nation and the global world beyond. Had I attended, god forbid, a lesser ivy like Columbia or Dartmouth, or worse yet, some random ivy-wannabe like UChicago or Duke, I would probably be a janitor at Taco Bell right now. Those inferior schools are filled with pathetically worthless students, and it would certainly have contaminated my pristine character and charisma that God gives to only a few.

Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

Each of the HYPSM schools are so different from each other that anyone applying to all five only care about prestige and would be willing to waste 4 transformative years of a very special time in life by attending an ill-fitting school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

Oh, man. Are you the parent insecure about Wharton?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

Oh, man. Are you the parent insecure about Wharton?

“who is unsecure about Wharton”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

What if you are absolutely miserable there and get bad grades? We have to stop acting like just gracing the doorstep of any school magically sets your up for success.

I bet the person who got into a "top 5" grad school had plenty of classmates in their cohort who went to non-Ivy schools. It's about what you do with your opportunities.

[Anonymous]

I do think doors open that otherwise wouldn't, but only for a while, and the informal network can be great, but again, only for a while. At least that's how it is for most HYPS grads.

DC in particular is full of professionals who can't figure out what the hell happened. They went to HYPS but still ended up with mediocre careers and were surpassed by all kinds of people with inferior collegiate pedigrees. I could sense that that was starting to happen when I was in my 20s. Now that I'm much older and manage people, I can see that there are a lot of people who were very good at the things that get you admitted into HYPS but aren't good at the work we do. The problem isn't just that HYPS makes mistakes in admissions, though that happens. The problem is that you can have what it takes to get an A+ on every high school (and even college) test and also get every question right on every standardized test, but you may be incapable of solving real world problems or functioning on teams or communicating effectively.

There's a ton of talent at HYPS. Going there and being surrounded by all that taken does change most people. You do see that real people can and do achieve amazing things. They run for office and win. They start companies and prosper. They produce great works of theater, literature, film, and art. That can be inspiring and helpful. It also can be a little intimidating and depressing. For some HYPS graduates it's both.

One thing that can happen, and you see this all the time in DC, is that HYPS people start to change their goals. They start to want what's hard to achieve instead of what's fulfilling or enjoyable. Goldman Sachs and McKinsey attract a lot of people like that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

Oh, man. Are you the parent insecure about Wharton?

No, I’m not associated with any of these schools. But I just want to know what specific perks HYPSM grads get that other elite school grads are prohibited from accessing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do think doors open that otherwise wouldn't, but only for a while, and the informal network can be great, but again, only for a while. At least that's how it is for most HYPS grads.

DC in particular is full of professionals who can't figure out what the hell happened. They went to HYPS but still ended up with mediocre careers and were surpassed by all kinds of people with inferior collegiate pedigrees. I could sense that that was starting to happen when I was in my 20s. Now that I'm much older and manage people, I can see that there are a lot of people who were very good at the things that get you admitted into HYPS but aren't good at the work we do. The problem isn't just that HYPS makes mistakes in admissions, though that happens. The problem is that you can have what it takes to get an A+ on every high school (and even college) test and also get every question right on every standardized test, but you may be incapable of solving real world problems or functioning on teams or communicating effectively.

There's a ton of talent at HYPS. Going there and being surrounded by all that taken does change most people. You do see that real people can and do achieve amazing things. They run for office and win. They start companies and prosper. They produce great works of theater, literature, film, and art. That can be inspiring and helpful. It also can be a little intimidating and depressing. For some HYPS graduates it's both.

One thing that can happen, and you see this all the time in DC, is that HYPS people start to change their goals. They start to want what's hard to achieve instead of what's fulfilling or enjoyable. Goldman Sachs and McKinsey attract a lot of people like that.

I think you're assuming that HYPSM graduates wish they had your career, and hoping that your career, rather than their education, will be how others measure success. As a result, you respect HYPSM graduates if they have careers like yours (or equally high-profile and/or lucrative careers) and look for ways to put them down if they don't.

I've been out of one of those schools for several decades. Some of my classmates started businesses, are well known in politics, government or the arts, and/or are wealthy. Others are none of these things, but as a group we generally seem happy with our lives and remain intellectually engaged and curious about the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

Oh, man. Are you the parent insecure about Wharton?

No, I’m not associated with any of these schools. But I just want to know what specific perks HYPSM grads get that other elite school grads are prohibited from accessing.

None that I can think of. My HYPSM degree has absolutely been a plus when I came across other alumni when interviewing for certain positions. Had I attended a different "elite" school, that might have been a plus, but with different people. It's not like other "elite" schools aren't well represented in various professional and social circles, and once you're in the door no one really wants to hear you spending a lot of time talking about where you went to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, HYPSM is a term that is only used in these Internet forums and has no bearing in the real world. Your kid would receive the same level of education at any of the T20 or so schools, or perhaps an even better one if it's a top LAC. There is no tangible advantage for employment to attend these schools either, and some LACs even place better for professional and PhD programs. With the exception of maybe Harvard, attending a HYPSM school won't give you a leg up over other elite schools.

You’re conflating the quality of education with the value of the degree. No “LAC” will give you a degree as valuable as a BA from Stanford.

And even you admit that a Harvard College BA opens doors that other schools can’t, even if you can’t quite get yourself to apply the arguments to Yale, Stanford, etc.

So, what are the opportunities that will present itself to a Princeton grad that a Wharton grad would never be able to gain access to? Assuming that HYPSM offers a special distinction in the real world is inaccurate and pathetic.

Oh, man. Are you the parent insecure about Wharton?

“who is unsecure about Wharton”

you complete and utter moron

[Anonymous]

Well, Harvard grads get to say “When I was at Harvard . . .” at least once a day.