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[quote=Anonymous]I think coming from a wealthy family and going to private schools are both just useful safety nets. I don't personally think it's quality of education because while some independent schools have truly rigorous academics, plenty do not. And even those with very strong academics often have rampant grade inflation. It's one of the many catch 22s of private education -- your students are also your customers, and how do you fail a customer?

But if you assume all people are going to make some mistakes and encounter some bad luck in life, the more safety nets the better. If you have a rich family, that's a useful safety net that can help pick you up. Say you have the bad luck to graduate into a down jobs economy, plus you make the mistake of slacking off for a while year of college and it drags down your GPA. For a middle class person, that might be enough to lock you into a dead-end job and severely limit job potential. But if your parents are rich, you can probably find a graduate program somewhere that will take you (maybe with their help, maybe just because a person who can afford to pay out of pocket for graduate school can always find a program somewhere) and then be able to enter the workforce a couple years better with superior economics and an additional degree. Useful.

And independent schools are the same. The network can't be underestimated, especially if you are willing to stay in the geographic region where there are likely to be many alums. It can make the difference between getting an interview or not, making the interview more enjoyable or connecting with the interviewer, etc. Also, graduates of independent schools have a leg up in terms of more elite careers because they are more likely to have met people in those fields at a young age, have learned some things about them, and be more comfortable with the culture and lingo. Those are intangibles but they can make a huge difference for someone interning in that field or going through entry-level interviews. It makes them stand out and feel more like they belong.

Ivy League degrees serve a similar function. So can just being physically attractive. There are lots of backstops to failure in life. But rich parents and private schools are pretty good ones. If you have these advantages, it's a rare obstacle that can best them. It's not impossible (especially if you have disadvantages like addiction, childhood trauma, and other problems that can impact people of any background), but it's much, much harder than it is for middle or working class graduates of average public schools.[/quote]

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