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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm moderately successful, I would like to think. I'm by and large happy and stable. I have a degree from a public school that, for the most part, hasn't been a disservice to my career. My college experience, many years ago at this point, was fine (no highs or lows). I feel like I came into my own [i]after[/i] college, where I was fortunate to fall in with a circle of brilliant friends and acquaintances. Here's the thing. They all have degrees from from Yale, Stanford, Cornell, Brown, Northwestern, Columbia, UChicago, etc. ... and I am literally the only one who graduated from your average run-of-the-mill school. Although they never make it a point to alienate me, I do definitely feel like the odd duckling out at times, and can't help but feel a little bit jealous at points.

Anyone have this experience, too, or am I crazy?[/quote]

Not jealous of their degrees. I am sure though I would have gone much further in life (including my personal life) if my parents had been more well educated. My father was blue color. They jumped at the first scholarship I was offered (from a very mediocre school). My test scores were off the charts but we did not even make a list or consider good schools. They were just so glad my college was paid for.

I probably could have gotten a full ride to an Ivy, which would have set me on a whole different path (in terms of dating, etc), but they did not even know what to aim for. Oh well.[/quote]

My twin brother and I come from very poor and desperate circumstances. Father completely abandoned the family and mother had addiction problems and never worked.  We both went to college on athletic scholarship.  While competing at the top level of Division 1 had its benefits, athletic scholarships are from ideal in any number of respects.  For students without any parental support, it is a difficult means of survival. Can't work part time during the year, and so on.   Plus, because athletic scholarships are one year deals, renewable at the discretion of the athletic department, the reality is that athletics are always the first priority.  Even being All-ACC offered limited comfort for renewal.  The corruption in athletics and the academic breaks given athletes are disturbing - less so at the school I attended but still a depressing factor.  I went to Duke, a poor choice socially for a poor kid but the education within the classroom was excellent.  My twin went to UNC.  I was a good student, but my brother found the scenario at UNC to his liking.  He was a math major, a 4.0 gpa, Phi Beta Kappa and so on.  This demonstrates the silliness of chasing prestige.  My twin went on to obtain a Phd in Econ from a highly ranked public school and is a well known investor and money manager.  I went on to law school and with the majority of law schools in the top ten in the rankings being private schools. well, I spent a lot of money to get a private school degree with some so-called prestige behind it. The education quality was no different than lower ranked schools, and if you want to live in a courtroom, maybe not the best choice.    Lawyers however do care deeply about which law school you attend. The NY firm I worked for only hired from a very small list of law schools, and demanded top 5 percent of the class. I thought it was silly but that is what it took to get on with them.   Not sure the big law firm thing was all that great but it did give me the background to enter into a field which I really enjoy.  Both my twin and I incurred no debt in connection our educations. Very lucky - especially given our circumstances. We needless to say spoiled our kids, and in my case my kids went to higher ranked schools than Duke.

I am grateful to Duke but turned down Big 10 offers (which I regret). (I just couldn't turn down Duke, which along with Stanford offered to my immature mind the most valuable athletic scholarship in the nation.  Just not a good reason to choose a school).  Socially the Big 10 schools would have been much more accepting to me - I was looked down upon as an outcast at Duke. Moreover, Duke doesn't typically prepare you well for anything but more school, a challenging thing for a poor person.  I was in an honors program which I really did not deserve to get in (the athletic thing again), and every single one of us - 11 in total - went on to graduate school.  A significant number went to Harvard or Yale - certainly not for me as I was lucky just to graduate with my health intact and with a plan to do something other than teaching or coaching - a fine profession by the way but not one for my skill set. I went to the "worst" ranked graduate school of the bunch!    I look at these prestige schools as not a very good value for most - those who can pay might see things differently. When you get beyond the social posturing, the key is to get the most out of the school you attend.   Big state flagship schools offer so many resources for the ambitious and focused student.  [/quote]

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