Reply to Come in if you are "successful" today but didn't go to an elite school

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Come in if you are "successful" today but didn't go to an elite school"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Well of course a not particularly selective U is not going to have as good of outcomes as the most selective college in the country. I'm not sure what your point is. But the data is crystal clear that those who attend state schools but got into Ivies are just as successful as those who matriculated at the Ivies. So actually, no, it's not objectively idiotic to say it doesn't matter where you go to school. Smart students are successful regardless of where they attend for undergrad. [/quote]
NP, and I think this is mostly correct, but it depends on how you define "success". I attended HYPS schools for undergrad and grad, and DH attended the same well-regarded (but not Berkeley or Michigan caliber) big public for undergrad and grad. While we have the same degree from different schools, he makes more than me and in certain ways is better regarded professionally. The advantage my elite schools have brought me is that I've easily been able to make two different career transitions; I know this because interviewers (and the employer who facilitated my most recent transition) told me as much. I suspect that if I hadn't changed careers, I would have had the opportunity to be as successful, if not more, than my DH. But I've had to change jobs because of his career...he wasn't able to find a job in the location my career would have taken me, but I was able to find one in the location where his was taking him. And, again, the latter might have been because of where I went to school.

So, to answer OP's question, you definitely don't need to go to an elite college to be successful. I think elite schools afford certain other benefits, though. How much those benefits are worth is a good question to ask. I didn't have to take out loans for school, and it's unlikely we will have to for our kids if they decide to attend either of my [i]alma mater[/i]s (or any other elite school). I would think much more carefully about the value of an elite school education if they needed to take on debt.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics