Reply to What is the obsession on DCUM with university rankings and were your kid goes to school?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I must be new here.

Why do so many of you care where our DC or other kids choose to go to college? I just don't understand all the arguments   Public vs Private, blah blah blah.  Top 10-50 colleges or bust?  (You are a fool for spending $50K a year on private school) when my kids public school was free (and our public kid was accepted to the same university as your private school kid}.

What exactly is the point of these posts?  Why does it matter?  I hope that we all make decisions that we believe are best for our kids.

[/quote]

I went to an elite college. Lots of amazing peers and many amazing professors. A few terrible profs and bad required classes in and out of major. About 1/4 of my classes were a total waste for one reason or another. Did I get a $200K education? Absolutely not. Did I get a $200K degree and make connections and get a job that paid that back and a lot more? Yes.

And I don't mean hobnobbing at country clubs. I hated the concept of networking and "golf" and "tennis"; I was committed to earning my way on my own efforts, and wanted to believe the world was fair. I got some bad grades because I refused to cheat or accept giveaways from profs like many classmates did.

But just casually knowing someone who knew someone who was hiring for upwardly mobile roles, set my life trajectory.

I got an amazing job for a new grad, from career fair in college because a friend's older friend worked there and invited me to apply, even after I applied my filter of avoiding "evil" companies. 
I got an interview at a rising star company because a friend from  HS and college was visiting and told me their friend from college had a friend from college who was hiring, and gave me the hiring manager's info.
A classmate friend married a classmate whose family member was someone you know from the news, and gave me that person's cell phone number to apply for a job at their young growing company.

That's why elite colleges are important to people. Even people who don't know those details, who only know "PYSH is elite" are indirectly getting their impression from facts like what I mentioned above. People who go to those schools arecon average more successful than people who don't, all else equal.

Are things different now? Can you rise above your station thanks to the Internet and Twitter and whatever to find opportunities and compete in your merit? Maybe.[/quote]

But if you stop accepting the legacy kids and rich 1%s, these type of opportunities are diminished. Is your first gen roommate’s dad going to get you a summer job? If the rich and powerful are no longer at the school, the chance for connections and social mobility are also minimized.[/quote]

You may be right...but none of those practices have been stopped anywhere as of today at the top national universities (MIT being the exception with no legacy preference).  The top 1% and more importantly the top 0.1% are way, way, way over-represented at the top schools.  Actually, even MIT with no legacy bump still ranks in the top 10 for wealthiest student bodies.[/quote]

It will always be that way.  When universities cost $80K+/year, only those with full/close to full FA and those that can easily be full pay will be represented.  Most people smartly say, I'm not going into $200K+ debt for a degree, when I can attend a state school/private with merit for $40K/year.

The T20 schools have always been largely wealthy student bodies even 30-40 years ago.  [/quote]

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