Reply to HYPSM/Elite School Alums - What has been the downside of your degree?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think there is a ton of discussion on this and other forums about all the benefits that a degree from HYPSM or other elite schools confers. However, I have not seen much discussion about the potential downsides or costs of attending such a school.

When I say costs or downsides, I am not referring to debt you had to take on or the high stress level during undergrad. I am referring to costs and downsides you have experienced once you graduated, it can be related to your career or life overall. I have recently been working with a bright Princeton graduate. I noticed that she did not list Princeton on her LI. We were having a casual convo once and the topic of LI came up. I asked her how come she doesn't list her alma mater on there, and she said that she hates the assumptions people make about her only because of where she went to school, such as being entitled and privileged, when in fact she was first gen and came from a working class family.

This is really the encounter that made me think about what are some of the negative sides of attending one of these schools, especially once you leave, that are not discussed enough, yet I feel is important to talk about given the ongoing obsession with these places.[/quote]

Downside as a parent is if your child flames out of an elite college, it is acutely mortifying. Meanwhile, friends and neighbors' children who went to less prestigious are making big bucks in tech and at prestigious law, medical, and dental school. Some of them are beginning to buy luxury condos and houses. Even lower and middle of the pack high school classmates who went to nursing school are making great money; lots of engagements, just seem to be progressing well through adulthood. I would think if your child flames out of a local regional university, nobody notices or frankly cares because the expectations are lower and they have much lower graduation rates.

(Full disclosure we have a child who flamed out of an Ivy.)

I sincerely believe elite college is pretty meaningless. I won't call it a waste of money, but if your child is driven and sharp coming out of high school, they will do great no matter where they go.[/quote]

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