Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of hyper-focus here on rankings and prestige. What really matters is what your child does once they’re in college. My DD went to UMD, and she and her friends are receiving multiple consulting offers in the DMV area. The offer my DD accepted includes incoming hires from UVA, Duke, UNC–Chapel Hill, and Carnegie Mellon as well. In the end, it clearly didn’t matter that she didn’t attend Duke or UVA.

Some perspective is helpful here. College is just four years, and where you go matters far less than how you use those four years.

UMD is a great school, so not a good example. Regardless, I think anyone who attends a top 75 school, who networks, and meets people, gets internships, etc. can have good opportunities after college.

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of hyper-focus here on rankings and prestige. What really matters is what your child does once they’re in college. My DD went to UMD, and she and her friends are receiving multiple consulting offers in the DMV area. The offer my DD accepted includes incoming hires from UVA, Duke, UNC–Chapel Hill, and Carnegie Mellon as well. In the end, it clearly didn’t matter that she didn’t attend Duke or UVA.

Some perspective is helpful here. College is just four years, and where you go matters far less than how you use those four years.

Your kid went to a highly ranked well respected school. I don't think this makes the point you think it does!

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

Yeah..UMD probably not the best example. That's a good school.

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

I have experience teaching in higher ed as well as attending myself and having kids who do. Those who are at lower ranked schools can do well, but opportunities are fewer and depend more on being at the top of the class. No one knows going in where they will be in a class. Employers flock to the higher ranked schools and nearly all in the class get good jobs. Not the case at lower ranked schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

This question is for OP only.
And ignore "JMU", say T500. Since your point is school doesn't matter.

OP didn’t say that school doesn’t matter at all. She said that kids from a range of schools wind up in the same jobs, and that school matters less than how you use those four years. And she’s right on both counts.

If her point is it doesn't matter which one of the peer schools you went to, yes that makes sense.
College admissions is so arbitrary sometimes a high stats kid may not end up in any of the peer schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

This question is for OP only.
And ignore "JMU", say T500. Since your point is school doesn't matter.

OP didn’t say that school doesn’t matter at all. She said that kids from a range of schools wind up in the same jobs, and that school matters less than how you use those four years. And she’s right on both counts.

I think you need to recognize that for high stat kids who have spent their entire adolescence trying to never make a mistake, ace the most rigorous courses, stick with a sport even though they would rather be doing something else, AND who come from families with parents and older cousins arguably less brilliant or hard working that went to high ranking schools, it’s a huge blow to their identity and confidence when they don’t get in.

You also need to recognize that it isn’t like losing a game in sports. You get one shot for undergrad admissions. It’s often very unfair and arbitrary. It’s painful.

Some kids recover and make the most of their situation but for others it has lasting impacts. It’s not healthy to pretend everything they worked for was silly and doesn’t matter. They need to work through the grief, anger and pain not hide it to come out the other end.

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

This question is for OP only.
And ignore "JMU", say T500. Since your point is school doesn't matter.

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of hyper-focus here on rankings and prestige. What really matters is what your child does once they’re in college. My DD went to UMD, and she and her friends are receiving multiple consulting offers in the DMV area. The offer my DD accepted includes incoming hires from UVA, Duke, UNC–Chapel Hill, and Carnegie Mellon as well. In the end, it clearly didn’t matter that she didn’t attend Duke or UVA.

Some perspective is helpful here. College is just four years, and where you go matters far less than how you use those four years.

Nice post, but I think that your perspective might be a bit off as the University of Maryland is a well respected state flagship university.

Anonymous wrote:If you kid was accepted to both Harvard and UMD, cost of attendance was the same, maybe the path selected would be different.. Harvard then investment banker at Goldman.

“If” this, “maybe” that.

The point is there’s posters on this board who act like if a kid doesn’t get into Harvard, they’re certain to end up penniless and sleeping under an overpass in a post apocalyptic hellscape. And that level of pessimism is delusional.

Success is defined differently by different people. I don’t believe my DC would be happy at Goldman Sachs.

If you kid was accepted to both Harvard and UMD, cost of attendance was the same, maybe the path selected would be different.. Harvard then investment banker at Goldman.

Anonymous wrote:UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

Not OP but I know multiple JMU grads from this area who wound up in great, rewarding (both financially and personally) careers. Lots of JMU grads in this area, too, which helps with networking and getting your foot in the door.

The main problem I see is people thinking that the only viable career path for their kids is a very high paying consulting job right out of college. It's not, and many people who go that path burn out or discover it's not for them and then have to figure something else out anyway.

Kids who "end up" at JMU do absolutely fine, the worst thing you can do is act like this is some horrible disappointment.

UMD is highly respected.

Say if your DC ended up at JMU, would they fare the same?

I think there’s a lot of hyper-focus here on rankings and prestige. What really matters is what your child does once they’re in college. My DD went to UMD, and she and her friends are receiving multiple consulting offers in the DMV area. The offer my DD accepted includes incoming hires from UVA, Duke, UNC–Chapel Hill, and Carnegie Mellon as well. In the end, it clearly didn’t matter that she didn’t attend Duke or UVA.

Some perspective is helpful here. College is just four years, and where you go matters far less than how you use those four years.