Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:59
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Anonymous wrote:This is not true. I have never met any family doctor who is an ivy graduate, undergrad or med school. They almost all ended up in some specialties or surgeons.
Lol ok. My family doc is an Ivy grad.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:59
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Of course! This is a benefit of attending an elite school—you don’t have illusions about the specialness of people who graduated from one.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:55
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
This is not true. I have never met any family doctor who is an ivy graduate, undergrad or med school. They almost all ended up in some specialties or surgeons.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:52
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I have met multiple ivy degree holders working jobs in high school education, middling research depts, "self employed" scrapping by. Sure there are some high profile ivy leaguers but in the end many end up in same jobs as middling t200 degree holders.
The correct way to view outcome is to think of two Bell curves representing the distribution of outcomes of Ivy graduates and t200 graduates. It is without question that the Ivy Bell curve has a mean that is higher than that of the t200 Bell curve. Both Bell curves have tails representing good and bad outliers (Ivy grads driving Uber/stocking shelves, Ivy grads becoming prominent techies/politicians, t200 grads doing the same). Both Bell curves overlap so you see Ivy and t200 grads working the same role in the same office, creating the misleading impression that the outcomes are similar. What most "local observations" fail to capture is the fact that the Ivy Bell curve is to the right of the t200 Bell curve, suggesting that for any given percentile, Ivy grads in that percentile have better outcomes than those from t200.
This and anecdotal evidence is based on your network.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:49
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Anonymous wrote:I have met multiple ivy degree holders working jobs in high school education, middling research depts, "self employed" scrapping by. Sure there are some high profile ivy leaguers but in the end many end up in same jobs as middling t200 degree holders.
The correct way to view outcome is to think of two Bell curves representing the distribution of outcomes of Ivy graduates and t200 graduates. It is without question that the Ivy Bell curve has a mean that is higher than that of the t200 Bell curve. Both Bell curves have tails representing good and bad outliers (Ivy grads driving Uber/stocking shelves, Ivy grads becoming prominent techies/politicians, t200 grads doing the same). Both Bell curves overlap so you see Ivy and t200 grads working the same role in the same office, creating the misleading impression that the outcomes are similar. What most "local observations" fail to capture is the fact that the Ivy Bell curve is to the right of the t200 Bell curve, suggesting that for any given percentile, Ivy grads in that percentile have better outcomes than those from t200.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:47
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Dunno but damn if Harvard didn't but the beat down on Syracuse last weekend (lax).
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:47
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Anonymous wrote:Most people have ordinary lives.
Also, not everyone wants to work in an unethical industry. More and more people are waking up to the evil that is PE, IB, tech, MBB, etc. I think there will be a sharp turn and younger generations are going to start to turn their backs on these predatory industries, no matter how much mommy and daddy are pushing them.
+1 and I think an Ivy degree can be a hindrance if you seek an “ordinary” job.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:47
Subject: Re:Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Feel better?
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:45
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Most people have ordinary lives.
Also, not everyone wants to work in an unethical industry. More and more people are waking up to the evil that is PE, IB, tech, MBB, etc. I think there will be a sharp turn and younger generations are going to start to turn their backs on these predatory industries, no matter how much mommy and daddy are pushing them.
Also, not everyone wants to work in an unethical industry. More and more people are waking up to the evil that is PE, IB, tech, MBB, etc. I think there will be a sharp turn and younger generations are going to start to turn their backs on these predatory industries, no matter how much mommy and daddy are pushing them.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:45
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
This is like saying the vast majority of VC-backed companies end up just having ordinary existences (which is true...or worse, the majority end up going bankrupt). Very few become Meta or Google or OpenAI et al.
Still doesn't mean start-ups don't go after VC funding...because the homeruns are massive.
Kids/parents just need to go into things with eyes wide open and understand what you are trying to get out of it.
A further aside...like 50% of Ivy league students are attending for free or nearly free...so it's of course a no-brainer decision regardless of the outcome. They surveyed Harvard grads, and actually a decent %age of the 100% FA kids opted to go into Academia or work for NPOs or whatever which they could afford to do without loans.
Still doesn't mean start-ups don't go after VC funding...because the homeruns are massive.
Kids/parents just need to go into things with eyes wide open and understand what you are trying to get out of it.
A further aside...like 50% of Ivy league students are attending for free or nearly free...so it's of course a no-brainer decision regardless of the outcome. They surveyed Harvard grads, and actually a decent %age of the 100% FA kids opted to go into Academia or work for NPOs or whatever which they could afford to do without loans.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:42
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Many highly intelligent people lack common sense and/or social skills. This does affect their career outcomes.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:42
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
I know 4. One is doing very well in finance, two work for the government which doesn't seem like good ROE to me, and 1 went to med school and quit around 35 to be a sugar baby. Not great IMO.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:39
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
Were you born yesterday? The vast majority of Ivy grads will end up with very ordinary lives. Many will struggle to make ends week just like the rest of society.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:37
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
LOL, ok.
Anonymous
02/25/2026 09:36
Subject: Ivy outcomes are often just, well, average
I have met multiple ivy degree holders working jobs in high school education, middling research depts, "self employed" scrapping by. Sure there are some high profile ivy leaguers but in the end many end up in same jobs as middling t200 degree holders.