Anonymous wrote:You don't think it is worth an extra 12k a year to send your kid to Harvard over Tulane? In this economy?? Do you not realize how many more job opportunities your child will have for the rest of his life with Harvard on his resume?

Anonymous wrote:It depends on your financial circumstances. No way in hell would I want my kid to turn down Columbia or Stanford to go to Alabama. If you are on welfare and really need the aid money, it might be worth considering, but otherwise, no way.

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Anonymous wrote:Only 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies graduated from Ivy League schools. More of them went to the University of Wisconsin than Harvard. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB115853818747665842
Where you go to school matters very little, unless you want to be an academic, in which case, I hope money is no object.

Yes, only 10% of CEOs graduated from ivy league schools. Of course, only .5% of people graduated from Ivy league schools, so I'm not sure that number shows what you think it does.

I'm not sure it shows what *you* think it does, actually. Yes, a higher share of CEOs graduated from ivy league schools compared with the general population of college grads. But that will be true no matter what high-level field you look at. Ivy League grads will likely be more concentrated in medicine and academia, as well. I think the research shows, though, that these grads aren't more concentrated in "elite" professions *because* they went to the Ivy League, but rather because they were elite students to begin with, and elite students are the ones who predominate in those professions. The research shows that elite students tend to excel no matter where they go to school. And that explains why 90% of CEOs went somewhere else and still got to be CEOs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies graduated from Ivy League schools. More of them went to the University of Wisconsin than Harvard. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB115853818747665842
Where you go to school matters very little, unless you want to be an academic, in which case, I hope money is no object.

Yes, only 10% of CEOs graduated from ivy league schools. Of course, only .5% of people graduated from Ivy league schools, so I'm not sure that number shows what you think it does.

Anonymous wrote:Only 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies graduated from Ivy League schools. More of them went to the University of Wisconsin than Harvard. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB115853818747665842
Where you go to school matters very little, unless you want to be an academic, in which case, I hope money is no object.

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Anonymous wrote:One of the things I find odd about many discussions on this forum is how many people treat public universities as if they were just another school. Public universities are typically designed for the students of the state, and at most, you will find that the students overwhelmingly come from the home state, where tuition is lower. At Alabama, somewhere in excess of 60-70% of the students come from Alabama with most of the others coming from Georgia, MS and other Southern states. At Minnesota, which is an excellent public university, 2/3 come from Minnesota, and another significant chunk come from North and South Dakota. Most of the students who attend these universities end up staying in the state after graduation -- which makes sense since that is where their contacts are (lots of data show the importance of your college connections later in life) and the recruiters are more likely to come from that state or region. There are a handful of Universities that break the mold, are truly international in reputation and draw a diverse student body but you can count them generally on one hand -- Berkeley, Michigan and UVA, and then you might add in UCLA, UNC, Indiana for certain subjects such as music, probably Texas and Minnesota, though Texas is a huge school in a huge state that will have most of its presence and influence in Texas. Most of the rest are really very good state schools but not obvious choices for somewhere from a different part of the country who does not have an interest in staying in the area where they attend college. Btw, University of MD is a very good public school, not that expensive for in-state students, and within the Mid-Atlantic, a much better choice than say Alabama. Penn State, ditto, good state school particularly for the Mid-Atlantic region.

This is a good post. And it hints at a related issue that is coming up in this discussion: that people who are looking for cheaper alternatives to elite colleges should look at public schools. Well, yes....but often that makes sense only as long as the public schools in question are in your state of residence. For a Virginia or DC or MD resident, the cost of Berkeley or Michigan will equal that of an elite private university. You would never choose one of those schools over an elite private because of cost. Perhaps for other reasons, but not to save money.

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Anonymous wrote:John Grisham might not agree - he sent his kids to UNC and UVA

Um, yes. And he lives in North Carolina, so he sent one of this kids to his state flagship. Same thing his parents did with him.

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Anonymous wrote:John Grisham went to Mississippi State then to Ole Miss for law school. He was doing just fine for himself career wise before he even became John Grisham the writer.

Miss St. and Ole Miss are terrific schools --- IF you want to live in Oxford, Mississippi. For some in this area that is an awfully big IF.

Anonymous wrote:Different PP (the "who keeps bringing up Harvard?" PP). The Harvard grads I know are go-getters but generally in mid-level jobs, with the exception of one real standout in the Administration. Which proves... nothing! We are all talking about very small sample sizes.

But a correction seems necessary. By "do better" 21:20 is probably referring to salaries. Studies have shown that Harvard grads to better salary-wise, right out of college, than grads of much less competitive schools. I don't think that's even up for debate. Employers see the word "Harvard" and assume rightly or wrongly that anybody who got in must be smart and hard-working. That's called "credentialling" because the Harvard degree is a sort of credential that gets a kid in the door for one of the 10 interviews. (OK, the kids start with a leg up, but what they do afterwards depends on them.)

Agree with the point made earlier that something like 0.03% of students go to Harvard, which leaves plenty of great jobs for hard-working kids from even the less select colleges.

Anonymous wrote:John Grisham might not agree - he sent his kids to UNC and UVA

Anonymous wrote:John Grisham went to Mississippi State then to Ole Miss for law school. He was doing just fine for himself career wise before he even became John Grisham the writer.