Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Twins
DS1: Swarthmore, Art History Major, 4.0w/ all the awards, going into investment banking with a firm he interned for junior year
DS2: UVA, CS Major, 3.9w/all the awards, currently no job and applying like mad, past internship with Tesla
You can imagine my shock

How does art history lead to investment banking? This is not a snark comment. I'm genuinely curious as that would not be my expectation (though I know little about either as a career and college major).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No job as a Computer Science and Philosophy double major with 2 previous internships from CMU. Very very disappointing.

What were the internships? I would think there would be a number of AI opportunities coming out of CMU.

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Anonymous wrote:Well their outcomes have been very different. One easily connects with alum and has a great internship. One couldn't but is slowly figuring it out. Williams DC had an alum contact her out of the blue asking if she'd be interested in a role within a publishing house and another at a consulting firm. UIUC DC doesn't have these type of experiences even with big career fairs.

Right…so you are agreeing with me that the Williams alumni network is better than UIUC…also, a Williams person working for Goldman isn’t only interested in Williams Econ majors…they likely appreciate any Williams grad.

It irks me when people say things that they just wildly speculate, not that I know any better than anyone here. Anyway, my DS recently graduated from Williams and is still looking for a job. DS reached out to about five Williams alums without much luck.

Sorry to read this.

If I may ask, what was your son's major area of study at Williams College ?

Was your son on an athletic team at Williams College ?

DP. I've never heard a Williams grad that struggled to get in contact with Alum, and this is from a non white, non wealthy background person. I'd recommend they go to some of the College alumni events and look into linkedin for where Ephs went in their directions. It's the oldest alum network in the United States.
-Williams Grad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well their outcomes have been very different. One easily connects with alum and has a great internship. One couldn't but is slowly figuring it out. Williams DC had an alum contact her out of the blue asking if she'd be interested in a role within a publishing house and another at a consulting firm. UIUC DC doesn't have these type of experiences even with big career fairs.

Right…so you are agreeing with me that the Williams alumni network is better than UIUC…also, a Williams person working for Goldman isn’t only interested in Williams Econ majors…they likely appreciate any Williams grad.

It irks me when people say things that they just wildly speculate, not that I know any better than anyone here. Anyway, my DS recently graduated from Williams and is still looking for a job. DS reached out to about five Williams alums without much luck.

Sorry to read this.

If I may ask, what was your son's major area of study at Williams College ?

Was your son on an athletic team at Williams College ?

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

The GPA reference was for top schools. Agree GPA is crucial (along with networking and all the other things mentioned) for many other schools.

GPAs are not crucial in getting jobs. It is the connections and ability to demonstrate your knowledge at the interview that matters. I work in tech and many grads have 3.0 GPAs from UVA & VA Tech, and get hired at 120K salary.

That’s different than a 3.0 from Frostburg or Lynchburg or another regional school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

The GPA reference was for top schools. Agree GPA is crucial (along with networking and all the other things mentioned) for many other schools.

GPAs are not crucial in getting jobs. It is the connections and ability to demonstrate your knowledge at the interview that matters. I work in tech and many grads have 3.0 GPAs from UVA & VA Tech, and get hired at 120K salary.

That’s different than a 3.0 from Frostburg or Lynchburg or another regional school.

I can't comment on Frostburg or Lynchburg, but in addition to UVA and VA Tech grads, 3.0 GMU grads also get 120K salary as well. One 3.1 GMU grads got paid 130K salary, more than UVA & VA Tech grad, because he also has AWS Solution Architect certification that UVA & VA Tech grads do not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

The GPA reference was for top schools. Agree GPA is crucial (along with networking and all the other things mentioned) for many other schools.

GPAs are not crucial in getting jobs. It is the connections and ability to demonstrate your knowledge at the interview that matters. I work in tech and many grads have 3.0 GPAs from UVA & VA Tech, and get hired at 120K salary.

That’s different than a 3.0 from Frostburg or Lynchburg or another regional school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

The GPA reference was for top schools. Agree GPA is crucial (along with networking and all the other things mentioned) for many other schools.

GPAs are not crucial in getting jobs. It is the connections and ability to demonstrate your knowledge at the interview that matters. I work in tech and many grads have 3.0 GPAs from UVA & VA Tech, and get hired at 120K salary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

The GPA reference was for top schools. Agree GPA is crucial (along with networking and all the other things mentioned) for many other schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

And also a school with a STRONG alumni association, or go to a LOCAL school and network. Especially for a field like CS, the networking and internships trumps ranking, and your ROI is much higher.

And that the alumni power has to deal with the school, not the size. DC's LAC is undoubtedly tiny, but the alum network is very very powerful, and alum even reach out sometimes. Meanwhile at DS's big state school known for its connections, he's really struggled to connect with alum and have the same type of experience as DC, and he's the more social child! You have to tap into that alumni pool to get the unique positions that people want after an elite college

People, please name the schools! Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

As someone whose kid graduated from a “regional” university, yet is making $110k in their first banking job out of college, I disagree. Maybe to pp’s point, it does not matter if you are at an Ivy. But for kids chasing merit at “less than” schools and looking to make six figures upon graduating, you better at minimum have close to a 4.0 in your major with your full GPA not much below that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DD '24 graduated from HYP with a physics major and...is currently teaching at a boarding school, because she couldn't find work. 4.0 with a lot of research and tech skills but just couldn't get anything. Most of her friends are off to med school or fellowships, so she's feeling a bit distraught. I feel horrible and like I failed to support, but I know she'll figure it out.

Quit teaching ASAP and go look for real jobs. Teaching is a trap.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.

And also a school with a STRONG alumni association, or go to a LOCAL school and network. Especially for a field like CS, the networking and internships trumps ranking, and your ROI is much higher.

And that the alumni power has to deal with the school, not the size. DC's LAC is undoubtedly tiny, but the alum network is very very powerful, and alum even reach out sometimes. Meanwhile at DS's big state school known for its connections, he's really struggled to connect with alum and have the same type of experience as DC, and he's the more social child! You have to tap into that alumni pool to get the unique positions that people want after an elite college

Anonymous wrote:As some PP mentioned, GPAs should be near the bottom of the priority list, unless you go to law or med school. Connections and networking should be the number one priority on the list, because they will get you jobs after graduation. My Ivy kids learned that too late.