Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"until very recently, american companies hired new grads basically off the US News rankings. top 20 school? you got invited to interview at Google, JP Morgan, and McKinsey. number 50 school? there was a job for you. number 400 school? there was a job for you too -- just less prestigious than the one at the top 50 school.

the brand of a top 20 degree is still high. those graduates still get looks. the network is dense and the admissions filter is real. a Stanford degree opens more doors. a less prestigious state-school degree does not.

below 20, the system does not work anymore. there is now almost no difference between a #35 school and a #350 school in the eyes of a recruiter. the brand completely collapsed and most parents and students have not been told yet.

Of course it is true. Unless you come from a super connected family, you'd better go to a school in the top 20 (the 20 or so that MBB and other top companies target, not necessarily us news):

8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, JHU
CalTEch, Northwestern. That's the top 15, not in that order.

Which of these is in the next 5 is debatable:
UCB, Rice, WashU, CMU, UCLA, UMich, Vanderbilt, ND, WAS, Georgetown, UVA, Emory....

That is already 27 and getting borderline.

The dropoff is quite steep after that group.

This list is for muggles. You need to consider the industries and audience unless the ranking's sole purpose is to impress your neighbors born before 1975. No one in Silicon Valley cares about Northwestern, a school known for journalism and radio. A hiring manager at FAANG will want a Harvey Mudd grad 10 out of 10 times over someone from Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and at least 2 Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"until very recently, american companies hired new grads basically off the US News rankings. top 20 school? you got invited to interview at Google, JP Morgan, and McKinsey. number 50 school? there was a job for you. number 400 school? there was a job for you too -- just less prestigious than the one at the top 50 school.

the brand of a top 20 degree is still high. those graduates still get looks. the network is dense and the admissions filter is real. a Stanford degree opens more doors. a less prestigious state-school degree does not.

below 20, the system does not work anymore. there is now almost no difference between a #35 school and a #350 school in the eyes of a recruiter. the brand completely collapsed and most parents and students have not been told yet.

Of course it is true. Unless you come from a super connected family, you'd better go to a school in the top 20 (the 20 or so that MBB and other top companies target, not necessarily us news):

8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, JHU
CalTEch, Northwestern. That's the top 15, not in that order.

Which of these is in the next 5 is debatable:
UCB, Rice, WashU, CMU, UCLA, UMich, Vanderbilt, ND, WAS, Georgetown, UVA, Emory....

That is already 27 and getting borderline.

The dropoff is quite steep after that group.

This list is for muggles. You need to consider the industries and audience unless the ranking's sole purpose is to impress your neighbors born before 1975. No one in Silicon Valley cares about Northwestern, a school known for journalism and radio. A hiring manager at FAANG will want a Harvey Mudd grad 10 out of 10 times over someone from Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and at least 2 Ivies.

I’m a hiring manager at a Mag7, and I’ve worked at three of the Mag7/FAANG companies. Honestly, you sound stupid. I could give a rats ass about a kid going to Harvey Mudd, Northwestern, Vandy, etc. It just doesn’t matter. Waterloo might have raised a few heads but in general schools were never a consideration. I left Meta as an L8 and I had more people from SJSU on my team than anywhere else. I had MIT, CalTech, UCB but I also had MS&T, NC State, UCSC, SUNY, etc. if you are good enough, you will make it through the gauntlet from any solid school.

Anonymous wrote:"below 20, the system does not work anymore."

I'm going to wait to see some actual evidence from the author before I start clutching my pearls.

Anonymous wrote:After seeing who gets into Top 30 schools, I have no respect for rankings or brands.

Some of the smartest kids from my DC’s class are staying in-state and attending public institutions.

The ones who end up at “top” name brand schools are often from wealthy families. My jaw dropped when I saw who was getting into these selective colleges. It’s certainly not the best students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the claim is overstated but there may be some truth to it. And much of that truth comes from test optional policies. Schools used to be in clearer bands by SAT. Now it's, oh we have a 1470 average but only thirty percent submitting. It's all mystery meat. We lose differentiation and things start to slip all over the place.

Schools below the T20 will continue to have regional brands (BC for Boston, USC for LA) or specialty majors (Georgetown for IR) but he may be on to something that the days of general national reputation are behind us for most schools.

The napkin diagram is alarmist BS though. "Source: just trust me bro."

+1. We also questioned the value of schools outside the T20/30 when crafting DC’s college list. Ultimately, she only applied to T20 and affordable state flagships. The mid tiers just did not have the ROI to justify $80k per year. She was accepted to a T10 but would been happy at a flagship.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"until very recently, american companies hired new grads basically off the US News rankings. top 20 school? you got invited to interview at Google, JP Morgan, and McKinsey. number 50 school? there was a job for you. number 400 school? there was a job for you too -- just less prestigious than the one at the top 50 school.

the brand of a top 20 degree is still high. those graduates still get looks. the network is dense and the admissions filter is real. a Stanford degree opens more doors. a less prestigious state-school degree does not.

below 20, the system does not work anymore. there is now almost no difference between a #35 school and a #350 school in the eyes of a recruiter. the brand completely collapsed and most parents and students have not been told yet.

Of course it is true. Unless you come from a super connected family, you'd better go to a school in the top 20 (the 20 or so that MBB and other top companies target, not necessarily us news):

8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, JHU
CalTEch, Northwestern. That's the top 15, not in that order.

Which of these is in the next 5 is debatable:
UCB, Rice, WashU, CMU, UCLA, UMich, Vanderbilt, ND, WAS, Georgetown, UVA, Emory....

That is already 27 and getting borderline.

The dropoff is quite steep after that group.

This list is for muggles. You need to consider the industries and audience unless the ranking's sole purpose is to impress your neighbors born before 1975. No one in Silicon Valley cares about Northwestern, a school known for journalism and radio. A hiring manager at FAANG will want a Harvey Mudd grad 10 out of 10 times over someone from Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and at least 2 Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:After seeing who gets into Top 30 schools, I have no respect for rankings or brands.

Some of the smartest kids from my DC’s class are staying in-state and attending public institutions.

The ones who end up at “top” name brand schools are often from wealthy families. My jaw dropped when I saw who was getting into these selective colleges. It’s certainly not the best students.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
"until very recently, american companies hired new grads basically off the US News rankings. top 20 school? you got invited to interview at Google, JP Morgan, and McKinsey. number 50 school? there was a job for you. number 400 school? there was a job for you too -- just less prestigious than the one at the top 50 school.

the brand of a top 20 degree is still high. those graduates still get looks. the network is dense and the admissions filter is real. a Stanford degree opens more doors. a less prestigious state-school degree does not.

below 20, the system does not work anymore. there is now almost no difference between a #35 school and a #350 school in the eyes of a recruiter. the brand completely collapsed and most parents and students have not been told yet.

Of course it is true. Unless you come from a super connected family, you'd better go to a school in the top 20 (the 20 or so that MBB and other top companies target, not necessarily us news):

8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, JHU
CalTEch, Northwestern. That's the top 15, not in that order.

Which of these is in the next 5 is debatable:
UCB, Rice, WashU, CMU, UCLA, UMich, Vanderbilt, ND, WAS, Georgetown, UVA, Emory....

That is already 27 and getting borderline.

The dropoff is quite steep after that group.

This list is for muggles. You need to consider the industries and audience unless the ranking's sole purpose is to impress your neighbors born before 1975. No one in Silicon Valley cares about Northwestern, a school known for journalism and radio. A hiring manager at FAANG will want a Harvey Mudd grad 10 out of 10 times over someone from Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Georgetown and at least 2 Ivies.

Anonymous wrote:
"until very recently, american companies hired new grads basically off the US News rankings. top 20 school? you got invited to interview at Google, JP Morgan, and McKinsey. number 50 school? there was a job for you. number 400 school? there was a job for you too -- just less prestigious than the one at the top 50 school.

the brand of a top 20 degree is still high. those graduates still get looks. the network is dense and the admissions filter is real. a Stanford degree opens more doors. a less prestigious state-school degree does not.

below 20, the system does not work anymore. there is now almost no difference between a #35 school and a #350 school in the eyes of a recruiter. the brand completely collapsed and most parents and students have not been told yet.

Of course it is true. Unless you come from a super connected family, you'd better go to a school in the top 20 (the 20 or so that MBB and other top companies target, not necessarily us news):

8 Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Duke, Chicago, JHU
CalTEch, Northwestern. That's the top 15, not in that order.

Which of these is in the next 5 is debatable:
UCB, Rice, WashU, CMU, UCLA, UMich, Vanderbilt, ND, WAS, Georgetown, UVA, Emory....

That is already 27 and getting borderline.

The dropoff is quite steep after that group.