I think that this paper is overlooking another fact by focusing on earning power. I went to Yale, got a Ph.D at a tier one graduate school, and make a tiny salary as a college professor. My sister went to a Tier 3-4 school, but went into a technical field and has always outearned me. But, her job and her life are pretty pedestrian, while mine has been full of challenging intellectual pursuits. Also, she met her ex-husband in college and he is one of the least curious, most boring people I have every known. I met my amazing husband at Yale and we have a great partnership. All this is anecdotal, but there are so many more ways to measure the worth of a good education than earning power.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

And?? Who started as associates? Who stayed in practiced? No one from my Associate class is still at the firm, including me. We all left for different reasons. I was literally bored to death.

I mean "practice". I hire a lot of people and my worst employees are ivy grads. They tend to lack common sense, which is more important to me than college attended.

Yep. In the law office where I work, the Ivy grads can't get anything done. They analyze it to death, then pontificate about it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

And?? Who started as associates? Who stayed in practiced? No one from my Associate class is still at the firm, including me. We all left for different reasons. I was literally bored to death.

I mean "practice". I hire a lot of people and my worst employees are ivy grads. They tend to lack common sense, which is more important to me than college attended.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

And?? Who started as associates? Who stayed in practiced? No one from my Associate class is still at the firm, including me. We all left for different reasons. I was literally bored to death.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

exactly. my brother is a state school grade but when to an ivy law school and is now partner at a VERY well-known and prestigious firm. He worked/works his butt off.

What amuses me is that this is probably true for law, but three pages of posts do not recognize some don't want to go into law

Anonymous wrote:DCUMers are right about very few things outside of their tiny little DC/NoVA/MOCO bubble. In most of the country no. one. cares.

Talked to a successful businessman from Charlotte , who is sick of what's coming out of top tier schools. Said they have no clue how to think for themselves, or switch off. He recently had to speak to a new hire about her tendency to send work related emails at 2AM. Said if someone can't separate from work,he worries about emotional stability

The title of this thread is provocative -- and utterly unrelated to the article OP posted. If anything, it shows relatively little difference between ivies and tier 2 or even 3 schools, and is much about the gap with the tier 4s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

exactly. my brother is a state school grade but when to an ivy law school and is now partner at a VERY well-known and prestigious firm. He worked/works his butt off.

Did she factor in all of the people attending Tier 4 schools who were never interested in grad school, but needed a Bachelor's to get by in the market (single parents, convicts, older students wanting to fulfill a goal of completing college, etc)? I graduated from a Tier 4 school and many of my classmates were older and already working. They had very practical reasons for completing school (needed it to qualify for promotion, for example). Maybe the goal was to jump from 40K a year to 60k and they're happy with that.

For someone who is really ambitious, I don't think it matters as much. It will be harder, but those people figure out a way to get what they want.

Read it an weep? College drop out here who has received multiple offers of over $250k in the past 2 years.

Education is only a small factor in "success", however it is you decide to qualify such a metric. A smart driven person will succeed regardless of attending prestigious schools.

Only thing a top school helps with is building a network; a huge plus for under-achievers or middle of the road students.

love Bourdieu.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would think that part of the reason grads or undergrads from top tier 1 schools out earn counterparts is because a lot of them land the higher paying jobs at more prestigious firms and such due to connections, alma mater, etc....

I noticed this at the Law firm. There are no non- top 10 laws school grads who are partners. None.

Strange firm then. That is a not at all a universal truth. Sheesh.

Not even kinda at least from my experience.

1st pp, what kind of firm is this? I have yet to come across a firm with ALL top 10 partners.

Yes, please provide this law firm's name.

Have not really looked at the partners resumes have you? I do not see any non top 10 schools represented. Check out your firms list. I do see some who have gone from a top 10 undergrad to a lower ranked law school.

Anonymous wrote:"While a male graduate of a Tier 1 college with a graduate degree from a Tier 1 to 3 school earns on average $185,695 a year, a Tier 4 college graduate with a higher-tier graduate degree earns only $133,236. "

Oh no! Only $133,236 per year!

I haven't read the working paper, only the NYT piece, so maybe the author controlled for confounding variables, but based only on the NYT piece, this working paper is social-scientific junk -- unless it's intended to show that kids with affluent, well-educated parents grow up to earn more money. In that case, it's social-scientific obviousness.

+1

Apparently Dr. Hersch has never heard of Bourdieu? Doesn't make me think very highly of the rigor of Vanderbilt University if the professors are so obtuse and author such poorly constructed papers.

This thing would never pass peer review.