Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 14:09     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
I’ll go with a different kind of restaurant analogy (not Mcdonalds v. Fine dining). Why go out for Greek and not Mexican, even though the Mexican restaurant is next door and costs less? If you want Greek food and don’t like or want Mexican food, you’ll make the extra effort to drive farther to the Greek restaurant and maybe spend more money there. You’ll still be able to have a filling meal at either restaurant option but you chose the Greek restaurant experience.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 13:33     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. I’m the parent of a HS sophomore who is killing themselves excelling in school and participating in extracurriculars to be competitive for T20.

At the same time, I see parents on here posting how their kid went to Cornell and ended up in the same place as someone who went to Pitt or another similarly ranked school.

At the same time, in my job I work alongside people who have gone to ivies and schools I’ve never heard of. I went to Michigan, btw.

My sister did her undergraduate at Oxford, stayed in the UK and is now partner at a well respected consulting firm alongside other partners that went to no name schools from India.

So seeing the stress my kid goes through, I am honestly asking what is the point of a Yale or Princeton if they take you to the same place that a school like Rutgers and Radford can take you?!


You premise is wrong. An individual can absolutely end up in the same place. But the average graduate does not and it is not even remotely close between Yale/Princeton and Rutgers/Radford.


We are not talking about average grads versus average grads. We're talking about *the same type of student* who ends up at an Ivy/top college versus a flagship or anywhere else. I concur with the sentiment that for most kids who qualify for a top college will do just as well from anywhere.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 13:31     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:A friend’s son is a business major at a middling state flagship. He applied, and worked very hard, to win a coveted internship working on the school’s endowment. Through this connection he is now interning at a PE firm where all of the other interns go to Princeton. So yes, he is working side by side with Princeton kids but he knows that he will have to work twice as hard to get the same respect from his peers and bosses.


As someone who sits on the other side of the desk I can assure you your assumption is wrong. All new interns or analysts are treated and viewed equally regardless of where they went to school. They are all given equal chances to prove themselves. No one is looked at more critically due to where they went to school.

I don't care where my best performers went to college. Some went to Ivies, some went to state universities. I can't speak for specific industries or firms but in real life once you're in your first job no one cares where you went to undergrad.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 13:23     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:I am not a troll. I’m the parent of a HS sophomore who is killing themselves excelling in school and participating in extracurriculars to be competitive for T20.

At the same time, I see parents on here posting how their kid went to Cornell and ended up in the same place as someone who went to Pitt or another similarly ranked school.

At the same time, in my job I work alongside people who have gone to ivies and schools I’ve never heard of. I went to Michigan, btw.

My sister did her undergraduate at Oxford, stayed in the UK and is now partner at a well respected consulting firm alongside other partners that went to no name schools from India.

So seeing the stress my kid goes through, I am honestly asking what is the point of a Yale or Princeton if they take you to the same place that a school like Rutgers and Radford can take you?!


You premise is wrong. An individual can absolutely end up in the same place. But the average graduate does not and it is not even remotely close between Yale/Princeton and Rutgers/Radford.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 11:20     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:A friend’s son is a business major at a middling state flagship. He applied, and worked very hard, to win a coveted internship working on the school’s endowment. Through this connection he is now interning at a PE firm where all of the other interns go to Princeton. So yes, he is working side by side with Princeton kids but he knows that he will have to work twice as hard to get the same respect from his peers and bosses.


I think there is a lot more discrimination in the workplace based on how someone looks than where they got their degree.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 11:06     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:A friend’s son is a business major at a middling state flagship. He applied, and worked very hard, to win a coveted internship working on the school’s endowment. Through this connection he is now interning at a PE firm where all of the other interns go to Princeton. So yes, he is working side by side with Princeton kids but he knows that he will have to work twice as hard to get the same respect from his peers and bosses.


And if that is true, it is sad. The snobbery around colleges is so stupid. It's really the same snobbery around socioeconomic status. The idea that it's all merit based is nonsense.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 10:56     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:A friend’s son is a business major at a middling state flagship. He applied, and worked very hard, to win a coveted internship working on the school’s endowment. Through this connection he is now interning at a PE firm where all of the other interns go to Princeton. So yes, he is working side by side with Princeton kids but he knows that he will have to work twice as hard to get the same respect from his peers and bosses.


+1
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 08:39     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
A friend’s son is a business major at a middling state flagship. He applied, and worked very hard, to win a coveted internship working on the school’s endowment. Through this connection he is now interning at a PE firm where all of the other interns go to Princeton. So yes, he is working side by side with Princeton kids but he knows that he will have to work twice as hard to get the same respect from his peers and bosses.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 06:22     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Lots of talk here about the Ivy+, but how is it for publics like Berekely, UCLA, Michigan, and UVA? Do they open doors, or are they comparable to any other flagship public

The "public ivies" are definitely better than flyover flagships. But if you have a choice between the best public ivy and the weakest actual ivy, go with the ivy.


there is no such thing as ivy+ or public ivy. these are just coping mechanisms.


There is nothing special about any ivies other than HYP. Those non-HYP ivies had to invent things like ED to make sure people don't use them as backup. Cornell has to give guaranteed transfer options to fill the spots of kids who leave. Plenty of kids take Michigan or Berkeley over Cornell. Cornell's yield with ED is in the sixties.


+1. Anyone who says just “go with the Ivy” isn’t particularly knowledgeable or insightful about different schools. It’s an overly simplistic heuristic.
Anonymous
Post 06/29/2025 01:02     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:Lots of talk here about the Ivy+, but how is it for publics like Berekely, UCLA, Michigan, and UVA? Do they open doors, or are they comparable to any other flagship public


They probably open more doors in some areas than the t50+ but they are not on the same level as ivy+, and for certain jobs they may not be target schools like ivy+. Ivy+ is a set that has been studied and shown to make a difference at the top end of certain fields. Not more than that.
Anonymous
Post 06/28/2025 21:39     Subject: Re:What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So unfortunately after 19 pages of comments, the only person who could quantify a person doing better after going to an ivy, was the poster whose friend married a guy who makes bank. Yikes.


Well I’m also a SAHM married to a partner who is making bank, and we BOTH went to no-name universities. So does that cancel out the other comment?


Yes it does.👍


I’ll double cancel it. I’m married to a guy who makes a ton, and his college folded and doesn’t even exist anymore. It was a no name before that.

Sometimes it really doesn’t matter where you go.


Quite honestly many times it doesn’t matter if you go at all. I doubt your guy had to attend college at all.

Anonymous
Post 06/28/2025 21:18     Subject: Re:What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So unfortunately after 19 pages of comments, the only person who could quantify a person doing better after going to an ivy, was the poster whose friend married a guy who makes bank. Yikes.


Well I’m also a SAHM married to a partner who is making bank, and we BOTH went to no-name universities. So does that cancel out the other comment?


Yes it does.👍


I’ll double cancel it. I’m married to a guy who makes a ton, and his college folded and doesn’t even exist anymore. It was a no name before that.

Sometimes it really doesn’t matter where you go.
Anonymous
Post 06/28/2025 18:13     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m an over achiever graduate of hard knocks university who works with high achievers from Ivys (@ a MBB)

I am jealous they had Uber Black lives and I had Uber Pool … on one hand we’re now at the same destination but on the other it would have been nice to have an easier ride here and that line on my resume that always guaranteed it was read.

The truth is, it is somewhat soul crushing to realize that the doors really aren’t open to everyone. You can scan this thread and see that the C suite isn’t achievable to the best candidate because the best candidate never gets selected to even work in strategy, let alone work in the ladder to the top. Achieving, keeping and advancing in this top consulting firm I now have a possible future here but I’m a rare breakout example

My college roommates and friends are my soulmates but they aren’t famous or connected and that’s great - I love them and they make my life richer decades after graduation.


The problem is things like the bolded are not true. They are like these DCUM myths that may have had a small sliver of truth at some point but people here (erroneously) believe them to be factual statements of how the world works.


I appreciate you

Maybe at the end of the day it’s just that you’re able to play the hand you’re dealt.

Anonymous
Post 06/28/2025 14:17     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Exaaaaaactly.
Anonymous
Post 06/28/2025 14:14     Subject: What’s the point of going to a top school if you end up in the same place as someone who didn’t
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Lots of talk here about the Ivy+, but how is it for publics like Berekely, UCLA, Michigan, and UVA? Do they open doors, or are they comparable to any other flagship public

The "public ivies" are definitely better than flyover flagships. But if you have a choice between the best public ivy and the weakest actual ivy, go with the ivy.


there is no such thing as ivy+ or public ivy. these are just coping mechanisms.


There is nothing special about any ivies other than HYP. Those non-HYP ivies had to invent things like ED to make sure people don't use them as backup. Cornell has to give guaranteed transfer options to fill the spots of kids who leave. Plenty of kids take Michigan or Berkeley over Cornell. Cornell's yield with ED is in the sixties.


Don't see why HYP are so special tbh.