Anonymous wrote:A top school may afford one more opportunities early in one's career but there is a point of diminishing returns. I manage a team of 30 at a major tech company. Anyone hired on this team is based on experience and skillsets and not where they went to school an undergrad. It is always a red flag if an interviewee spends too time talking about where they went to college. I might have one employee who went to an Ivy League school and another 1 or 2 who went to a top 20 school. Ultimately, no one cares.

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Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

Yes, it actually does matter where you go to college, unless your claim is that all institutions of higher ed are exactly the same with the same people and in the same location and the same lineup of professors and curriculum.

No one would be stupid enough to claim that

Also, are you 91 years old? because your sentiments sounds as if you might be a great grandpapa

No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.

This made me chuckle. I attended Princeton; spouse attended GW. We're in our late-40s now and spouse's friend group from undergrad is at least as accomplished/successful as mine, probably more so. (And I was no slouch--either in college or afterwards.)

You can never win an anecdote contest when the actual most successful people went to top schools vs all the unnamed successful people on DCUM.

Who said you get to decide who the “actual” most successful people are?

Well, use whatever metric you want…highest net worth, politics, nonprofit leaders, Nobel prize winners, etc.

You know…actual, verified successful people.

In every metric, the ivies and about 10 other schools are far overrepresented at the top.

Anonymous wrote:Lock, this website is full of strivers and insecure wannabes, many of whom went to fancy colleges themselves. They’re hardly going to be advocating a different path for their children. That would be admitting that they themselves aren’t that special.

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Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

Yes, it actually does matter where you go to college, unless your claim is that all institutions of higher ed are exactly the same with the same people and in the same location and the same lineup of professors and curriculum.

No one would be stupid enough to claim that

Also, are you 91 years old? because your sentiments sounds as if you might be a great grandpapa

No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.

This made me chuckle. I attended Princeton; spouse attended GW. We're in our late-40s now and spouse's friend group from undergrad is at least as accomplished/successful as mine, probably more so. (And I was no slouch--either in college or afterwards.)

You can never win an anecdote contest when the actual most successful people went to top schools vs all the unnamed successful people on DCUM.

Who said you get to decide who the “actual” most successful people are?

Well, use whatever metric you want…highest net worth, politics, nonprofit leaders, Nobel prize winners, etc.

You know…actual, verified successful people.

In every metric, the ivies and about 10 other schools are far overrepresented at the top.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

Yes, it actually does matter where you go to college, unless your claim is that all institutions of higher ed are exactly the same with the same people and in the same location and the same lineup of professors and curriculum.

No one would be stupid enough to claim that

Also, are you 91 years old? because your sentiments sounds as if you might be a great grandpapa

No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.

This made me chuckle. I attended Princeton; spouse attended GW. We're in our late-40s now and spouse's friend group from undergrad is at least as accomplished/successful as mine, probably more so. (And I was no slouch--either in college or afterwards.)

You can never win an anecdote contest when the actual most successful people went to top schools vs all the unnamed successful people on DCUM.

Who said you get to decide who the “actual” most successful people are?

Well, use whatever metric you want…highest net worth, politics, nonprofit leaders, Nobel prize winners, etc.

You know…actual, verified successful people.

How about leaders in the local community? The people that teach your kids or firefighters? Civil rights leaders?

I doubt the person comparing their success from Princeton vs the success of husband from GW was using this metric.

But…does founding Teach for America count in your book? Also, not sure how to count Civil Rights leaders from 60 years ago in this scenario.

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Anonymous wrote:I went to an Ivy and I think your pint is well taken - obviously within reason. I don’t think going to Harvard is equivalent to going to Radford although the Radford grad can certainly be successful this board likes to slice and dice rankings and it’s kind of crazy.

Personally, I’m not that much of a fan of the Ivies and think smaller schools that focus on undergrad education are preferable. That seems to not be the prevailing sentiment on this board but for the $$$ I’m paying that’s my preference. My oldest just started at a smaller school (although not even as small as I would like) and my next one may not take my advice on this but I didn’t think the education I got at an Ivy was all that great. It was good but the professors were by and large not focused on undergrads as much as grad students.

I also think the network thing is overrated. I’m not someone who is overly calculating so I wasn’t trying to angle my way into the groups of the wealthy and connected at the school. My friends are basically regular smart people I could have met at a lot of other schools. Everyone is doing well at middle age in a mix of careers but so are a lot of other friends who went to a range of schools.

How is the network thing overrated if you didn’t even try to network?

I think "networking" is much better at Congressional Country Club than at Harvard.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

Yes, it actually does matter where you go to college, unless your claim is that all institutions of higher ed are exactly the same with the same people and in the same location and the same lineup of professors and curriculum.

No one would be stupid enough to claim that

Also, are you 91 years old? because your sentiments sounds as if you might be a great grandpapa

No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.

This made me chuckle. I attended Princeton; spouse attended GW. We're in our late-40s now and spouse's friend group from undergrad is at least as accomplished/successful as mine, probably more so. (And I was no slouch--either in college or afterwards.)

You can never win an anecdote contest when the actual most successful people went to top schools vs all the unnamed successful people on DCUM.

Who said you get to decide who the “actual” most successful people are?

Well, use whatever metric you want…highest net worth, politics, nonprofit leaders, Nobel prize winners, etc.

You know…actual, verified successful people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to an Ivy and I think your pint is well taken - obviously within reason. I don’t think going to Harvard is equivalent to going to Radford although the Radford grad can certainly be successful this board likes to slice and dice rankings and it’s kind of crazy.

Personally, I’m not that much of a fan of the Ivies and think smaller schools that focus on undergrad education are preferable. That seems to not be the prevailing sentiment on this board but for the $$$ I’m paying that’s my preference. My oldest just started at a smaller school (although not even as small as I would like) and my next one may not take my advice on this but I didn’t think the education I got at an Ivy was all that great. It was good but the professors were by and large not focused on undergrads as much as grad students.

I also think the network thing is overrated. I’m not someone who is overly calculating so I wasn’t trying to angle my way into the groups of the wealthy and connected at the school. My friends are basically regular smart people I could have met at a lot of other schools. Everyone is doing well at middle age in a mix of careers but so are a lot of other friends who went to a range of schools.

How is the network thing overrated if you didn’t even try to network?

Anonymous wrote:Only the top third of a school tend to do well.

I know a lot of under-performing Ivy grads….

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.

Ding ding ding! It matters

Anonymous wrote:I went to an Ivy and I think your pint is well taken - obviously within reason. I don’t think going to Harvard is equivalent to going to Radford although the Radford grad can certainly be successful this board likes to slice and dice rankings and it’s kind of crazy.

Personally, I’m not that much of a fan of the Ivies and think smaller schools that focus on undergrad education are preferable. That seems to not be the prevailing sentiment on this board but for the $$$ I’m paying that’s my preference. My oldest just started at a smaller school (although not even as small as I would like) and my next one may not take my advice on this but I didn’t think the education I got at an Ivy was all that great. It was good but the professors were by and large not focused on undergrads as much as grad students.

I also think the network thing is overrated. I’m not someone who is overly calculating so I wasn’t trying to angle my way into the groups of the wealthy and connected at the school. My friends are basically regular smart people I could have met at a lot of other schools. Everyone is doing well at middle age in a mix of careers but so are a lot of other friends who went to a range of schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again.

Yes, it actually does matter where you go to college, unless your claim is that all institutions of higher ed are exactly the same with the same people and in the same location and the same lineup of professors and curriculum.

No one would be stupid enough to claim that

Also, are you 91 years old? because your sentiments sounds as if you might be a great grandpapa

No this is true. A similar class at Princeton is not the same as at GWU and is not the same at UMD and is not the same at Towson. The rigor is less, the course material is not the same, and the students are not the same which is a big deal. So yes this is all true.

Still can rule the world from Towson if you have it in you. Just not as likely.