Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't touch Penn State with a ten foot pole. Same for UMD and a bunch of others, Arizona, Utah, all dregs. Sorry.

Totally unfair to group UMD in with the dregs. It was always a top 50-60 school. Totally offensive.

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't touch Penn State with a ten foot pole. Same for UMD and a bunch of others, Arizona, Utah, all dregs. Sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

Anonymous wrote:All of your points are correct but you’ll never convince the high anxiety, status-chasing people here so best of luck with this post.

Anonymous wrote:I think perceived prestige is the main reason parents and kids are so crazy to get their kids into certain schools. I do think these schools offer a leg up for some kids, but it is certainly no success path for everyone.

My kid was also an academic high flyer / magnet student. Perfect stats, internships, 4 year varsity athlete, etc. Ivy all waitlist and reject. At UMD CS and doing great. Applying the same hustle and smarts he did in HS. Being at a bigger school there are maybe even more opportunities. Doing paid research and had internships after both freshman and sophomore years. Honestly don't think he'd be doing better if he was at an Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:I think perceived prestige is the main reason parents and kids are so crazy to get their kids into certain schools. I do think these schools offer a leg up for some kids, but it is certainly no success path for everyone.

My kid was also an academic high flyer / magnet student. Perfect stats, internships, 4 year varsity athlete, etc. Ivy all waitlist and reject. At UMD CS and doing great. Applying the same hustle and smarts he did in HS. Being at a bigger school there are maybe even more opportunities. Doing paid research and had internships after both freshman and sophomore years. Honestly don't think he'd be doing better if he was at an Ivy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Let's be honest.. if you have an applicant from MIT and one from UMD, you would look at the MIT applicant first.”
+1

Also that there are a few schools where if you tell people you went there it automatically communicates “very smart”: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT.

In my view the differentiation after that tippy top signaling school group is not that huge but yes there are bands of perceived “smartness” associated with other schools too like UVA signals smarter than GMU or VCU on a resume. Now maybe the kid from the latter two interviews great and is actually smarter and able to do a better job. But in a pile of resumes with kids from all 3 schools thr UVA one is likely to get a closer look.

But everyone knows from their own experiences and from the experiences of their children, that the smartest kids in the class are often NOT the ones who go to those schools. Not saying there aren't obviously smart kids at all of them, but the truth is the fist person you think of when you hear a given school's name is the not-smart person you know who went there.

Not the experience at our HS or among my kid and friends. The smartest are exactly the ones going to those schools. With test required back, more so going forward.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

Well if you'd read what I wrote I mentioned other colleges, Oxford, The Sorbonne etc. I only site Harvard because that's where my particular friend attended. You really need to pay more attention. I'm sure Penn State does have an amazing network of car salesmen and pharmaceutical reps.

You're taking pot shots but let's analyze it a little deeper.

Penn State actually claims it is the #2 producer of CEOs.

https://invent.psu.edu/stories/penn-state-is-the-no-2-school-for-graduating-ceos/#:~:text=The%20only%20school%20rated%20higher,on%20the%20list%20was%20Berkeley.

According to DCUM, NYC firms now recruit at Penn State's business school. I do believe the parents here are telling the truth about how it is now. Wasn't always the case.

CEOs have to navigate through relationships with a lot of different types of people to get ahead. And a lot of people hate snobs, are insecure, or have other issues with elites. State school people start out with a school brand that doesn't alienate...that can be a positional advantage.

The American impulse is generally anti-intellectual AND tends towards giving non-elites a chance to compete. I'd bet on the staying power of those trends. The trends and volume of grads favor state schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Let's be honest.. if you have an applicant from MIT and one from UMD, you would look at the MIT applicant first.”
+1

Also that there are a few schools where if you tell people you went there it automatically communicates “very smart”: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT.

In my view the differentiation after that tippy top signaling school group is not that huge but yes there are bands of perceived “smartness” associated with other schools too like UVA signals smarter than GMU or VCU on a resume. Now maybe the kid from the latter two interviews great and is actually smarter and able to do a better job. But in a pile of resumes with kids from all 3 schools thr UVA one is likely to get a closer look.

But everyone knows from their own experiences and from the experiences of their children, that the smartest kids in the class are often NOT the ones who go to those schools. Not saying there aren't obviously smart kids at all of them, but the truth is the fist person you think of when you hear a given school's name is the not-smart person you know who went there.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Let's be honest.. if you have an applicant from MIT and one from UMD, you would look at the MIT applicant first.”
+1

Also that there are a few schools where if you tell people you went there it automatically communicates “very smart”: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT.

In my view the differentiation after that tippy top signaling school group is not that huge but yes there are bands of perceived “smartness” associated with other schools too like UVA signals smarter than GMU or VCU on a resume. Now maybe the kid from the latter two interviews great and is actually smarter and able to do a better job. But in a pile of resumes with kids from all 3 schools thr UVA one is likely to get a closer look.

But everyone knows from their own experiences and from the experiences of their children, that the smartest kids in the class are often NOT the ones who go to those schools. Not saying there aren't obviously smart kids at all of them, but the truth is the fist person you think of when you hear a given school's name is the not-smart person you know who went there.

Anonymous wrote:For a lot of families, the Mercedes (HYP) is cheaper than the Honda (UMD).

Not saying it's better, but it's cheaper. For other families, it won't be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP there's a lot of talk about prestige and bragging rights but it goes beyond that. You're aware of Oxford, Cambridge, The Sorbonne, university of Bologna etc?

What do you think comes of attending those? You are surrounded by the "best minds" and you make connections with those people, you form a creative or business network that you carry with you out into the world.

I have a friend who attended Harvard and never mentions it, avoids it if possible. Yet her network of friends and colleagues who she met there still exist and they are all doing extraordinarily well and can occasionally help each other out.

Is this unique to Harvard though? You get that at a lot of schools. I mean Penn State is supposed to have an amazing alumni network.

Well if you'd read what I wrote I mentioned other colleges, Oxford, The Sorbonne etc. I only site Harvard because that's where my particular friend attended. You really need to pay more attention. I'm sure Penn State does have an amazing network of car salesmen and pharmaceutical reps.

Anonymous wrote:“Let's be honest.. if you have an applicant from MIT and one from UMD, you would look at the MIT applicant first.”
+1

Also that there are a few schools where if you tell people you went there it automatically communicates “very smart”: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT.

In my view the differentiation after that tippy top signaling school group is not that huge but yes there are bands of perceived “smartness” associated with other schools too like UVA signals smarter than GMU or VCU on a resume. Now maybe the kid from the latter two interviews great and is actually smarter and able to do a better job. But in a pile of resumes with kids from all 3 schools thr UVA one is likely to get a closer look.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is a drop in dignity and respect given once your kid goes to a uni ranked beyond around #70 that I have witnessed. People don't say anything, of course, but behind others backs they judge. For LACs it's a lot less clear cut, I think, since many people don't know LACs as well.

I’ve read a lot of ridiculous comments on DCUM, and this one is in contention for first place. How the view from that ivory tower? FFS.