To have big success you need more than smarts and pedigree. You also need ambition, discipline, and perseverance. Better schools try to admit students with the latter, as judged by their essays and ECs, but sometimes they get it wrong. Not everyone is or wants to be a Type A personality.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to move on from your jealousy OP. My kid went to Princeton and graduated with an English Degree. Millionaire by age 30.

She wasn’t a millionaire because she got an English degree from Princeton unless she wrote a bestseller.

It’s so American (and gross) to think that having money is an accomplishment in and of itself.

She could have made that money selling her body, or drugs, or trafficking kids. Are we supposed to be impressed?

As Americans we pay our bills. It is gross to suggest that English majors are selling their body, trafficking kids and selling drugs.

My English major niece works for Big Tech and stays steadily employed.

Anonymous wrote:I would like to ban the term "middling".

Commercial house painter, soldier, administrative assistant. All are Ivy grads that I know. The first two own their own homes.

I know a guy who was an English major at an Ivy. He works as a commercial house painter out west. The high end clients almost always talk down to him. Little do they know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Looking at outcomes isn’t the right prism it’s what opportunities were available to them out of college. Some people may choose to work for the government, become a professor/researcher, or work as a teacher while they write their book. It’s whether you’re getting to do what you want that matters not meeting someone else’s definition of success.

Does any 18 year old know what they want to do? If so they didn’t have enough experience to see many paths. Your argument doesn’t make sense unless you only look in hindsight with 20/20 vision

Thanks for making my point. If you don’t know at 18 then having somewhere that gives you the widest range of opportunities is the best option.

I guess op is talking about people like me. It's fine that you have no idea how competitive my middling research job was! Would it be nice to have more money like many many of my classmates? Yeah, sure, on many occasions. But then my day to day would mean doing something less exciting for me at the least, and possibly selling my soul if I went down certain paths. So, I'm good where I am.

I would like to ban the term "middling".

I think having Ivy degree opens doors.

I've seen my friends with Ivy diplomas get offered job interviews they might not otherwise have gotten if they had a middling university diploma listed in their CV. So even if the jobs are average.... they are protected from job loss during economic downturns in ways that others might not be.

This is important!

True and same for Stanford grads too. I live in the Bay are and know three Stanford grads who worked at non-profits or consulting companies briefly after graduation but then became stay at home parents for 20 years and now are having difficulty entering the workforce. Another friend is a Yale grad and she is a volunteer who worked a few years as a drama teacher and made little to no money. My friend who went to Columbia to study English works part-time as a tutor for teens and makes ok not great money. My friend's daughter graduated Dartmouth and is a nanny.

I think people should not expect ROI just from the logo on the diploma. It's how hard you hustle and what you plan to do with your degree. My other friend from UCSB is a successful CEO who's had an amazing career and plans to retire before she hits 60.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You need to move on from your jealousy OP. My kid went to Princeton and graduated with an English Degree. Millionaire by age 30.

She wasn’t a millionaire because she got an English degree from Princeton unless she wrote a bestseller.

It’s so American (and gross) to think that having money is an accomplishment in and of itself.

She could have made that money selling her body, or drugs, or trafficking kids. Are we supposed to be impressed?

What’s middling research? Like academia?

Yes in DC you meet a lot of Ivy ug, AU law ppl. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but some ppl are intense about hs admissions and then don’t realize how grades matter for grad school. No name school plus Harvard or Yale Law is more impressive. Then you have the double top Ivy, smart and privileged.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Yale and deliberately became a high school teacher. On purpose because I wanted to. Yale was fun and I got a good education. And, I got a really fantastic husband. 10 out of 10. Would recommend.

MRS Degree is a very traditional outcome.

Anonymous wrote:You need to move on from your jealousy OP. My kid went to Princeton and graduated with an English Degree. Millionaire by age 30.

Does your kid take frequent "business" trips to Dubai?

Anonymous wrote:Looking at outcomes isn’t the right prism it’s what opportunities were available to them out of college. Some people may choose to work for the government, become a professor/researcher, or work as a teacher while they write their book. It’s whether you’re getting to do what you want that matters not meeting someone else’s definition of success.

Does any 18 year old know what they want to do? If so they didn’t have enough experience to see many paths. Your argument doesn’t make sense unless you only look in hindsight with 20/20 vision