Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These differences are perceived by people who are attempting to rationalize joining the rat race at 13 years old (or earlier) and going to an "elite" school. The rest of us don't care much (AND I had fun in college).

It's only a rat race to interlopers that didn't groom their kids properly and are trying to play catch up in the 7th 8th 9th. I know many families that effortlessly condition their children to simply glide into an elite college. It's just a natural occurrence; organic.

True dat.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I don't buy the not having to prove how smart you are. I have met many idiots who went to top tier schools, and many brilliant people that didn't. I suspect most of us have similar experiences.

+1

When I was a new law grad, I watched my boss destroy a Harvard law grad in a county court in the middle of nowhere USA. She flew in for the hearing, thinking it was a slam dunk and people in flyover country are idiots. didn't have good facts. She didn't have good law. She didn't have home field advantage. Her client was an asshole. Afterwards, she was in the bathroom sobbing "But I went to HARVARD!"

BS.

A Harvard lawyer working shit law? As if.

Harvard lawyer in flyover country...sure

I'm sure that story is completely BS, but don't be have your head up your ass. There are plenty of white shoe firms in "flyover" and many large Fortune 500 companies. There is a world beyond Wall Street, Silicon Valley and DC.

No ...you funny..hahah

Anonymous wrote:Elite colleges only help elite kids. It's a waste to a kid who isn't savvy-smart-clever-outgoing enough to take advantage of all the connections and resources.

I have family who sort of conned their daughter into a great college and she's just...normal...with a very regular job and the same friends she grew up with.

Actually the research shows just the opposite. Elite kids who got INTO a HYP caliber school but went to their state flagship instead ended up with the exact same outcome as those who graduated from HYP.

Elite colleges only help elite kids. It's a waste to a kid who isn't savvy-smart-clever-outgoing enough to take advantage of all the connections and resources.

I have family who sort of conned their daughter into a great college and she's just...normal...with a very regular job and the same friends she grew up with.

Anonymous wrote:you sound very defensive pp

Which pp? There are seven pages of them.

you sound very defensive pp

When I hire people, I usually look past people with pedigreed undergraduate degrees and beefed-up resumes. In my plentiful experience with such people, they are good at gaming systems and working hard for a while (in a way that is visible and looks good to the most senior people but may not be what's really needed for the organization to meet its goals, and that also leads to letting "lesser" things slide) until they can get ahead, by whatever means necessary. They also tend to be full of themselves. I have known some notable exceptions too -- Ivy grads who I'd love to hire and/or work with, if they were in my field -- but the odds are not favorable.

On the other hand, I have a degree from an elite graduate program myself, and I do recruit from that program. It had its share of a-holes, but the odds there seem much more favorable for getting the type of person I want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1. A lifetime of not having to prove how smart you are (especially important for women).

2. Many organizations only hire top tier* (especially in high-level finance, consulting and top law firms)

3. You never have to apologize for where you went, ex. "Why would you go to GWU and pay private tuition when a great state university would be cheaper?

4. Marriage market.

5. If you have to ask...

*top 15 US News

I graduated from GMU and AU. I have never had to prove how smart I am beyond an initial conversation, nor have I ever had to apologize for my choices. I'm doing just fine in my career. And, I am happily married to another non-Top Tier grad.

Really? Must be nice. I went to George Washington and American and in my circles I am always having to prove how smart I am. I went for an interview for my kids to a top local private and they asked where I went to college and I said GW and the admissions director said "Oh".

I think that reflects more on the admissions director and your insecurity than the quality of GW.

Why in the world would your reaction be one of insecurity to someone who behaved this way? You're an adult. Act like one. My kids are at a top local private and I've never been asked about my school. Normal functioning adults don't play these games. The ones who do are NOT normal, functioning adults. It's pretty simple.

Two of the most incompetent people I have encountered were graduate students from Harvard. Truly unbelievable experience of two people who not only couldn't figure out things as simple as the bus system, but also expected everything to be handed to them. Elite schools do not necessarily breed good, helpful or basic functioning people. They are simply people with degrees from an elite school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister went to GWU, is a Senior Vice President in a top tier company. 2 Harvard, 1 Duke and 1 Yale graduate report to her, success is a combination of things.

Your sister is probably hot (?) and has traded on flirtation, affirmative action and possibly handies to rise the ranks.

What happened to you? Did you get passed over for a promotion by a woman (who was most probably smarter and more talented than you). Because that's right, the only way a woman can be more successful than men is by sleeping her way to the top. It is never about her intelligence and talent - only her looks and what she can give to the man in the big office. Interesting that you didn't even notice that the PP didn't identify the gender of the people who work for the sister. How would your scenario work if everyone at the company was a woman - boss and assistants?

I suggest you crawl back into your hole. It's 2016 and your tired schtick is pathetic, not humorous. Maybe your bitterness is because you got

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I don't buy the not having to prove how smart you are. I have met many idiots who went to top tier schools, and many brilliant people that didn't. I suspect most of us have similar experiences.

+1

When I was a new law grad, I watched my boss destroy a Harvard law grad in a county court in the middle of nowhere USA. She flew in for the hearing, thinking it was a slam dunk and people in flyover country are idiots. didn't have good facts. She didn't have good law. She didn't have home field advantage. Her client was an asshole. Afterwards, she was in the bathroom sobbing "But I went to HARVARD!"

BS.

A Harvard lawyer working shit law? As if.

Harvard lawyer in flyover country...sure

I'm sure that story is completely BS, but don't be have your head up your ass. There are plenty of white shoe firms in "flyover" and many large Fortune 500 companies. There is a world beyond Wall Street, Silicon Valley and DC.

It all depends on your goals and ambitions. Top-tier schools matter more for some avenues than others. It is pointless to make blanket statements about one college being better (taking cost into account also) than another, without knowing someone's aspirations. And sadly, most high school seniors today are not mature enough to answer this authentically. They just parrot back what their parents or peers or society has told them they should want.

As for the argument that going to an elite college expands your options later on, sure it can. But all that comes with an opportunity cost in time and money (and stress during high school), and it may turn out to not matter much, if at all, for some avenues. One solution is to wait to attend college until you know WHY you want to go to a particular college and what you want out of it -- and I bet the candidates who can articulate that come across much better to admissions officers also. Or, there is always the option to go to a less elite undergrad and then an elite grad school instead, which arguably matters much more, and is usually chosen with a more informed view of one's goals in life.