<p>Interesting:
<a href=“http://dallas.citybizlist.com/article/alice-walton-tops-50-texas-billionaires-forbes-list-0”>http://dallas.citybizlist.com/article/alice-walton-tops-50-texas-billionaires-forbes-list-0</a></p>
<p>There are a few Harvard, Yale, Penn, Stanford graduates, but the majority did their undergrad at state colleges and universities. Also, Texas’ flagship is probably the most frequent name in the list. Finally, some of them did not even go to college at all.</p>
<p>@slacerMomMD - sorry, I typed too quickly. I meant < 2000.</p>
<p>“The Dropbox founder went to MIT, but there are schools like Ohio State, Vanderbilt, UCSD, UCLA, Stony Brook. These are all good schools but not the “instantly recognizable” top 10.”</p>
<p>Depends where you are. In my area, Vanderbilt is most certainly easily recognizable as a top school. UCLA is a football school and what the heck is Stony Brook? </p>
<p>It’s only on cc that ppl care about these stats. </p>
<p>LOL. Reputation is so region-dependent. In CA, UCLA is seen as a top school (even by Cal grads), UCSD is seen as a top school in STEM, OSU is a football school, and Vandy is seen as a school for partying rich kids (kinda like a southern version of USC).</p>
<p>Sorry, but as stated above, the elite schools are not the target for the very vast majority of students…even students who are well qualified to be admitted and attend. Believe it or not, Julie, some folks just don’t care about those schools…and they are very successful adults. </p>
<p>Anyway, while overall per capita acheivement may be lower at lower-tier schools than at the very top tier, certain departments and schools at lower tier schools actually perform as well or better than the top tier. For example, Illinois CS (and I believe Cal CS as well; maybe even UCLA CS) actually has a higher production rate of tech startup founders than most Ivies and Ivy-equivalents.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan
I haven’t seen the numbers, but it’s safe to assume that UT Austin has a great number of tech startup founders as well. After all, Austin is one of the booming tech sectors.</p>
<p>@Fredjan:</p>
<p>I’ll have to check. One of these days, I’m going to put up the list of schools who put out more than 10 startup founders.</p>
<p>My ivy-caliber kid is not applying to any ivies, but he IS applying to UT-Austin and several state universities. Must be something wrong with him, or perhaps his high school did not educate him properly on where he can receive a stellar university education.</p>
<p>I’m sure someone else has said it, but… why would this be shocking? </p>
<p>One of the reasons you attend a top 10 school is not only for the education but also for the connections. Those can be extremely valuable in the future.</p>
<p>I haven’t read the whole thread, so I apologize if this has been mentioned.</p>
<p>This question has actually been studied. Researchers Dale and Krueger looked at students who were accepted to elite schools, but attended “lesser” schools, and found that they did just as well as those who attended the elites. So the elite schools didn’t instill the talent, ambition and drive which can produce material success. Those traits were already there.</p>
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<p>This is one of the biggest myths out there–that only “top” schools produce good connections. It might be true if all the successful people in society graduated from these schools. But they haven’t. In my own case, I have used connections from my elite alma mater exactly zero times. I would probably have been better off networking-wise if I had attended the state flagship where I live.</p>
<p>“Connections” are extremely over-rated. It does help to have had some contact with people who are in a position to do things that are favorable to you. But whether that results in a positive outcome for you depends on what they think of you. Extremely personable, competent, and productive people always have a ton of “connections” because people want them around, and want them on their team. It really is not unlike getting picked for teams in little league or gym class.</p>
<p>I think connections are very important and I’ve leveraged them. But it’s rather silly not to realize that connections can come from a myriad of places. You don’t think Texas A&M or Ole Miss have loyal alum networks? </p>
<p>@PurpleTitan, the game dude had passion for gaming, isn’t that what everyone on CC suggesting all the time? Find your passion and you never have to work a day. </p>
<p>I clicked on the top billionaires list and daring to me is the guy who went from welfare to billionaire list through SJSU. Talking about an American dream comes true!</p>
<p>I don’t think connections are overrated. Have seen over and over in many cases nowadays, its not what you know, its who you know.</p>
<p>Connections definitely matter, but undergrad isn’t as great a source as say, b-school, because there, you can find a greater percentage of folks who are focused in and going in to the same industries you are (unless you join business frats, preprofessional clubs and the like as an undergrad). I’ve found my b-school, HS, work-related (and through that, friend network) connections to be more useful in furthering my career than my undergraduate connections.</p>
<p>In any case, as was stated earlier, it’s not as if the state flagships do not potentially offer great connections either. You’re going to find Silicon Valley crawling with not only Cal CS grads but also Illinois CS grads (and I know of people in both those schools pulling their friends in to various startups). In Louisiana, probably more business relationships that start in the fall germinate on Saturdays in the suites of Tiger Stadium than anywhere else in the state.</p>