Short answer - yes. I have never had a boss that went to either of these schools.
FIL had an elementary school education and founded a successful engineering company that built roads and airports all over the Middle East and Africa. He fled the Nazis at age 13, hiding out in the former Soviet Union until war’s end.
Yes, you can be successful without attending an Ivy.
On a less dramatic scale, my upscale neighborhood is full of non Ivy grads. Doctors, business owners, many of whom served their countries (this is a military town), then attended a public uni, then settled here. We also have a good number of immigrants, especially from Mexico, who came here with nothing, obtained an education at local schools, then worked hard to be successful. I see my kids’ peers, children of immigrants, doing well in non Ivy schools, becoming happy, successful professionals.
Yup- renowned in post #35. Darn, I’m still not perfect… getting over perfectionism takes so many years of living. Still hate to write. And- someone actually read my long post! Thanks for the correct term.
Of course. Every college and university has a list of graduates who’ve seen great successes in many areas. Every ivy has drop outs and graduates who aren’t wildly successful. Don’t get stuck on a name.
“Co-founders of Google went to UMich (Larry Page) and UMaryland (Sergei Bryn). It’s true they both then went to Stanford, but they had humble roots and attended good undergraduate schools but not the elite of which the OP speaks.”
So now, Michigan is not as elite as CMU or Georgia Tech? Please…
The OP is ignorant of school rankings and caliber. He listed schools he knows, not the top tier ones with national name recognition (I dispute the reputations of so many schools compared to others I know of).
Now someone can do my homework and count the numbers in the other 490 Fortune 500 hundred to verify what I heard. Does having the most even if none in the top ten matter? Hmmm.
OP do you see how silly it is to be concerned about the college’s reputation being only in the top 5 or 10? It is far more important how well YOU do personally in any school. Being top tier in a different school is more beneficial than being mediocre in one of those you mention.
There is a good, successful life to be had outside the most elite schools, the east (and west) coasts…
A list for undergrad degrees is at http://time.com/money/4364104/top-colleges-fortune-500-ceos/ . The totals look like below. Note that these 10 schools compose only 12% of the total Fortune 500 CEO’s. There are hundreds of others colleges in the list, the overwhelming majority of which are not among the schools the OP listed.
- Harvard -- 10
- Cornell -- 9
- Notre Dame -- 6
- Penn State -- 6
- Texas A&M -- 6
- West Point -- 6
- Princeton -- 5
- Stanford -- 5
- University of Wisconsin -- 5
- University of Miami -- 4
Another side of this is to look at what people who attend the “elite” colleges end up doing in life. If you look at, say, the class of 1985 from an Ivy League college, you’ll see that most people graduated, most went on to be professionals of some kind or another–lots of doctors, lawyers, middle manger types, academics. There will be some famous people, a few actual entrepreneurs, but for the most part the graduates of these schools end up as upper-middle class professionals leading conventional lives. That is by far the most likely outcome if you attend an elite university. There’s nothing wrong with this, but attending these schools is not a magic ticket to exceptionalism.
The short answer is a resounding YES!! In fact most people in America do just that. Computer degrees are highly employable and employers are more interested in whether you can do the job. The degree makes almost no difference to them. Also, a master’s degree from a small state school squashes a bachelors degree any day of the week, even if the bachelor’s degree is GA Tech. If you can get into MIT, you can get a scholarship anywhere and graduate debt free. That’s success.
The OP should think about going to the best school he can afford (without a lot of debt). If he gets in to an “elite” and can afford it, great. If not, go to the best one he can afford and do really well. Consider the “elite” for grad school after a few yrs in the work force. Then you’ll see the F500 CEO #s dominated by HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, etc. Know several who have done just that but they all started out at state U.
Friend of mine went to low-end state university and is now a TOP guy at Apple.
“Where you go is not who you’ll be”.
btw- most of the gifted students will NOT attend one of the elite schools, or your list (I don’t get your choices, btw). The most elite schools do not take only the mid-high end gifted and many of those students do end up at their state flagship, especially because of finances. btw- most college grads do not go on to a PhD, even those from elite colleges.
YES YOU CAN ! I think this site is really good but sometimes I think it makes students feels as if they will not accomplish much without attending an Ivy League. I attended Texas A&M as did my husband and my sisters attended University of Texas. We all have jobs, are all pretty successful and we all had a great time in college where we met new friends from all over. The main thing I would say is that we are happy and I get to do a job I love each and every day. Apply to a lot of schools so you have options. State schools are also way cheaper.
All I can say is I surely hope so , 99% of our dreams would be crushed if our success in life was tied to attending an Ivey League or top tier university. I’m no expert on successful people but I’m inclined to believe that most of them have common traits that no college in the world could give them. Passion for their work, hard work and dedication. I tell my kids success is happiness, not a job or degrees hanging on a wall.
College prestige is more about personal pride than anything else. The value of a big-name, high-dollar university is vastly overblown in my opinion. Once you land that job interview, the content of your character becomes infinitely more important than your school colors.
Well I pretty much guarantee that not one of the super successful people mentioned here ever went on CC to ask what other people thought. LOL. Go to a school you love, that you can afford, with people who excite you and remember you don’t need to give anyone an explanation for that choice. Life is short, don’t buy into other people’s skewed perceptions.
I’m successful as a computer professional and I didn’t graduate from a top tier school. I went to UTSA. My dad went to UNLV, and my brother went to SUU, and both of them are earning top salaries as computer professionals. Prestige is an emotion and it’s not a basis for a rational decision. The reality is it’s only a bachelors degree and they’ve become pretty well standardized over many decades. The only real difference is how much you’re paying for it. The real success is what comes by choice.