What you just descrbied is hiring for an average company for an average employee (nothing wrong with that). Top companies hire from top schools because that is where the best and brightest attend. Not rocket science here, just reality. BTW not ALL top students attend top universities and not all top universities have top students, its just that most do.
@CU123. I’ll let you in on a little secret. Having worked for a “top” company or two,(USAA, JPMorgan Chase) I can tell you that the recruitment process is because of convenience. By the way, you can get into these companies just as easily without a Harvard degree. They recruit these graduates, not because they are any brighter, quite the opposite. They’re a big company that has a few dead end jobs with notoriously high turnover, and the company needs some warm educated bodies to fill them.
@coolguy40 I have no clue how the Ivy graduates are perceived in the job market, but regarding the cost of education at an ivy league school, here are the facts on the conservative side: If you come from a family of 4 with an income of 90k a year and no savings or other assets, the tuition cost is zero. If the family income is 60K/year, they will additionally subsidize the food and room costs by 50%! And most of these schools do not even factor in the 100k or so equity the family may have built into their home to calculate the student’s aid package. The reality is : If the family is making under 100K, and if the student has the choice of attending a State U. or Ivy U, it is cheaper to attend an Ivy.
Many promising kids and their parents are scared away by the big sticker price of an Ivy. They should not be. They should educate themselves as to what their real cost is and then decide. The OP mentioned the she is from a middle class family of 4 - hence others here and I have made reasonable assumptions about her affordability while giving her tidbits of advice as guidance as she paves her own path.
Yes they do have to fill those warm body jobs ( if you aspire to middle management) but for the exec level at JP Morgan…well my good friend is a Wharton grad.
@CU123 Big misconception. Look at the top CEOs of major fortune 500 companies and you tell me where they graduated from. Less than 1% of the educated workforce has a degree from an ivy league school, which leaves more than 99% of the worlds largest and prosperous economy to get along great without them. Even a major fortune 500 company would hardly, if ever get an applicant from an ivy school, so they get to be treated like EVERYONE ELSE. A bachelor’s degree is just that…a bachelor’s degree and it will be squashed by a master’s degree from any school. And a master’s degree will be squashed by the person with the most relevant experience. If you look in the job postings on indeed website, nowhere does it say in the job requirements, “master’s degree required, or bachelors from awesome school.”
Ok believe what you want…
Not sure where to post this since I’m new to CC so I’ll just put it here. I really am hoping to attend a good school, possibly an ivy school. I’m a sophomore currently. Do any of you have advice on what classes I should take and what else I can do to spice up my application? Would be greatly appreciated.
White female, lower class, immigrant
I am currently in:
Language (Italian)
AP World hist
English Honors
Science Research
Geometry (reg)
Bio Honors
Orchestra
Junior year I hope to take:
Language (Italian)
APUSH
AP Environmental science
Chem honors
Alg 2 honors
AP English Lang
Orchestra
I will take a psychology class at a community college to prepare for the AP exam since AP psych is not offered at my
school
I volunteer at my town court and will soon volunteer in a hospital. I am also taking a 10 day law program during the summer at Stanford. I am part of 2 clubs, no leadership positions yet. I have not taken the SAT yet but I am practicing. I know it’s not much, but this is why I’m asking, to get suggestions. Thanks!
@coolguy40 you are actually wrong. A disproportionately large portion of ivy league graduates are fortune 500 CEOs and hold other major positions of power.
Also a lot of top firms and major corporations recruit much more heavily in ivies and other elites compared to an average university.
You can definitely make it to the top from any university, many do, but there are advantages to attending an elite school.