College Name and Career

<p>So I read this interesting article on the NYTimes ( Tip</a> Sheet: On the Wisdom and Merits of Exploring ‘Less Visible’ Colleges - The Choice Blog - NYTimes.com ) about finding lesser name school that may provide a better 'fit' for a student. Of course the Ivies are not made for everyone even though it's seems like half of each year's high school graduating class is applying to one. </p>

<p>I know that I will be successful at ANY college on my list but I'm tired of hearing all the talk about finding a 'fit' when top companies, med, law, and business schools are only recruiting from the Ivies and the top 20 schools. Someone in the comments for the article above have mentioned this issue and I'd like to discuss it here. What do you guys think? Are you taking future job security into account or are you on a path to solely find your perfect college?</p>

<p>The “top” companies recruit at the top 20 schools because they know they’ll get more bang for the buck. </p>

<p>But this only represents a tiny sliver of the US and world economy, you know. It’s not as if the Fortune 100 companies are the entire universe and everyone else is left outside as a beggar. Chase after the best education possible – but don’t stress that because you might miss out on the so-called “prestige” schools that the all is meaningless. </p>

<p>I’m an HYP grad and I know the crushing odds for applicants to those schools. Will either of my kids be of that caliber? I hope so. Will either apply and be accepted. Frankly, numbers say not very likely. I’m OK with that. I want them to be women of character and strength. If they have an Ivy degree, fine. If not, fine.</p>

<p>“It’s not as if the Fortune 100 companies are the entire universe and everyone else is left outside as a beggar.”</p>

<p>I didn’t say that. I’m not going after prestige myself as I find it pointless. It just doesn’t make sense to me how some companies ONLY recruit from top schools. My coach spoke to me about job recruiting when he was director of that division in his financial firm, and I asked him where the company went to recruit and he just went down the list of ivies and top LAC’s. Yes I understand that these companies get more bang for their buck at these schools. But isn’t this opinion only deterring some students from trying to find that right college for them if they know that they have to work twice as hard to get a job that they and a HYPMS grad are equally for if that student attends a lesser known school? It’s counterproductive to the solving of this recurring problem.</p>

<p>I understand your frustration. The business world can often be short sighted. I know one friend, a VP who derided his company’s policy to not even consider MBAs outside of the top ten B-schools. As if it were some magic formula. Of course it’s narrow and simplistic and misses out on outstanding candidates elsewhere. But people are creatures of habit as foolish as it is. </p>

<p>Accept it for what it is and look for opportunities elsewhere. Nothing wrong with that.</p>

<p>So there’s no solution, hunh? I’m not proposing a solution to this whole college admissions problem of course…</p>

<p>Recruiting budgets are limiting just like any other budget. But there are tiers to those budgets. A major multinational corporation may have a budget that allows them to recruit at the “top 20” but they will be looking to fill a certain type of position. That doesn’t preclude regional offices of those companies from recruiting graduates from schools closer to their specific locations. </p>

<p>“Corporate” jobs may be more likely to be recruited from the top 20, but there are a slew of jobs available (well there used to be), at other levels of these same companies.</p>