<p>Had to share this piece of news from Reuters, about the appointment of a new CEO at a top insurance-related firm: "Case most recently served as head of the Financial Services Practice at McKinsey & Company, the international strategic management consulting firm. Previously, Case was responsible for McKinsey's Global Insurance Practice. A native of Kansas City, Case received his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University and his M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. "</p>
<p>So this guy attended Kansas State University, got into H business school, and now is the CEO of a multi billion corporation.</p>
<p>I wonder how many people who got into Tier 1 undergrad schools will be working for this KSU grad?</p>
<p>I have to say I'm getting a bit tired of this line of argument.</p>
<p>Sucess does not equal wealth.
A top Tier undergrad school does not necessarily lead to wealth.</p>
<p>My S decided to go to Harvard not because it is one of the highest ranked school in the country and the world, but because it has one of the best math departments. Becoming a millionaire is not high on his list of priorities. Learning as much math as he can is. He probably will go to graduate school, and when he gets a Ph.D. he may go into teaching, or he may go to work for a company whose boss will have graduated from a school similar to KSU. He will happily do so as long as the work is meaningful to him. To him, that's success.</p>
<p>As for the Harvard MBA, companies like to send their top or even middle managers to Harvard, and the B-school is happy to take their tuition. Where they went for undergraduate studies is not that important once they've achieved a certain position within a company.</p>
<p>You misunderstood completely. First, I did not offer a line of argument, and I was not thinking of wealth at all, and I made no mention of money. So you're reading too much between the lines.</p>
<p>I posted this because there have been a lot of kids who are right now overwhelmed by sadness and defeat, thinking that because they didn't get into their top choice school, their dreams of success are over. (You will notice - or perhaps you won't - I did not use in my post the word Ivy, or top ten. I said "top tier", which in USNWR terms is way more than 50 colleges, not just 7.) </p>
<p>Most of the kids on this forum are not thinking about money, nor was I. They are thinking about door opening, about opportunities, about being able to achieve things in their lives. When they post their feelings, they sound like they think that door is closed, and their future is set the minute they open the envelope from their first-choice school, and it's not good news. </p>
<p>I thought it would be motivating for some of them to see another example of what can be achieved even when you don't graduate from a top tier school. It's all about having goals, and working hard, and knowing who you are and what you want. </p>
<p>If you chose to read my post as dissing Ivies, or equating success with money, that's your right. That wasn't what I wrote.</p>
<p>I actually reacted similarly to Marite in the sense that I thought there was a suggestion of equating success with managing a "multi-billion corporation." What would interest me more is how much success a math major at a "second tier" school might have in applying to top graduate schools in math.</p>
<p>And I understood Hayden's post just as he meant it -- even before reading his second post explaining it. I found it encouraging for those who are licking their wounds over a rejection or waitlisting. Then again, I went to San Jose State before being accepted to grad school at Harvard.</p>
<p>well I just had a conversation yesterday with a mom of one of my daughters high school friends who has just gotten a promotion- she is now the CEO of a recreational sports co-op with over 2 million members.
She attended a local university and her son is as well.( different school however)
( incidentally her degree was in mechanical engineering ;) )</p>
<p>I think success says at least as much about the person- than the school.</p>
<p>I only thought that the OP was attempting to encourage those who aren't making it into the top tier schools. But I'm slow and not terribly successful! :-)</p>
<p>I went to an average school. I had an average education. I lead an average life. I play my instrument and I love my job. Music brings me joy. Teaching my students does the same. I am content. I love God, my children and my husband. I love friends and family. My children are doing well in school. They are kind to others and show respect. </p>
<p>I love music and baseball and a good book. </p>
<p>But I am guessing that to most people I am not a success. </p>
<p>I will never be famous. When I die there won't be lines of people waiting to get a glimpse of me. I think, though, that there are a lot of us "out there." Some of us may have even gone to Harvard or Yale. Some of us didn't make it to college. We are "just folks" I guess.</p>
<p>So I'm trying to figure out what people here think success is. I think maybe I belong to a different club, but who knows? </p>
<p>Okay ... enough of my silly questioning. And I'm probably an idiot for even pondering all of this. It's something about the word "success" I guess.</p>
<p>It's something about the word "success" I guess.</p>
<p>That's what got to me. Every time someone wants to show that top schools are not the ticket to success, they bring in some billionnaire who went to a state school. So what is one to infer?
My S's idea of success is learning as much math as he can and getting a job involving math. I'm told however, that the prospects for Ph.D.s in math are bleak, so I doubt he will be a financial success. Unless, of course, he solves one of the millennium problems...</p>
<p>I understood and appreciated the intention of the original poster. Any words of encouragement for the 99.9% of students not attending HPS is a good thing and your motives are respectable for giving these kids some hope. Whenever this occurs on this board someone seems to want to hijack the process and turn it back into an IVY commercial hence the remark that it will be harder to "succeed" without a top tier diploma even though no research supports that concept for this current generation. So thanks for the reality check.</p>
<p>ReedPlay:
I agree with virtually your entire post (apart from religion, where we all have our own deeply personal feelings, and rightly so). </p>
<p>There's a quote from a book I read many moons ago, which said in essence that success in life could be measured by your answer to one question: 'Did you leave the world a better place than it was when you came in?' . If yes - congratulations, you are/were a success in life.</p>
<p>haha. Dogs, you remind me of a line in the Simpsons,"as a Fox censor, it's my job to pretect YOU from reality."<br>
no matter the grammar and no sarcasm intended.</p>
<p>Tiers mean different things to different people. As far as D2 is concerned, H. is fourth tier - a silly school with no Division I gymnastics team. Ranks well below the University of Denver.</p>
<p>marite, in all fairness, I think I would ask you to admit that the correct word is not "infer" but "assume". You drew an assumption of my meaning because you had seen other people use the same example for different argument. Okay, that's fair and I understand. </p>
<p>I thought perhaps I had posted enough that people might recognize my philosophy. If I have not posted enough for that, I guess that is kind of a relief !</p>
<p>My definition of success is simple: Having my children cry at my funeral. It means I died before they do, which for a parent is huge, since I can imagine no greater pain in the world than losing a child. And it means I earned their love. That's success for me.</p>
<p>But there are other things in our lives, and we want to succeed at them, even when we do not define our lives in terms of those successes. College kids' goals are for achieving great things usually. What aspiring actress doesn't want to win an Oscar, or what math whiz doesn't dream secretly of awards. Most of us want to succeed, and each person defines it in his/her own way.</p>
<p>When I see 17 year-olds referring to suicide because they <em>only</em> got into UVA and William and Mary, it really bothers me.</p>
<p>Thanks Hayden for echoing my sentiments. It is frightening that children at such a vulnerable age are reading some of these posts that seem to reinforce the notion that if they are not getting an Ivy diploma they are nothing. The level of angst many of these students have expressed is a reflection of some of the adult attitudes they encounter. As adults its our job to provide guidance about what really matters in life and if there are middle age people on this board that still feel superior because of where they attended college---well that is sad ---but they should try and keep it to themselves when responding to some of the teenager posts like the one you mentioned.</p>
<p>I graduated from American University during the years that AU was a party school. I had an 80 average in high school and my freshman grades in college (1st semester) were 2 F's and 3 C's. I rose into the banking world and at one time had the unfortunate responsibility of firing one Amerherst grad and one Yale grad. Diploma yes - business sense no. To all who are 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier students - stay the course. The creme will rise no matter what the brand.</p>
<p>Smiles---you are terrific. I wish we could post your comment on all the student boards for them to see especially now with so many disappointed kids that think they are without a future because they were "rejected" by a so-called prestige school.</p>