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I agree completely.
I disagree completely.</p>
<p>It may seem backwards, but it appears that graduate school (and to a certain extent undergrad as well) is more of a meritocracy than the business world is. There are probably 40 ‘elite’ undergraduate institutions in this country (LACs and universities), but the average ‘elite’ company actively recruits from <10, and there’s a ton of overlap in most sectors- finance and specialized tech areas especially.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you’ve got a 3.7+ in a major somewhat related to what you want to do in grad school and you’ve got good recommendations and ECs you’re pretty much a shoo-in for one of the top 3 programs in whatever field you care about. It’s really not that different from high school -> college. If you excel in school, get ‘involved’ outside of class and test well you’re likely to get into one of your top choices. Yeah, going to a school that’s more ‘connected’ is going to help, but much less than you’d probably think in undergraduate and graduate admissions. Business does not work this way.</p>