<p>OP, the reason coffee shop/McD’s guy has not been successful in life is because he insists on blaming his inability to move forward in life on silly things like his undergrad prestige. NO ONE works at McD’s with an undergrad Berkeley degree because people looked down on his school’s prestige. NO ONE. However, people who like to play the blame game and pretend circumstances are out of their control can quickly find themselves unemployed.</p>
<p>I also find it a little sad that you would base your college choices on what some McD’s worker told you. That doesn’t strike you as a bit silly?</p>
<p>If you believe that you can’t be successful in government, etc. without a top 20 degree, perhaps you should see the education backgrounds of some of the nation’s leaders.
Dick Cheney - UWyoming
Condi Rice - UDenver
Robert Gates - William & Mary</p>
<p>Oh, and check around for some of the people in government a bit lower down (I picked the State dept. for fun):
Henrietta H. Fore - Wellesley
Mark E. Kissel - Penn State
and plenty others.</p>
<p>There are really only a handful of firms or businesses that only recruit from a few schools. There are many, many more - and many just as good - that look at way more than the name on your diploma. I’m not recommending University of Phoenix - but man, there’s a range between that and Harvard.</p>