As the title would suggest, I wonder if my life would be much different, or better, if I did attend a top college, like would I have a better career? I don’t want direct answers to that question, but rather your storie(s).
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I attended a highly ranked LAC for undergrad and I think it probably helped a little in getting me accepted to law school (but my LSAT score was probably the biggest factor).
The undergrad name didn’t really help in my short-lived post-undergrad (pre-law school) job hunt because the name wasn’t particularly known in the part of the country where I lived then or the industry I entered — it was more “known” in academic circles.
When I moved on to law school, I elected to accept a scholarship and attend a non-elite law school even though I was accepted at two big-name schools.
I have zero regrets. The law firm I eventually joined tended to interview candidates at the top of their class from local law schools (that would have been me) and candidates from Harvard, etc., regardless of class rank. So had I attended an elite law school, it would have enabled me to interview almost anywhere, but I would have had hefty debt and felt pressured to work in a larger city for the biggest available salary.
The route I chose gave me freedom to work in a smaller city unshackled by debt and able to leave the practice of law after 12 years without feeling I “wasted” my investment.
If I had different goals (like obtaining a PhD and becoming a tenured professor), my analysis and decision making may have been different.
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I had a great, award-winning career in my chose profession, launched from a regional state university. I was first in my family to go to college and graduated HS young so juco and a close state school were about my only options. I didn’t have the knowledge, money or confidence to go to a big-name school farther from home.
I think a key is to find mentors – someone who will teach you things you don’t know and help you find opportunities. I got my first big job while in college based on a recommendation from one of my profs and then my first post-graduation job from a boss at the first place who was relocating and took me with her.
I am one who doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about what-ifs or living with regrets. I might not have met my dh if I’d chosen a different school or have my awesome kids. Life’s good.
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I graduated from a state flagship. I got married and moved to H’s hometown. There aren’t but so many places to work in my field and having a degree from a higher ranked school wouldn’t have helped a bit. Maybe if I was more ambitious career wise and moved to a different city, but I doubt it. In civil engineering having a PE, age, and experience are more highly valued.
And of course, if I had gone elsewhere I wouldn’t have met H and had my kids. So no way!
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I did attend a high ranking school. I might’ve actually been better off in my career if I had gone to a lower ranked school that had a more specific major for me. I went with the higher ranking school because I had always wanted to go there, but it didn’t really have the right major for me.
Don’t think the college DH attended had anything to do with his career. He moved laterally into IT after a Poli Sci degree in the 90s. Back then we knew a lot of people who dropped out of college to start working in IT.
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For my career, it was essential to graduate from an accredited program in the field for my masters degree. Rankings didn’t matter one bit…not at all. It was all about national association accreditation.
I had a very very successful career.
I will add DH went to a college that I doubt is ranked at all…but has a very strong program in his field, and is very well regarded in our region. Program also had the necessary accreditation. He also had a very successful career. He worked alongside many folks who had degrees from higher ranked schools. DH was their supervisor.
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I attended a SLAC and think it helped a little bit in getting my first job, but I don’t think it made a huge difference. I had a very successful first career in a field totally unrelated to my undergraduate majors (History & French). I loved my college experience and wouldn’t trade it, but not because of any effect it had on my career. As an aside, my husband attended a non-selective regional state school but is extremely successful - much more so than most of our Ivy League/MIT friends. In my view a lot of what determines success are personality traits that have little to do with where you went to college. I think a name school helps if you want to go into IB or consulting, but apart from those types of fields, I think you can be successful from anywhere.
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I attended a very small engineering/management college that most don’t know about … but it was very highly regarded in the automotive world. Many of its graduates have done incredibly well career wise. H & I both attended the school, and we believe that the difficult program we went through helped us in our careers, even though we never rose high up in the ranks. Who knows what would have happened had we gone to different schools. We wouldn’t know each other, though, so we wouldn’t do it differently in hindsight.
To be honest, I know a lot of people who went to no-name schools who have done very well in their careers. Networking, connections, timing, luck, hard work … any & all can come into play.
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I have opposite thoughts - I went to an Ivy and started out with pre-med intentions. I switched majors after a rough go with my science classes. Always wonder if I had gone to my second choice, a much smaller, less intense school, if the outcome would have been any different.
That said, I had a fulfilling career for many years before I stopped to start our family.
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H and I both went to Virginia Tech. I was on track to reach my Plan A (AF career), but it was a Navy hospital that made an incorrect diagnosis and thoroughly messed my plan up (as I found 3 decades or so later). My quick Plan B (teaching) had no problems either though.
H is a Civil Engineer and definitely has had no problems with his VT degree. He’s owned his own company for the past couple of decades and never has to advertise due to plenty of work via word of mouth. Headhunters have sought him out, but it’s tough to want to work for someone else once you’ve been your own boss for a long time.
I believe VT is in the Top 15(?) or so for Civil Engineering, so I’m not sure what conclusion you want to draw from our story. Neither of us wish we had gone elsewhere.
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My experience at my LAC got me where I am today. I got the writing and thinking skills which got me into a top grad school (top 10 currently). That program led directly to an internship that turned into a job I’ve had for 30 years.
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Whichever college we attended, it probably had an impact on us, so most of us have fond memories of the college we attended. But none of us knows for sure if another college would have had a bigger impact on us had we attended a different college.
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Well, I thought it was ironic that H and I graduated from a state school and a state medical school and the people we worked with graduated from Ivy’s. Really did not seem to matter. We had a zero chance of getting into or paying for a higher ranking school. I think that the licensing and the board certifications equalized it.
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One thing to remember…the rankings of many colleges have changed dramatically over the years. PLUS my parents generation had a much easier time getting accepted to elite schools than is now the case.
So in some ways…we are comparing apples to oranges.
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Every word of your post (except where you moved), literally, also applies to me! 
I attended a midwestern flagship and absolutely loved my time there, and my closest friends to this day are those I met there. For those reasons alone, I will never regret my college decision.
I ended up going to a top grad school but left prior to finishing my degree. I later ended up getting a Master’s from a regional state university. There might have been an interview or two that I received because of the name of my first grad school, but generally I think it had little impact on my career. And as others have said, university accreditation and earning state licensure was far more important than the source of my degree. I’ve worked my way up to a higher level than I ever anticipated having (I decided to go into education and didn’t think I would ever leave the classroom), and I still have a ways to go until I retire, so who knows what the future will bring.
My spouse went to a regional state university, got a master’s from the same regional state university I did (different from the Bachelor’s) and has had similar career advancement to mine. No regrets there, either.
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My undergrad and grad school led me to where i am today - but not the schools, just the path i went on. Hard work, detail orientation and demanding excellence of myself is why I am where I am…not because of any colllege…the degree was enough.
i’ve worked for non-college grads, college grads of schools people don’t respect, and top 20. In 95% of situations, where you go doesn’t matter - that’s the truth.
What you do in life does.
I went to arguably the top J school and 90% or more don’t make it and a top 40 MBA.
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Attending a selective, non-diverse, fairly rural LAC full of rich kids & high school athletes was among the worst decisions of my life. Others thrived in that environment.
Seeing the same people day after day was suffocating to me. I enjoy meeting new people each day.
Attending grad school at a large state university was among the best decisions of my life. More independence, more diversity, more opportunities to be anonymous = more freedom & more chances to grow.
Where one attends a graduate school / professional school usually has a substantial impact upon one’s career–especially with respect to law school.
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My parents were just happy that I went to college and because it was Instate they could afford to pay without loans. The accounting program at my school was well regarded. My first job out of school I was in a cohort with graduates from top ranking schools like Wharton. At that point, we were on even playing field (and I didn’t have loans). My career trajectory from there was a bit of luck, good mentors and a lot of hard work. No Ivy degree needed for success.
Now that my DD23 is looking at schools, I do want her to experience all that I did not have - small class size, school spirit, beautiful campus. It’s counter intuitive to my own experience and ROI but I can’t help wishing for her a different experience,
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This. I dropped out of beauty school to attend the University of Michigan. Pretty sure not many do that now. However, I graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in English and had a high-flying career in tech (gained the technical skills on the job), was a principal in a startup in the 80’s, cashed out, and went to Harvard Business School. I retired four years ago. I hated almost every minute of my soul-sucking working career as I went for the money instead of any interest in the field. We raised our only child to do just the opposite and he has.
Don’t waste a minute of your life regretting what you cannot know and cannot change. You can’t get those minutes back. You are responsible for your happiness and what you make of your life. In the end, the college you attend doesn’t figure into that equation much, if at all.
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