<p>A high school teacher once told me that I shouldn't feel bad about myself for not getting accepted to the Ivy League schools I wanted to go to, because she knew people who had gone to Harvard who never made anything out of their lives.</p>
<p>Do you think she was being truthful or just trying to motivate me?</p>
<p>Oh I'm sure you can pull out a few anecdotal examples like you can for every school.</p>
<p>An Ivy League degree is not a validated ticket for success in the world...</p>
<p>But it helps...</p>
<p>Very True!!!!! My Tutor Graduated From Harvard And All He Does For Living Is Tutor People..........you Dont Need To Graduate From An Ivy League To Tutor Ppl U Know....</p>
<p>I don't want to offend anyone, but that is a very naive question to ask. Of course there Ivy League grads that don't succeed. There are students from every school that don't succeed. Earning a degree from Harvard or Princeton or Yale doesn't guarantee a good job and a nice life. I don't understand how people our age - especially in a society like ours where there are 100 failures for every success - can still believe going to a top school will guarantee a six-figure job and a million-dollar home. These are not things that you have to learn. These are facts that everyone should just know. It seriously is common sense.</p>
<p>I know a number of people that graduated from Caltech (not an ivy, but better if you're in the technical fields). A good bunch of them either have no job, have no direction, or are completely miserable.</p>
<p>I know some unemployed harvard graduates</p>
<p>I work with someone who got a Harvard undergrad degree, who is not viewed as a particularly good performer. (I did my undergrad work at a State University.) I wouldn't say the Harvard degree helped at all, and note that a poor performer with that degree on the wall draws some pretty caustic comments from coworkers.</p>
<p>Its true...some become lawyers.</p>
<p>Why would anybody believe that ALL students who go to whatever school - I don't care how great and/or big-name the school is - end up being big successes? It's not like going to such a school hands you success on a platter. It opens some doors, gives you a leg up. But you still have to work for your success.</p>
<p>^^^ true .</p>
<p>True- some people go to ivies and fail at life. Some of them have always been handed things on platters and don't have much ambition or work ethic. BUT, if you look at many billionaires, top business people, top lawyers, and politicians, then the majority come from these top schools. It definitely helps in the recruitment process. If you look at politicians it is interesting though. Did these people get here as a result of their top-notch education? Probably not. But the public trusts, in general, that those people are smart. Maybe they get a job because of "connections", not schooling, which is probably true. Then again, maybe their school is their connection.</p>
<p>The short answer to your question is: yes.</p>
<p>It's not so much the school and the education that helps you succeed. You need a purpose and a driven motivation to succeed! I know someone who worked her butt off to get into Stanford just for the title. She couldn't decide what to major in, and eventually ended up not going to grad school. Now she just works as a waitress.</p>
<p>I disagree with chicagoboy12 that the majority of top business people are graduates of these schools, although this may depend on a particular industry and geographic location. </p>
<p>Statistically, you'd expect to see more leaders of industry having graduated from other schools. Every college visit that I've been on (and with 3 kids and 2 bonus kids, I've done a LOT of college visits) has been able to tout its CEO grads, students going on to professional school, etc. I've worked for 3 Fortune 500s and haven't had a CEO or CFO from an IVY or top LAC yet. (Yale law school has a link to the alma maters of its latest class, and the class is very diverse -- they don't just pull from the Ivies and top LACs.) </p>
<p>I agree with everyone that it's the individual's hard work wherever they go -- plus a little luck and a lot of drive -- that will result in success.</p>
<p>Of course this is false. For a number of reasons.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You are guaranteed to have a billionaire heir/foreign royalty as a freshman year roommate. Thus, is you have any financial shortcomings, they can easily bail you out. </p></li>
<li><p>Whatever you decide to do after you graduate, through their extensive endowments, each Ivy League school will fund your endeavor, and ensure many customers come your way, regardless of what you are selling. </p></li>
<li><p>On the personal side, your school will certainly match you up with the man/woman of your dreams, the person you will be with forever, regardless of which of these 8 institutions you decide to attend, they will be there.</p></li>
<li><p>Let's not forget that the Ivy League is so distinctly different from other top schools (Stanford, Duke, SWAP, MIT, CIT, UChicago, etc.) that these people, due to their clear and undebatable educational inferiority, will be obligated to serve you in any and every way you deem necessary once you graduate. </p></li>
<li><p>You may not of heard of "networking" basically, you go to this place and sign your name, and every successful person who has ever graduated from your Ivy League school calls you at the same time, trying to recruit you for their venture capital endeavors. </p></li>
<li><p>Also, most importantly. Because of the unique chemicals used in the paper upon which they print their diplomas, an Ivy League diploma is a source of physical happiness. Studies have shown that merely taking it off the wall and clutching it in one's arms can lead a graduate to self-enlightenment. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>It because of these reasons, and possibly others, that all Ivy League graduates are guaranteed a long, happy and fulfilling life. Guaranteed.</p>
<p>First, I'm not sure what you mean by "success". I know many CHYMPS grads who are teachers, ministers, social workers, stay at home parents, non-profit managers, none of whom earns more than $65,000 per year, and likely never will (inflation adjusted). Yet they are highly successful in their chosen life path.</p>
<p>How a person who stands apart in intellect and leadership would soon after "fail" is mostly a chemistry question -- brain chemistry that is. A person's emotional strength is far more important than intellect over the long haul. We all know people who burned out soon after high school. Their emotional reserves for handling stress were exhausted. Depression and intelligence are eerily correlated. So in insanity and intelligence.</p>
<p>In short, brain chemistry is the reason many 18 year old shining stars are lumps of coal by age 28.</p>
<p>Dunnin, I am impressed by your post. This emotional reserve for handling stress sounds like what I've ran out of in recent years. Do you know of any clinically proven way to refill emotional reserves?</p>