<p>This is a thread intended to discourage some of the "OMG I DIDN'T GET INTO AN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL" conversation, and to prove that your life still has loads of potential in it. </p>
<p>What I did was simple... I brainstormed some of the most important and inspiring people I know. Some are family members. Some are employers. Some are friends. Some are teachers and mentors. Some are literary and cultural figures. Then, I looked up what college they went to, took out their names, and tallied up the results.</p>
<p>I encourage you to do the same, and post your results here!</p>
<p>No college education: 4
City College of New York (CUNY): 3
U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 3
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 2
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 1
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1</p>
<p>U. Rochester: 3 Harvard: 4
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2 Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
**Loyola U. Chicago: 2 **
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1 Brown: 1 Northwestern: 1 University of Illinois at Chicago: 1 Trinity College: 1</p>
<p>Brown: 1 (sophomore HS teacher who completely changed the way I write)</p>
<p>Northwestern: 1 (6th grade reading teacher who was my first real crush post-puberty and whom I’m still in touch with…just saw him last week. I’m amazed by his lifelong dedication to educating inner-city youth)</p>
<p>Oberlin: 1 (assistant director of this organization I’ve been involved in since 6th grade… she changed the way I think about knowledge in general)</p>
<p>Loyola Chicago: 1 (sociology faculty at Loyola who also got her PhD there. she helped me think originally and creatively. her guinine compassion for her students also moved me.)</p>
<p>University of Illinois @ Chicago: 1 (my boyfriend who’s also my partner in fighting heterosexism, colonialism, orientalism, racism, consumerism, classism, among other things. supposedly, we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.)</p>
<p>Trinity College and Harvard U: Dean of Admissions who, in admitting me to his prestigious Massachusetts boarding school, took me away from the desperate inner-city conditions I was living in at the time. and even though I dropped out because I felt intimidated by the elite boarding school culture at the time, my outlook on life was changed forever. And look where I am now! At the top of the class at Northwestern with a 3.9 GPA. This Dean I speak of is now head of undergraduate admissions at Tufts.</p>
<p>U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1 Columbia: 1
Occidental: 1</p>
<p>these are celebrities, but oh well -</p>
<p>Columbia - Utada Hikaru, japanese singer. Started writing R&B music before age 10, fluent in English and Japanese (lived in NY as a kid) and went platinum at age 15.. of course she didn’t really have to worry about not getting in to Columbia.</p>
<p>U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 1
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 1</p>
<p>MSU- The 7th grade teacher who taught me to love science went there way back in the day. On our MIT reply forms we’re allowed to thank one person who has influenced us- I’m listing him. He’s the reason I came to love science, fall in love with MIT, and want to become a Biology professor someday.</p>
<p>U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 1
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 1
Yale: 1
Castleton State College: 1
University of Rhode Island: 1
Mount Holyoke: 1
Three Rivers Community College: 1</p>
<p>Yale- My English teacher for one year and Quiz Bowl coach for two. He believed in me, and he helped me believe in myself. He’s taught me a lot, and he’s working on his Ph.D. now and I miss him…</p>
<p>Castleton State College- My English teacher and biggest cheerleader of the past two years. Not only has she taught me so much about English and written me the most amazing letter of recommendation ever, I know simply by the stories she has to tell that she has lived so much. I hope that someday I have seen the world the way she has, and that I have half as many stories to tell.</p>
<p>University of Rhode Island- My science teacher and Quiz Bowl coach this year. He’s a great guy and I consider him a friend as well as a teacher. He’s taught me that I can be a leader, that I can take responsibility and do it well. I’m glad he’s here.</p>
<p>Mount Holyoke- Emily Dickinson, my favorite poet ever. She writes so beautifully.</p>
<p>Three Rivers Community College- My mother, who got her associate’s degree in nursing here last May. I am so incredibly proud of her, as she is of me, and I love her so much.</p>
<p>No college education: 5
City College of New York (CUNY): 3
U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 2
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 2
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 1
Yale: 1
Castleton State College: 1
University of Rhode Island: 1
Mount Holyoke: 1
Three Rivers Community College: 1
University of Toronto: 1</p>
<p>No college- Lysander Spooner was a forerunner of individual anarchism and became a lawyer without ever going to college. He has a very interesting history. Read the wikipedia article:
[Lysander</a> Spooner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysander_Spooner]Lysander”>Lysander Spooner - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Columbia-Walter Block is a prominent libertarian theorist and economics professor. He helps me understand arguments from effect regarding economics in simple terms.</p>
<p>University of Toronto-Stefan Molyneux is a bright internet philosopher who has profoundly changed the way I view life with his website: [Freedomain</a> Radio - Home](<a href=“http://www.freedomainradio.com%5DFreedomain”>http://www.freedomainradio.com)</p>
<p>I don’t know the alma mater(s) of the teachers which influenced me. :(</p>
<p>haha, I only know that this guy went to MSU because here in Michigan we take our MSU / U of M rivalry quite seriously, and alums of each wear it proudly.</p>
<p>City College of New York (CUNY): 3
U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 3
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 2
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 1
Yale: 1
Castleton State College: 1
University of Rhode Island: 1
Mount Holyoke: 1
Three Rivers Community College: 1
University of Toronto: 1</p>
<p>Why do people keep cutting off “no college education”?</p>
<p>City College of New York (CUNY): 3
No college education: 5
U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 3
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 1
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 2
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 1
Yale: 1
Castleton State College: 1
University of Rhode Island: 1
Mount Holyoke: 1
Three Rivers Community College: 1
University of Toronto: 1</p>
<p>City College of New York (CUNY): 3
No college education: 5
U. Rochester: 3
Harvard: 4
Penn: 3
Cornell: 2
UVA: 2
Fordham: 2
Binghamton: 2
Oberlin: 3
Barnard: 2
Carleton: 2
U. Mich: 2
Amherst: 2
Smith: 2
Michigan State U: 2
Howard: 1
Morehouse: 1
Loyola U. Chicago: 2
St. Olaf: 1
Notre Dame: 1
Antioch: 1
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: 1
University of Maryland, College Park: 1
NYU: 1
Brown: 1
Northwestern: 1
University of Illinois at Chicago: 2
Trinity College: 1
Columbia: 2
Occidental: 1
Michigan State University: 2
Yale: 1
Castleton State College: 1
University of Rhode Island: 1
Mount Holyoke: 1
Three Rivers Community College: 1
University of Toronto: 1
Sweet Briar College: 1
University of Colorado: 1</p>
<p>According to Wikipedia, he attended Columbia Business School. I think you forgot to add 1 to the previous post? If so, it should be 3 now, for Columbia.</p>
<p>To be honest, those stats aren’t very surprising. You’ve got 10/69 ppl on that list who went to the Ivy League(not sure which Penn it’s referring to), which is around 14-15% of the list at post #12. (Hello, 4 Harvards there) Add a few more ppl from good schools like U of Toronto, NYU and Northwestern and the conclusion is made: Ivy League schools give you a better chance at success.</p>