<p>The qualities that qualify a person for admission to a prestigious school may have more of an impact than the institution itself. If a student, who is accepted at Harvard because he/she worked like a demon through high school, continues to work like a demon...they probably will be successful. If they stop working they might not be successful.</p>
<p>If a student acquires this work ethic later, they might become successful. </p>
<p>Another view might be that wealthy families are more successful at placing their offspring in prestigious schools, and it is their wealth and family connections that give them the advantage.</p>
<p>One of the nicest, most generous and certainly happiest persons I know is a retired farmer who never went to college. Success has many definitions.</p>