<p>Absolutely agree with all of these sentiments.</p>
<p>It really is not all that important . There are some situations where a degree from an Ivy could actually make you less competetive for the job. Think about it---if less than one half of one % of people attend an Ivy statistically it is more likley you will be interviewed or work with the other 99.9% , some of whom may be less inclined to hire a prestigue U type person, perhaps their experience at a large State U colors their perception, stereotypical and not necessarlity real, about Ivy students. (ex: taught by high brow academics, little experience of the real world of work.). </p>
<p>This is a skewed population on CC and some of the more frequent posters are very determined about the role of prestige in making choices. So it may seem like a more dominant theme than it really is for the majority of posters.</p>
<p>Dogs, the prestige issue is hard to avoid even if you don't buy into it.</p>
<p>I preach the gospel of "fit" but even I had strong twinges of annoyance and bruised ego about D not getting into Yale. I sometimes wish she had gone to Smith after turning down Harvard...but if she had, I'd probably be absolutely insufferably smug, so maybe the world works out okay after all.</p>
<p>carolyn - great list. Could you add two of my favorite people? Tom Brokaw attended U of [ ] Dakota (I can never remember which state he's from. Some people maintain that there is only South Dakota, and that North Dakota was made up. After all, as they say, have you ever met anyone from North Dakota?) </p>
<p>The other person is Tim Russert, who graduated from John Carroll College. (I may have the school name wrong - I'm not familiar with it.)</p>
<p>Oh thanks Hayden! I will add them both. By the way, Brokaw graduated from U of South Dakota, which has an EXCELLENT journalism program, unbeknownst to most folks.</p>
<p>Here's another for Carolyn's list: The great Donald Kagan, famous historian and classicist and emeritus chair of Yale's history department got his AB at Brooklyn College, and his Ph.D. at Ohio State. (With a MA from Brown sandwiched in between).</p>