<p>I think the differing social status would be more related to the ranking/prestige of the school rather than public/private. </p>
<p>The very top schools have a lot of kids from families with a history of top-notch education, or kids who are highly motivated to succeed. They are both probably going to end up in a higher socio-economic range.</p>
<p>The well-known flagships will have kids from all walks of life, including the wealthy and the ambitious.</p>
<p>But the smaller state schools that aren’t really known for anything but being affordable, and whose graduation rates are much lower, will probably have a higher percentage of kids that don’t get into the “upper” social strata. Not that it can’t happen, and not that there aren’t some smart, ambitious kids at these schools. But I’d think percentage wise, these high-achiever kids would be more rare at Local State College than at Big Time Flagship or Prestige U.</p>
<p>A smart, hard-working kid can launch themselves into the top echelons from any college in the US - that’s the beauty of the American dream. But they’re more likely to hob-nob with the kids of adults who are already in the top echelon socially and economically at a top-rated school, public or private.</p>
<p>The advantage is not in just meeting or getting to know “wealthy” people. The inference in the conversation as described by the OP (rather crassly, I gather) is that somehow these connections will help further the student’s career and social life.</p>
<p>A school with a strong alumni support network will certainly help in career development, especially the INFORMAL social and professional networking favored by graduates of the privates and Ivies. I don’t think similar networking exists in the large public schools.</p>
<p>If we are talking about “likelihoods,” then I agree with the premise put forth by the OP.</p>
<p>Rich students do exist at big publics, but they are harder to find. I attended a big public, but I joined a sorority, so virtually all of my life-long college friends are from upper and upper middle-class backgrounds, because that is the type of student who joined the Greek system back then.</p>
<p>Being economically successful does not necessarily make someone socially elite. So yes, a smart kid will probably do well no matter where s/he goes, but that does not mean s/he will be welcome in elite social circles. Attending a private colleges which has the reputation of attracting the socially-elite will increase one’s chances of participating in those circles in the future, if that is important to the student.</p>
<p>Oh please…there are wealthy and poor students at EVERY school. I’m would not pick a college based on the perceived future socio-economic status for the student. There are FAR more important reasons for choices, in my opinion.</p>
Didn’t work for me–I arrived at my preppy college lower-middle-class, and 30 years later I am still exactly that–but it did work for a couple of my college friends, by way of marriage to more affluent classmates. Not that they haven’t worked hard for the success they’ve achieved, but certainly being married to (relative) wealth has opened some doors and made some things easier.</p>
<p>Why on earth wouldn’t similar networking exist in large public schools? What, people don’t form friendships there? My goodness, look at a place like Texas A&M – hardly an elite school by CC standards, but boy, their graduates really go to bat for other graduates, to the point of practically shutting people out if they aren’t Texas A&M grads. </p>
<p>Also, having wealth isn’t necessarily related to fancy-schmancy educations. People on CC tend not to be aware of this, but there are a LOT of wealthy people who got that way through work that really has little to do with a fancy education. Someone who owns a cattle ranch. Someone who owns a series of car dealerships and then sold them off and is now independently wealthy. Someone who owns a chain of restaurants. Someone who is just an outstanding salesperson of [whatever]. Only in the little bubble of CC is law school / med school / engineering / b-school “the” path to a well-to-do lifestyle.</p>
<p>I’d also add that with some of the extremely wealthy people I know, they’re sending their kids to state flagships (especially SEC ones) because the goal of college in their minds is to connect and have a rollicking good social life for the next 4 years, not to attend the most academically rigorous place.</p>
<p>I would like to second what #15 Barrons said, and add that the public/private divide is not that important. It’s much more socially advantageous to go to a prestigious public “Ivy” than to a lesser-known regional private university, for example. The strength and enthusiasm of alumni associations are important. That’s not “social class” per se, but having gone to a school with a strong national alumni network can really open doors for some people. </p>
<p>The social class issue is unclear. The elites in this country seem to shift fairly regularly every half-century or so. Most wealth doesn’t last in families beyond three generations, as the younger ones are not brought up with the skills to maintain and acquire money, only spend it. I think emphasizing personal competence and integrity, along with good social skills, is a better way to maximize a child’s chances of having a renumerative and dignified career rather than focusing on schmoozing with rich friends in college.</p>
<p>Like I said, my experience is that the networking is limited to within the state of the flagship. I attended UW-Madison, and within the state there was tremendous alumni networking. I’m sure that living in Chicago, lots of Illinois graduates connect to help one another. I worked in Chicago after graduation and I don’t remember much Wisconsin influence there and it’s only a few miles away.</p>
<p>Do you see lots of Texas A&M grads helping one another in Chicago? I doubt it. These schools just don’t have the national/international connectivity that the Ivies and the other top privates have developed.</p>
It’s barely even on our son’s radar, as far as I can tell. He knows that there’s a connection in a general way between going to college and making a living, and he has some idea about the particular ways he might make a living based on what he’s interested in studying in college, but as far as picking a college because it would be the most likely to provide a clear path to career advancement, nothing could be further from his mind. He’s thinking mostly about two things: the curriculum itself, how it’s structured and how well it will cater to his intellectual interests, and the physical and sociocultural environment of the school. While he may be in the minority in this regard, I don’t think he’s all that unusual.</p>
<p>I’ve heard at least 1/2 of the kids who enter college have no idea what they want to major in and a good percent that do, end up changing majors. How would you pick a college on the perceived strength of a department when you don’t even know what you want to study? There are obviously kids who know exactly what they want to do and will not change their minds, but they are the exception, not the rule. </p>
<p>One of my son’s close friend’s dad was telling me the other night that his son wanted to major in engineering or architect and so they were looking at schools with strong eng or architect departments. I was taken aback because this kid is not a strong student and barely passed his math classes in HS and was never able to make it into any honors or AP classes in any subject (our HS has strict criteria). He probably won’t even get into the higher ranked State U - the one with both a well-known engineering program and one of the best architectural programs in the country. These are two of the most highly challenging college majors. Great students struggle in these programs.</p>
<p>So I asked my son why is x planning to major in engineering or architect. Son snorted and replied, 'because his mom and dad want him to."</p>
<p>Do parents not realize that sometimes they are setting their kids up for failure by pushing them into colleges and/or programs that may not be a good fit because they want their kid to attain a certain goal?</p>
<p>Ok. The tremendous expense and time commitment of attending college, combined with the difficult job market led me to assume that the socio-economic prospects for graduates of a particular college would be a primary concern for most students/parents. It was/is for us.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean the prospects of earning a living…I MEANT the prospects of MOVING UP the socio-economic ladder. I don’t think this is a good reason for choosing a college.</p>
<p>I do too, in the sense of how far up the socio-economic ladder is this college likely to get you, in comparison to where you are now as a high school graduate.</p>
<p>I agree that networking possibilities aren’t necessarily a good reason for choosing one school over another. On the other hand, I must admit that my kid has met with some highly influential alumni at her school who are very valuable as contacts and have offered to help her in her chosen endeavors.</p>
<p>I had to chuckle at Rodney’s comment and agree with Pizza as for the most part the wealthiest parents in our area send their kids to UofM…one sent the kids to probably the most elite prep school for high school in the NE only to have them all return home to go to college. One of my friend’s daughters is dating a guy who flies back and forth from home to A2 in their family jet. I would say there are just as many wealthy families that don’t feel the need to spend grand sums of college money when they have a very good school in their backyard as the flagship especially in this economy. My sib’s friend whose family has more money than they can count from Chicago sent their DD a private high school and had her return to public for college also, she is at IU. I can think of many more examples. Perhaps it’s a midwest thing, ship 'em to the NE or elsewhere for high school, bring 'em back for college. It’s not just this generation either, my best friend went to Miss Porter’s but returned home for the college flagship and her parents were both 1950s Ivy League. The truly wealthy have always known a bargain when they spot one…it’s the aspiring wealthy that tend to equate cost of goods with “being wealthy.” All privates are not “the same” and many are handing out quite abit of $$ to students which changes the wealth dynamic I would think. All publics are not the same and if you’ve got one that is known all around the world, why would you not go there if you had the grades to get in? We’ve alway discussed ad naseum that good students suceed in this world at their chosen profession regardless of where they went to college.</p>
<p>I’m with Thumper on this. Does attending certain schools really ensure a certain socio-economic prospect for a student? Or is that only true in certain career fields and in certain geographic locations of the country?</p>
<p>For example, would a kid who majors in pre-med at Yale and maybe even goes to Harvard Med School but really wants to come back to Arkansas to practice medicine really benefit socio-economically from having attending those schools? He may benefit in other ways (academically) but really, I don’t see it having a big socio-economic impact.</p>
<p>To give another example, my son’s physic teacher had an UG from Emory and a grad. degree from Harvard. Great guy, our school is lucky to have him. But, seriously, I with my MBA from the State U make more money that this guy with a Phd. I’m sure he got a great education but am not seeing how that benefited him socio-economically.</p>
<p>Now, if your ultimate goal is Wall Street or the Supreme Court, then yes, you had better attend a Top 10.</p>
<p>This discussion is not about the relative advantages of public vs. private. There are clearly many great reasons to attend a large public flagship. It’s what type of school has the most opportunity post-graduation to connect and network with elites, and the Ivies and the top privates offer a distinct advantage.</p>
<p>If you don’t think so, check the educational backgrounds of the key members of the past several presidential administrations, or the top business and financial firms, or the top educators in the country. You’ll find that the Ivies and the top privates are over represented. This is primarily because they do a great job of helping each other out socially and professionally.</p>