<p>I’m not denying there is some networking value through Ivy league or other top-college alumni organizations that probably overshadows many other universities. That is one reason people seek to attend these institutions. I just think its power is a bit overblown. Most networking in politics is done thorugh politics, in business through business, etc. And just because you went to Harvard, say, doesn’t mean you have a network with the movers and shakers that went to Yale or Dartmouth. A person may be willing to hire a fellow Ivy Leaguer over someone else, but another person might not even take that into account.</p>
<p>A lot of it has to do with how motivated the student is to take advantage of the network.</p>
I was curious and looked up a few of the cabinet members’ undergraduate institution:</p>
<p>Hilda Solis - Cal Poly Pomona
Steven Chu - University of Rochester
Ray Lahood - Bradley University
Janet Napolito - Santa Clara University
Kathleen Sebelius -Trinity Washington University </p>
<p>At least for A and M, nothing could be further from the truth. I am married to an Aggie and we live far from A and M. In the last 20 years, he has received numerous calls for career assistance from Aggies in our area and he has always offered assistance.</p>
<p>The same for my dad, who lived out of state from the flaghship he attended. He always helped any alumni who asked and upon his death established a scholarship for students from our area to attend his alma mater.</p>
<p>Finally, I have a good friend who is an Wisconsin alum and an executive at a Fortune 50 company. He always recruits heavily from UW because he knows and respects the program there. I am surprised that you feel the way that you do about UW, because so many people I know that graduated from there (granted this 20ish years ago) feel very differently.</p>
<p>The types of people I was thinking of are some of the self-made types I have known. Having their kids get a degree from HYP just isn’t really on their radar screen unless the kid is dying for that experience (in which case they’re happy to pay for it, but it’s kid-driven, not parent-prestige driven). They (the parents) did well through their own skills in selling, running a business, servicing a product, and a lot of glad-handling of clients, and the extra benefits of an HYP education just aren’t that apparent to them. Sending their kids to mid-tier state u’s that offered a fun social life was just fine. Often, their “life lessons” to their kids were about those qualities that had made them successful (being a good salesperson, being a shrewd businessman, etc.), not about the importance of academics. It’s not my mindset, but then my mindset isn’t theirs either.</p>
<p>^^yes. Somewhat off topic to the original post, but I’ve also noticed that parents who expect their kids to eventually come back and take over the family business tend to indulge their kids’ college major choices as well as their kids’ college choices. I’m thinking of friends who have children majoring in MT, art, dance, music. Those friends know just how hard it is to keep a private business going and how the future will be for their kids. Their motivations are completely different for their kids than a parent who is concerned about social mobility or potential job/careers/networking connections, etc.</p>
<p>From where I sit, what momofthreeboys describes definitely exists, but it is very much a minority position. In the world I see, which pretty much consists of closely-held family companies, the most common college experience for the heir apparent is Wharton.</p>
<p>I appreciate that, JHS – maybe part of it is the worlds of the types of businesses and whether Wharton-style type of knowledge is necessary or desirable to run those businesses. Because of my own family’s background, the types of companies I’m thinking of are in retail and fashion – and the heirs apparent need things like good relationship-building and maintaining abilities and a discerning eye for fashion and trends to carry on the businesses – they can buy accountants anywhere to do the books. That may be very different if the family business is something where Wharton-style (or Kellogg-style, just had to say it, LOL) strategic thinking and planning is critical – which I can see being more the case in other industries beyond retail and fashion. Just an observation.</p>
<p>Most self made business people I know also expect their kids to be self made. The expectation is for them to also work hard and get into top tier schools, not just to have 4 years of fun in college. I know many of those kids flipped burgers and commuted into NYC to work at non paying internships instead of working for parents.</p>
<p>Of course successful closely-held businesses don’t need the next generation to study accountancy (much). But “Kellogg-style” strategic thinking and planning is a huge, huge plus. Relatively few family businesses thrive after a generational transfer of power. Those that do, at least in my experience, most often have a next-generation leader who is a good deal more systematic and critical in his or her approach than the “founder”.</p>
<p>Olfort I agree with the work hard part. Those same parents that I know that indulge their kids choice of majors still had kids with summer jobs (not necessarily with the parents) and they expect their children to get good grades/test scores/etc and the kids pretty much do have that going on which would be expected since those types of things go hand in hand with socio-economic markers. But I have to say, like Pizza, most of my friends and even the ones running manufacturing businesses figure they can hire engineers and finance and are more interested in their kids on-going social skills (or at least that is what I’ve observed.) They want their kids to be comfortable in conversation (as youngsters) with the adults and as they mature to move “gracefully” (for lack of a better world) in public with all kinds of people. And I agree, few did send their kids “out” to find their own first jobs…sort of an apprenticeship for a few years before they brought them into the fold. Most of my friends are already second or third or more generation in family business and there are some marked differences between friends that are running business that they started and the kids are second generation. But some of our friends who did go to Ivy Leagues in the 70s did not “require” that of their kids, even those who had kids with the pedigrees to actually attempt admissions which is why I would still say to the OP that there is wealth and connections in a wider circle of schools than the NE privates. These types of family situations are in the minority and there is a range of behaviors. The one that seems the least prevailing to me is to demand Ivy League or Ivy caliber college educations from the kids even if the parents forked over prep school tuitions. But again, could be a very regional sort of attitude and you would find that behavior more in the NE.</p>