<p>Sorry folks, but I think prestige does matter. Not as in “Is Joe Public impressed by it?” but more along the lines of “Does Josephine Hiring Manager/Head of Grad School Adcom think well of it?” If I am going to spend more than my first house cost on my child’s education, I want to know that it will create (or at least not inhibit) opportunities for her.</p>
<p>I could not care less if my neighbors are impressed (they aren’t–their kids are aiming for the Ivies or MIT), but I do want the people reviewing my daughter’s resume or reading her application to have respect for the school she got her BA or BS from and give her their full consideration as a candidate.</p>
<p>As of now, however, I don’t know which school that is, because she hasn’t made up her mind…</p>
<p>I have been working in my field for over 25 years ( it’s a healthcare field) and I will tell you that in my particular field, " prestige" does not matter at all. I received my BA from a SUNY and my MA from a CUNY, and have never had a problem getting a job. Today’s grads may find it harder to get a job given the economy, but the school that they graduate from does not matter. I can only speak for my particular career, of course.</p>
<p>And once “we” get into the “tippy top” school, then “we” need to find the “best” dorm and the most “prestigious” sorority or fraternity. And “we” have to ask everyone on the internet because “we” can’t decide what “our” perfect “fit” is. And then bump it after two minutes.</p>
<p>Nope, not even in the least EXCEPT in professions where pedigree is all important. For example, a lawyer who wants to work for a Wall Street Firm had better have gone to one of the top law schools where many of the management of the firm went. But even there, the law school a lawyer graduated from will have little to do with how good a lawyer that person becomes. For example, the top trial lawyers are born not bred. From there, it is a question of experience and tenacity and perseverance as well as the ability to think quickly on one’s feet. Investment bankers especially are a narcissistic group that demand top degrees. But even there, the undergraduate degree is far less important than the graduate degree. That’s about it. Except for those unique professions and at the top of the prestige pyramid in said professions, , its about how capable a person is, how they present themselves, how well they communicate, even how good looking they are as opposed to where they graduated from college. I would also add it really helps if somebody who knows the hiring manager can recommend you.</p>
<p>Guyonamission, I agree that all of the qualities you cited are important, but when faced with a candidate from a school the manager hasn’t heard of and one from a school the manager respects, all other things being equal, she will choose the latter candidate.</p>
<p>And I know plenty of people with horror stories about firms that only hire from Ivies. Are they snobs? Yes, and probably jackasses too, but neither of those disproves my thinking that the prestige of an institution matters. Not saying it should, only that it does.</p>
<p>Maybe, but when it comes down to top, viable candidates, its rare when all things being are equal but for the college they went to. That’s where interviews come in and trying to get a feel for how well somebody will fit in the institution.</p>
<p>The perceived tendency of some colleges to not accept the very best candidates because they are likely to attend a higher-rated college, thus reducing yield.</p>
<p>So you want your kids to be prepared to work for snobs and jackasses by having a “prestigious” degree? </p>
<p>My experience has taught me that hiring managers who profile potential employees with a heavy emphasis on alma-mater are not worth working for. The best jobs out there are jobs where you have a variety of backgrounds, people from all sorts of schools, coming together with unique and fresh ideas. The last thing I would want is to be stuck in a job with a company full of high-strung pretentious snobs. Perhaps it’s because I’m in engineering and not finance, law, or politics, but the vast majority of people in this industry come from a wide variety of schools around the country and the world. Where I work, we’ve got engineers from MIT to engineers from Cal State Channel Islands, and every ‘class’ of school in between! In the end, everyone comes together and gets the job done. I must say, it’s an ideal work environment in my opinion.</p>
<p>The “public ivy” concept bugs me. It’s as though people have to justify going to a horrible school like UC Berkeley, UChicago, or U of I Urbana-Champaign by justifying it as being a “public ivy.” What does that even mean? The Ivy League is a sports conference. Calling a school a “public ivy” means absolutely nothing.</p>
<p>I too am tired of the whole “prestige” and “top school” thing. People get too hung up on it all. Sure, there are a few majors where you’re going to be at a distinct advantage making the right connections at a “top” school…but these queries come across so nonsensical sometimes. </p>
<p>“Is my life going to be ruined if I go to Cornell instead of Harvard? I know they’re both good schools, but Harvard is ranked at x in the USNews rankings…and Cornell is ranked y in the USNews rankings. Will I be condemning myself to a life of pain, misery, poverty and shame by going to Cornell over Harvard? Cornell is a thousand times more appealing to me, but Harvard has the ‘prestige’ that Cornell can’t match. Help meeeeeee!!!”</p>
<p>The chance me threads where people start out by saying “I know my stats are horrible, but chance me for the USNews top 20”</p>
<p>And we then come to find out that they have a 4.0 uw GPA, but only took 8 AP’s while playing on 4 sports teams. Their “mediocre EC’s” involve going to Africa and rebuilding an entire village with their bare hands…and curing cancer while they were in Africa, using nothing more than a funnel, some filthy water and a paper clip. McGyver style. Plus such lackluster EC’s as internships at Argonne or Fermilab.</p>
<p>Last, the “what should I do!?” threads from people that have gotten their acceptance letters. Then we see that they only got accepted to Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, UChicago, and Penn. But…not MIT or Harvard. Their lives are surely over now. This goes back to that surefire life of misery, pain, suffering and shame.</p>
<p>Attending one of these “elite” colleges does not make you a pretentious snob. Hiring students from the top schools makes it easier for companies to select for top graduates, they make up a much greater proportion of the student body at these schools . Many of the top schools are much more rigorous, which is why I would likely select students from the top schools if I was hiring for almost any business. The average student at most top colleges is pushed more than the average student at most state schools.</p>
<p>No, fractalmstr, I’m not sending my kids to an “elite” school, at least not by CC standards. (My daughter is choosing among four very good women’s colleges, but they’re not Yale.) My point is that in the larger world, elite status does matter, and there are some people who value only that. However, this doesn’t mean a person won’t be successful because he or she didn’t attend a so-called top school.</p>
<p>I just think it’s disingenuous to pretend that snobbery and elitism don’t exist among hiring managers and grad school ad coms.</p>
<p>The IQ of the average college graduate is about 115. Don’t have any idea what it is in the IVY league, but would guess it is more on professional school levels. It would seem to me the average college graduate would be more than capable for most jobs out there, but not so “smart” as to be unable handle the job or unable to fit into the workplace. As for professionals, lawyers . . . well yea, where you did Grad school is important if you want top firms. Otherwise, not. As for doctors, doesn’t matter in the least unless you want to be a professor.</p>
<p>When people feel the need to remind us all that the Ivy League is about sports. It’s like one of those well known facts that no one cares about that you still feel the need to mention to feel smart or in the know, like the Great Wall and space or something. Don’t act stupid, you know that people are referring to the schools that all happen to be in the top 20.</p>