<p>To quote my dad, "You know what bothers me about some of these parents and their questions about alumnis and if their kids can take honors classes and skip grades because they are "geniuses"?... Do they realize that they are not actually special little snow flakes at these schools?(HADES) A million kids that were better than them have graced the halls... They are just receiving a huge blessing. Some people don't get that after their kid graduates they will only hear one type of "No" in the job world. That "No" will be, "No, the position is way below your ability, let's start you a little higher?""</p>
<p>Now just to clarify my comment... It isn't just Exeter/Andover that gets you the job. My interviewer from SPS was a VERY accomplished lawyer and he told me he almost didn't get hired... Turns out his rabbi(Slang for his mentor) was captain of his group's(They split students into 3 sports groups) hockey team. My interview said that if he didn't get that job he had planned to work at Dillards. Now he is a partner and told me he had a very comfortable living(He had a cartier watch on... I think it was that new quarter mil one. I saw it in the economist... I'm not sure tho).
My Choate interview had a very nice house also... Turns out he doesn't have a job(early 40s). He was a venture capitalist and he received information on multiple industries through his old class mates.</p>
<p>It isn't just the prestige factor. The "group" that you get is a big factor. Maybe all of your friends will go into law school and 5 years later they'll help you into their firm or something. </p>
<p>My parents have forced my decision based on acceptance. They basically split the schools into their own tiers and I need to attend the highest "tier" that they have designed. Phillip's academies are on top. IF I get into one I have to attend. I see why they are doing it... It is 40 grand(minus FA; I'm not too sure we will get a decent amount, we fall into one of the outside brackets) either way. My only job was to get into the best school I could, basically to make the 40 grand worth it.</p>
<p>I think everyone talks about the prestige in relation to helping you in your future career. I don't think anyone wants name for the sake of name. And I don't really get what you were saying about your SPS interviewer...Care to re-explain? It's pretty ambiguous.</p>
<p>Basically my interviewer was given an internship of sorts. The guy that was his "mentor" in the company turned out to have been the captain of SPS's hockey team when they graduated. They knew each other, and my interviewer got the job.</p>
<p>That job was important, because my interviewer really needed to get a job and if he hadn't gotten that one he was going to settle for a job at a department store until he had enough money to go out and try to get another job.</p>
<p>"Some people don't get that after their kid graduates they will only hear one type of "No" in the job world. That "No" will be, "No, the position is way below your ability, let's start you a little higher?"</p>
<p>Personally I think that the only industries where connections would be useful are:</p>
<p>Acting, Business, Politics, and Law.</p>
<p>I think that Choate would provide the best connections for actors (by FAR)</p>
<p>I think that Hotchkiss would provide the best connections for business (by FAR)</p>
<p>I think that Punaho (Obama), Exeter (Judd Gregg), SPS (Kerry), Milton (Deval Patrik and Kennedy) would provide the best connections in Politics.</p>
<p>A few years back Andover would have been the best for politics by far but their main source of political connections (the Bush Family) was hit hard so that kind of makes them have beens. </p>
<p>School connections cut deep - cultivate them. There is not much point going to school with great people if you don't know them and make connections with them. It is in this context that i find smaller schools such as Hotchkiss Deerfield and SPS have an advantage over A and E because you are almost guaranteed to have contact with some of the people who are going to go onto big things whereas at a bigger school you may spend two years in the same school and never meet. it's hit and miss really.</p>
<p>Connections are useful in every industry. My husband graduated with an aerospace engineering degree in the middle of a defense industry recession (early 90s) and was unable to find a position. He finally was hired through a connection with a classmate from his Penn State Engineering class into a major aerospace company. </p>
<p>So connections are useful everywhere but you can also make connections at state colleges too!</p>
<p>My dad meant that after they have "Exeter" or "Andover" on their resume they won't be hearing alot of "No, you can't have this job." They will only hear the "No, this job isn't good enough for you."</p>
<p>Does that make sense? He didn't mean it literally. HE meant it to illustrate a point mainly.</p>
<p>When they say "making connections at school" usually they mean with your classmates... not a famous alumni who has never even met you. It's not like you could call the oval office and be like "May I speak to Mr. Bush, we attended the same highschool!"
thought i would point that out</p>
<p>Actually... Making connections can be an alumni. Let's say somebody graduated 10 years before you did. You can say, "Oh man, did you have <em>NAME OLD TEACHER</em>? He is such a jerk!!!"</p>
<p>Sure, you could, if it's any old almuni, but you couldn't exactly go up to Obama/Bush/anyone that famous just because you went to the same highschool.</p>
<p>True. But in an interview, I'm sure it could be helpful. Or putting the highschool in your resume could be helpful. It will help for pretty much most of the careers that boarding schoolers get into other than maybe medicine.</p>
<p>I was saying that because in most cases no matter where you go, if you work hard you can become a successful doctor. You don't necessarily need the connections...you go to a highschool, go to a mediocre college, get high gpa+Mcat score, go to medical school, residency, start making your money.</p>
<p>I mean its a long process, but at no point do you need any real connections to become a successful doctor. Where as in many other professions such as business, connections can hold alooot of weight. No that its necessary. But it will definitely help somewhere along the line.</p>
<p>P.S, you can't really major in medicine. Usually you choose a major then you take the required pre-med courses then the Mcat to get into medical school.</p>
<p>haha right. sorry. i meant opthalmology >_></p>
<p>mediocre college?? grr, the whole medical process is so confusing.
harvard < bad grades < nowhere near top of class < goodbye med school!</p>
<p>sucky state college < great grades < top of class < hello there, ph.d!
you know what i mean. .. ahaha, the whole thing is dizzying, but i have lots and lots of time to think about it :)</p>
<p>hm. another plus with prestigious schools: connections! (to make up for being totally off topic)</p>
<p>I had to comment on this whole "prestige" issue. In the real world, there are a lot of well respected boarding schools. A friend of my oldest son is presently at Pomfret (and loves it). His father is a cardiologist and his mother is a gynecologist. They both went to "no name according to CC" boarding schools. Their son is brilliant and athletic and could have gone to a more prestigious school. They chose the place that he loved. </p>
<p>We have another friend whose father is also a very successful doctor. They visited multiple schools. They love Pomfret and that is the only school he is applying to. He is another very bright student. </p>
<p>Wait until you receive your acceptances, go to revisit days and if you still love Pomfret - go fo it. It's a beautiful school!!!</p>
<p>Yes....most definitely go for the school you love. I have never heard of anything more ridiculous than the thought that you can't be as successful if you don't have some super-prestigious bs name on your resume.</p>
<p>I agree, prestige schools certainly have their limits. Madoff went to Far Rockaway High School for "Pete's sake", and see how far he got. I wonder how many Prestige School grads helped him get to where he is now.(Locked up in his Penthouse)
I wonder how many Prestige school grads helped the US get into the economic situation we are in now?
Names of grad, name Prestige school he/she attended, and position on Wall Street or banking please. No politicians, as we know who they are already.</p>
<p>As a father of an apping student to 5 Pres schools this kind of stuff is delicious.</p>
<p>"I have never heard of anything more ridiculous than the thought that you can't be as successful if you don't have some super-prestigious bs name on your resume."</p>
<p>No one said you cant. They just said theres a possiblilty of it helping. And if your going to spend so much, some parents want to make sure their kids get absolutel;y everything out of boarding school as possible. So if they can fit in at those schools and they like it...why not?</p>