<p>I have an experience for you italianboarder </p>
<p>A couple of years ago, I had my first experience as the chair of a hiring committee. We were looking for a full-time French teacher. We reviewed the applicants and created a large and varied pool from which to choose. I was particularly impressed by what I thought were the best candidates: several candidates from Patriot League schools and two Ivy League applicants, one with a 4.0 in French. The applicants were all young (early 20s)they all had lived/attended school abroad for at least one yearandthey all had excellent letters of recommendation. </p>
<p>As pleased as I was with the group assembled for the first round of interviews, it did not last. By the end of the first day of interviews, I was confronted with the colossal disconnect between a paper screening and the actuality of the interview process. </p>
<p>My top three (paper) candidates going into the interviews were the worst applicants by the end of the first day. The primary reason had to do with their knowledge and use of the French language. As the French teachers on the committee engaged each candidate in a 10-minute dialogue, none of my top candidates were successful. None of these candidates possessed the grammar skills needed to teach students beyond French 2. The worst offender was the 4.0 Ivy League candidate. In addition, they were not people that I would want working with my childrenthey were not teachers despite their degreesand I could not allow them to teach other peoples children.</p>
<p>The best candidate of the first round was a state-school candidate from South Boston. She demonstrated a flawless accent and a thorough understanding of the French language. By the end of the interview process, she came out on top. We hired her, and she has proven to be an enormously talented teacher with a work ethic to match! I learned a lot from herto be open to greatnessand not to assume that I know the best candidate from a résumé. </p>
<p>This is only one example. I have hired many teachers with impressive résumés, but they all needed more than that to get my vote in the hiring process.</p>
<p>Italianboarder….I am not editorializing on this issue. I am reporting on my professional experience across many years of performing executive search and placement. Your hiring experience may be different.</p>
<p>A teaching posistion... I was discussing jobs in the law, medical and financial fields.(I provided a larger list in a previous post)
All of the hiring experience is from finance and law.</p>
<p>I promise you, one day prestige might get you a job... the next maybe it'll get you kicked from the interview?</p>
<p>PV: I was using Harvard as a random prestige school. I have never found data that suggests otherwise. I never said your 10th grade stats matter... But what you gain off the measurable scale makes all the difference. The kid that you went to science class, just won a Nobel Prize. That kid you played Lacrosse with got a spot on the Forbes 500. That debate three days ago in class just gave you a new perspective. Your through process is changed, and you are better for it. I've worked with kids from Exeter, kids from Andover, kids from Choate, kids from SPS and kids from public school. I went to a gifted program... The Exeter kids weren't better. They just thought better.</p>
<p>I like how sand explained it, although its in a field where its more clear about how much you know and how well you can do your job simply by getting them to teach a 1 class or talk to them in the language.</p>
<p>All I'm saying is that fact that you were particularly impressed with the people you some from the good colleges is good enough for me. If I can get a second look or start out with an edge...a good IVY league candidate will always get the job. Whereas a good state college candidate may not always get the job, simply because they didn't come in with an edge. Not all the time...but I can imagine this happens sometimes.</p>
<p>Plus I want to go into a field thats not really in demand right now really. And the good jobs start out by being filled with the ivy leaguers and then everyone else fights for the rest. Many of them ending without a job. I have read this countless times in another forum on this board.</p>
<p>Funny, you also seem to think jobs like law, medicine, politics, etc. are better than teaching. I would not, and I don't think many of the typical CCers would, last long as a teacher. Their job is one of the most noble (yet underrepresented) jobs. I do not appreciate you putting teachers in a different league from all these "money making" jobs. </p>
<p>Your point about kids in gifted programs is well noted, but again remember in many of these programs class rank plays a role... Val. of a selective school will be better than a Val. of a public school. My point in the end was Exeter will make your college life somewhat better but I doubt it will make much of a DIRECT (indirect, yes) difference 30 yrs down the road.</p>
<p>Was the "Funny, you also seem to think jobs like law, medicine, politics, etc. are better than teaching." aimed at italian? Cuz I didn't insinuate that at all.</p>
<p>I didn't say that. I'm saying that honestly they are way different... Teachers need skills like PR directors and politicians. A professional blue collar job like that requires different things than being an NFL athlete... Common sense.</p>
<p>I don't hold the average teacher in high regard. I hold the right teachers in high regard... I had a ton of bad teachers and the 4 good ones changed my life.</p>
<p>"I do not appreciate you putting teachers in a different league from all these "money making" jobs" You drew alot of meaning from what I you wanted me to say... But I didn't. I'm putting them in another league, not because they are not money making jobs. They are in a different league because of the skill set and the fact that being smart is less of a factor for teachers... The smartest teacher(well top 3) at my school sucks at actually teaching. You can be crazy smart and people will help you out, but not so much in teaching. My dad was really smart but didn't know the business, and people recognized that and taught him. Probably not going to happen in teaching.</p>
<p>I agree that bad teachers SUCK, but they are still in one of the highest (yet least regarded) jobs in country. </p>
<p>Anyway back to the topic the OP was talking about.. Most boarding schools are prestigious, that is what you get from a BS. So chose what fits you, but in terms of BS--> college transition prestige will be better regarded... Remember you may be a big fish in one school and a small one in the other.</p>
<p>I agree with some of that italian. The most qualified teach in my school is the worst teacher. Math teach that graduated from Stanford then went on to MIT. But can't teach at all....</p>