<p>How do they measure unemployment among college graduates? Those collecting unemployment benefits? Some don’t apply for them, so 8.5% is probably an underestimation.</p>
<p>You get what you pay for,there is no way a secondary type state school is similar to a top 100 school,no way…go to the best school you can afford, without incurring much debt… I laugh when i hear parents spending 20k per year for HS, then complain about college costs…</p>
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<p>Could you cite any published references to support that? (Per annasdad)</p>
<p>Dad II - you jumped the gun.</p>
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<p>The data says otherwise (thanks, Dad II).</p>
<p>East meets West.</p>
<p>I usually don’t jump on short-term trends to predict long-term doom and gloom. But is certainly has been true in manufacturing that many jobs are gone forever. It is entirely possible that college-grad type jobs could be undergoing a permanent contraction. I say focus on a job that still requires live in person contact in some way. Could be a doctor, plumber or teacher although that could be under threat now with all that online stuff and ed software. Even actors are being replaced by hightech ultra-real animation. Who knows where we are headed but i am glad I’m old now. Too much change too fast is not good for people nor is the greater stress levels.</p>
<p>Too bad POIH isnt around to chime in.</p>
<p>It is a dire situation in some areas. The national rate is an average, so that some places have a much higher employment rate, and due to the way things work in such areas, underemployment and unreported unemployment make it even worse. What jobs there are do not even meet what it takes to live. People are living off of family friends, and illegal means, plus cutting corners that are dangerous. </p>
<p>I have a friend who lives in such an area. There are no jobs available. What jobs that are filled are so filled with experienced employees that are terribly underemployed. The public pool is staffed with older adults with families, unlike our area pool who have college and even high school students working as life guards and at other positions. Where she lives, these are fiercely guarded and prized positions, because so little other work is available. </p>
<p>She would leave but she is older, has a business that is barely making it, but is an asset still. Has property and a house that’s paid for and very low taxes. Uprooting and finding a better situation just isn’t something she can get herself to do. It’s her children that are causing the pain. Two college graduates barely making minimum wage and not even working full time. Both with loans, one with onerous amounts. The one was going to move here with us and look for work, but has a girlfriend…so he’s moved to a closer city where there is some work and they squeak by. It’s a tough life. </p>
<p>We can’t assume things will get better soon or even later. Though, yes, we can hope, we also have to prepare for the worse, as things may well be very different for the next generation in terms of job opportunities, pay, and standard of living. I think in my personal situation, that I’ve set my kids up for sort of life that they may not be able to sustain. DH and I have been able to live in a way that they may not be able to continue on their own even when they get to the peak of their earnings. We had enough to give them a childhood and young adulthood of relative privilege but not enough to ensure it for their lifetimes and for their children. I guess that is where the dividing line is for the those who are truly wealthy in assets and earnings. But had we lived more modestly, we could have had a more continuous quality of life for the next generation as well.</p>
<p>My recent college graduate will start seriously job searching in the fall, and will look from coast to coast for opportunities,staying with family members who will help him. We are lucky to have that situation. Also, he probably will find some opportunities here since we are in a major city where there is always a lot happening. Whether they will be what would have gotten a generation ago, I don’t know. I just hope he can be self sufficient in the next few years.</p>
<p>As for college, I think going into a lot of debt for education is dangerous. I think that in the future, our college system will be such that the state schools, particularly the flagships and well known ones will become the top schools and most sought after schools other than a much smaller number of well known privates. I think government should pull a lot of the aid they are giving private institutions and put more money into the state schools, particularly local and community colleges so that higher education is available at affordable prices for more people. It isn’t going to hurt Harvard’s enrollment a whit to pull the PELLS and Staffords from them. It will help more low income students to put that kind of money in enhancing colleges that are available to more people.</p>
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<p>I actually agree with annasdad to a certain degree. For a capable student, he/she should be able to get the best education at any university. Especially if you define the “education” as learning to think critically. </p>
<p>However, I would think the case would be different in terms of “exposure”. This is defined as the latest equipment, the Nobel Laureates, etc. </p>
<p>I also think those graduates from the top tier U should have an advantage in terms of getting an interview for the first job.</p>
<p>On the other hand, you don’t need to attend an Ivy school to find summer jobs/research opportunities/whatever you are interested.</p>
<p>[Class</a> Profile - Data & Statistics - MBA Recruiting - Harvard Business School](<a href=“http://www.hbs.edu/recruiting/mba/data-and-statistics/class-profile.html]Class”>Employment Data - Recruiting - Harvard Business School)</p>
<p>This is from Harvard Business school class 2011 and 2012.
75% of class of 2011 were looking for work. The remaining 25% were broken down to only 14% already employed via company sponsored education/or already employed.</p>
<p>FOURTEEN PERCENT employed</p>
<p>89% of class of 2012 were looking for work.</p>
<p>What chance do the rest have if a Harvard MBA can’t land a job.</p>
<p>In terms of “exposure,” how much face time does the average undergraduate get with a Nobel laureate? Or even a garden variety academic superstar? I suspect not much.</p>
<p>My advisor won the Nobel Prize in economics about 2-3 years ago. 20 years after he was my advisor, of course.</p>
<p>the average undergraduate</p>
<p>Why, thank you for suggesting that I’m above average :-). </p>
<p>It’s nice bragging rights, but I don’t think it’s terribly meaningful. Nobel prize winning doesn’t necessarily mean great teacher.</p>
<p>My direct experience has been that contacts and “pull” trumps it all when it comes to getting ones foot in the door. It doesn’t matter what school your child attended. If you have someone who is a strong proponent for your child and has the connections to get that interview, internship and even that job, it will happen unless there is some glaring reason not to do so and sometimes even if there is. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that those who go to the top name schools, the most selective schools, the HPYs already have that pull. And they are no schluffs either when it comes to brains and abilities, so yes, they will be more likely to get their feet in the door, and they would have regardless of where they went to school. My sons attended a high school where the families tended to be well to do, have connection and are in the position to offer jobs and get interviews. It is intrinsic that those kids have those advantages. Less than 20% go on to colleges with less than a 50 %$ accept rate, and my kid was the ONLY one his year to go to a SUNY. The ONLY one. A lot of them are gainfully employed in positions that are worthy of envy, and most of those who are have some parental connection to the job like the parent owns the company. Though there is some advantage, to some kids, to get those connections by getting to know such kids by going to such schools, the fact of the matter is that these second hand contacts are much weaker. THese people are constantly bombarded with requests for jobs and favors and they save them for those close to them. Yes a rich scrap might come your way from the contact, but it is no where a certainty. </p>
<p>I have two brothers who are in strong positions, in one case a certain position to give out good jobs when an opening arises. Their kids come first, believe me, and maybe, maybe one of mine might be a consideration. Forget any friends of my kids or even of theirs. My brother outright told me that he is bombarded with such requests. My closest friend’s DH did get a job for his son (and believe me, that son did not deserve the job; it was a direct intervention) but no way in the world would he get one for my son . Maybe he’d put in a word for him, but he’s “used up” his influence in that area with the job he got for his own kid. When it comes to getting a good, relatively high paying job, it comes down to those folks who will lend you a lot of money, who will stick their necks out to get your kid a job. </p>
<p>More important than the school name is if you have a usable skill. THose graduates are finding jobs even in this economy.</p>
<p>Bookmarked.</p>
<p>In the ever going question on this board of does an 'elite" school make a difference one thing routinely gets ignored. The school’s name does not enhance a student’s chances for an internship or post graduation job. But rather the school’s alumni and career center and their involvement in helping students from the school. This can happen at an Ivy, LAC or a state school. But as mentioned in post #36 the effort that an advocate for the student has does have a direct correlation on one’s ability to land an interview at the very least.</p>
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Actually this is not quite true. Many companies use selectivity of colleges as a filter when they want to hire. They choose which campus to recruit from. Google may recruit at CMU CS rather than Harvard because CMU’s CS is a better program than Harvard’s. But overall, more selective schools, in general, will have more internation/national companies recruit on campus. There are local schools which are well known to some regional companies, and those graduates do quite well there, but more often than not, it is due to school’s alumni pull.</p>
<p>Quickly, this will spin into discussion elite vs non-elite, like every CC thread.</p>
<p>The young man I know who graduated at the top of his class with nearly perfect test scores and got into Harvard and graduated last year is still working at his father’s little business. I see him all of the time. No connections, Asian, not many friends and shy. Good grades and yes, he uses his college resource centers, and connections. He’ll find something in time, I know, but without that direct in, unless you are prime, it is not an easy go. He has had 3 unpaid internships in the time since he graduated, and at this point is focusing on getting a job where he is paid. There are a number of kids like him, not as many from schools like HPY since a greater % of those kids tend to be connected in someway to job openings and hiring influence. My SIL is a Harvard Business grad, and though she is the first to say there is that advantage, she also will say that it is difficult to separate the fact that those students went to that school or were so talented to be able to make it through the screening to make the cut that gets them the jobs. If that same kid went to a different school, he might be just as apt to find a job. That the top schools by definition have top students from families of influence really affect those stats for hiring. How much the school makes the difference is difficult to measure.</p>