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<p>The reverence is mutual, I’m sure.</p>
<p>Chicago’s top 5 employers are all government-related (the federal government, Chicago public schools, the city, the state, and Cook County). Others in the top 25 include Walmart, Walgreens, Chicago Transit Authority, the Archdiocese of Chicago, the University of Chicago, and Northwestern University. Ivies, other T20 universities and top LACs are unlikely to “place” too many of their own with those employers (except for Chicago and NU students at their own universities). BOA and JP Morgan Chase may be getting their share (but probably not to their big Chicago offices).</p>
<p>Within 5 years after graduation, a high percentage of students at these schools enroll in graduate and professional schools, then go into law, medicine, academia, finance, IT, or public service (sometimes after a stint in a program like Teach for America or the Peace Corps). They compete in a national (and to some extent international) market, where Chicago isn’t a very big player.</p>
<p>The schools that will “place” best in Chicago do so because they are big and because they are there. As for the alumni network thing, I find it hard to believe it has that much relevance anymore (for most fields). I doubt managers at BOA are hiring their college golfing buddies to fill entry positions. They have big well-oiled HR machines that put everybody through pretty much the same process.</p>
<p>So go to college for a liberal education, not because you imagine this or that academic brand will get you a job. If you don’t believe in the value of that, then go learn a trade (nursing, plumbing, whatever) or a knowledge-intensive profession like pharmacy. Doors will open for what you know and can do given the prevailing supply and demand.</p>