<p>This is a story for all those who believe that going to a certain school will increase your chances of success later in life. A story for those who are working so hard for schools that might not be the right fit because there is a certain pressure to go there from parents/ teachers/ etc. Basically, this is for everyone on this board.</p>
<p>My mother is one of the best recruiters in the business (not a joke, with over 25 years of experience and numerous awards, she's really good). She has worked in many different fields of recruiting from IT to business and most recently upper executive CFA. When I started looking at schools my junior year, she would offer up stories of her numerous clients and candidates and what her general opinion of them was. She would always say "It's up for you to determine where is best for you, but that's just my opinion on X school." Recently, as my younger sister is looking at schools, she told us the story of a young man (27 years old) she is working with at the moment. This young man went to a Tier 3 business school for accounting that is pretty reputable in the Chicago area, but not really outside of it. The man ended up with a job that paid $100k a year with a sizable bonus each year of at least $50k. Even though the job was pretty much a road warrior job, the young man discovered that he was still just as competent as his peers who went to the best business schools in the country. My mother attributes this to the fact that he was a good student all through his college years, and wasn't just there to get a degree. </p>
<p>On a somewhat sadder note, a candidate she has been working with for about a year from a top business school is still looking for a job. My mother says that this because he often goes into his interviews highly cocky about his degree from X school even though he is a generally nice person. And this is a trend she sees with many people from all different fields. It is often the people with the "worse" school's degree that get the jobs due to their more humble nature.</p>
<p>So, CCers, just remember that your dream school doesn't necessarily mean that it's the top school in the country in your field. If the shoe doesn't fit in every other aspect, DON'T WEAR IT!!!!!!</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me with any questions.</p>
<p>that doesn’t really prove what you claim to be is your point though. if he’s cocky and obnoxious, then of course it’s going to hurt him. however, if he interviewed well from a strong school, he’d probably be preferred. i think the take away message here is to be a good person, not that where you go to school doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>citizenreporter, I am sorry, but the point that you are trying to make is what?</p>
<p>I think that the message citizenreporter tried to convey was that it doesn’t matter what college you attend as long as you work hard and do your best. Although more common sense than anything else, it’s certainly an ideal that many people (especially those caught up in the insanity of the college search) have lost sight of.</p>
<p>It’s a shame that it doesn’t always apply in the real world, though.</p>
<p>I think what he’s trying to say is that people that don’t come from these fancy schools are almost more desirable because they almost want the job more rather than feel entitled because they got accepted somewhere cool. Who really cares right now? There aren’t a lot of jobs right now until the baby boomers retire. Recruiters want a person that is willing to start from the ground up even after college. It seems to me that people that have gone to these awesome grand schools almost feel like they’re entitled for some reason. It’s ridiculous to think this way. Everyone knows college wasn’t created to get someone a job. The true value of an education is to make society educated so we don’t kill each other. It wasn’t intended to create jobs for people. Send your kids to devry for that. The underdog will always win and I love it. The story of David vs Goliath could really teach people something with this stuff.</p>
<p>If you go into an interview, and the other candidates are from Notre Dame, and the hiring manager is a ND grad, who do you think is getting the job? You can substitute ‘Princeton’ for ND as well. Some schools have very strong alumni networks.</p>
<p>It really is true. Success is all about networking, connections, and most importantly your personality and motivation. Generally, top schools are full of motivated, talented students and offer good network opportunities, so it makes sense that you tend to see a good amount of these individuals go on to successful careers. But just because X University is in the USNWR Top 50 as opposed to a lower rank doesn’t mean that the student at X University is a shoo-in for any job unless they butcher the interview. Again, the assumption that students from top schools are more successful a mistake of correlation and causation.</p>