<p>These universities are highly regarded in America. Employers will certainly respect those who attended these. “Wow” factor is certainly achievable with degrees from these institutions. However, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and Princeton are generally a little bit more well regarded. A little.
You have to understand, alums from HYPSM would barely make 2% of the population. 2% is probably stretching it. There are plenty of employers that can’t target these alums. Are you saying they can never say wow?</p>
<p>“Worth the investment”? Is that what they teach you in Ivy League business schools? Because it seems clearly wrong to me. To take your example, the graduate of a public flagship could take that $100K saved by not going the costly private route, invest it in a stock market index fund, and likely make well over 3% average annual ROI over the course of 35 years—and still have the initial $100K investment! In other words, the non-Ivy grad who invests the $100K doubles her money in the time it takes the Ivy grad just to get back to break-even. Your example makes the Ivy education look like a really lousy investment. </p>
<p>Besides, I think the OP’s point was that some studies have suggested the Ivy grad doesn’t get $3K more per year in salary over non-Ivy grads, once you adjust for ability. On this hypothesis, the kids with the 4.0 unweighted GPAs and 2400 SATs are going to do about as well financially whether they go Ivy or public flagship; it’s the “average” graduates of the public flagships who pull down the average salaries of public university graduates relative to the Ivies, but that’s comparing apples to oranges. Others dispute that, but the evidence is at best mixed, and I don’t think you can say it’s been conclusively established that Ivy grads earn more than others of like ability. In short, the Ivies and other elite schools may simply operate more as a sorting mechanism, rather than offering any value-added from a pure financial standpoint.</p>
<p>“P.S. Somehow people always find out that you are the Ivy League guy?”</p>
<p>Actually, yes. When bosses hire people in higher positions (or positions that will interact with higher levels), they put out background bio info on the new person. While the experience portion is critical, they always mention where they received their degrees. And once people hear it, they seem not to forget it. Of course, if I was a stump at what I did, they could all laugh about how overrated the Ivies are, I suppose. </p>
<p>Others bring up the Ivy connection. I never have to. And it’s always a fun thing around March Madness time, too… ;-)</p>
<p>Well, I suppose it depends on the field, and how far you go with your education. In my field almost everyone has an advanced degree and no one gives a hoot where one did undergrad; it’s the graduate credentials that count, and at that level some Ivies are highly regarded, others less so. </p>
<p>In a field like engineering (not my field), most Ivies are less highly regarded than places like UC Berkeley, Michigan, UIUC, Georgia Tech, even Purdue. I think it’s just really dangerous to generalize on one’s own individual experience. </p>
<p>The Ivies are outstanding at undergraduate education in liberal arts fields, somewhat less so in many technical/professional fields (Wharton being a major exception); but so are many leading LACs. At the graduate/professional school level, the Ivies range from very good to outstanding but as a group are not clearly above other top privates and the top publics. </p>
<p>In most fields a Ph.D. from Brown is not as strong a credential as a Ph.D. from Berkeley; and the Ph.D. from Harvard is just as valuable whether the holder’s B.A. is from Yale or from Ohio State. In law-world a Yale or Harvard J.D. is the gold standard regardless of where the undergrad degree is from; but a NYU J.D. with an undergrad degree from Rutgers has brighter prospects than a Princeton B.A. with a law degree from Rutgers or BC.</p>
<p>So I just wouldn’t read too much into this undergrad Ivy advantage. If that’s as far as you go with your education, it may help. If you go further than an undergrad degree, it becomes much less clear.</p>
<h2>Well, I suppose it depends on the field, and how far you go with your education. In my field almost everyone has an advanced degree and no one gives a hoot where one did undergrad; it’s the graduate credentials that count, and at that level some Ivies are highly regarded, others less so. </h2>
<p>None of which diminishes the point I was making based on personal experience. </p>
<p>I happen to have my law degree from Rutgers, as well as many professional certifications (systems, mortgage banking, project management, Six Sigma, etc) . And as I clearly stated, it’s what you do after school that makes the most impact. None of this changes what I have actually experienced regarding reaction to my undergraduate education in the workplace. Your experiences may of course differ.</p>
<p>To reiterate: based on my actual experiences, yes, it has made a difference.</p>
<p>I just had this conversation in a meeting yesterday with six other dad’s which included two public company CEO’s, two experienced corporate directors and various other senior managers. The opinions tracked in almost the same ratio as expressed in this thread. As you might expect, their educational backgrounds were all over the place. My son had just been admitted to Johns Hopkins with a substantial merit scholarship. My question to the group was, suppose he gets into Princeton, but with no scholarship; does he pick Hopkins with a ~$125K discount, or Princeton at full price? The room erupted with opinions on both sides. I came away from the discussion feeling like there really just is no ‘right’ answer. </p>
<p>Personally, I suspect that the part of the answer to the ROI question is that success in life for this elite cohort of individuals is defined more broadly than economic ROI. Public service or fine arts, for example don’t pay well, but seem to have a lot of Ivy League folks at the helm.</p>
<p>I’ve had a similar experience to others on this thread regarding pedigree: now that my career is 30 years along, my education rarely comes up other than in stock bios. But people still raise their eyebrows in appreciation if they find out my MBA is from Wharton. It’s impossible to know the cumulative impact of that degree on my career overall, but it sure didn’t hurt…</p>