You don't go to HYP? You're going nowhere.

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Alright, over the past two years I've been on this site I'm noticing something INCREDIBLY disturbing, and it's actually kind of sad to be on a site where most of our "elite" college students are. My qualm is this:</p>

<p>People seem to actually believe that anything under the top 30 - 50 is "subpar" and basically not worth attending. I just read a thread where people called a degree from the University of Houston subpar. Do you realize that something like only 30% of americans over 25 even HAVE a college degree?? Do you also not realize that MILLIONS of people have graduated and been PERFECTLY successful from schools like Iona, University of Houston, University of SOUTH DAKOTA, etc? Since when did having a college degree become a BAD thing if its not from a top school?</p>

<p>Listen to me now people who haven't been sucked into this whole prestige issue:</p>

<p>LEARN TO LEAD IN YOUR LIFE, AND SUCCESS WILL FOLLOW. Period.</p>

<p>I don't care if you graduated from Harvard or Crapschool University if you can't lead, if you can't work well, if you have zero experience, your degree is exactly what it is: A PIECE OF PAPER. What's going to make the difference is HOW you apply that knowledge, HOW you come across, and how efficient you are as a leader, coworker, and a worker in general.</p>

<p>So remember my friends, a college degree is wonderful from any of the 4000+ schools in the U.S., but regardless of where you get it from it will make ZERO difference if you don't have the skills to go with it.</p>

2

<p>Dude. That's not true. Try going to the University of South Dakota and try to apply to Goldman and Sachs. If you apply yourself and have all the skills you need yet you went to the University of South Dakota, and there is a student who went to Harvard University who applied themselves in the same way. I seriously wonder who will get the job. Two people with the same amount of knowledge, who come across the same way, who are efficient in the work place with plenty of experience, YET 1 has a piece of paper with Harvard and the other has South Dakota....</p>

<p>Dude, the piece of paper matters no matter what you say.</p>

3

<p>Another thing agreeing with the OP: elite schools are NOT a match for everybody. I would not be very happy at all at almost any of the top schools discussed at length on this board. I applied to five safety schools. In the fall, I will likely be going to a school that is far, far beneath my HS achievements. Why? Because I knew what I was looking for in a college, and I have found the places that will give it. Sometimes I pause and think about what that means. But it has been said that obstacles are the things that arise when we take our mind off of our goals. If you know what you should do, go for it. Don't let name brands stop you.</p>

4

<p>It's not that hard, guys. Obviously getting into HYP is not the be all and end all. But OTOH, yes, there is a big difference between a Harvard and a USouthDakota college experience, and that Harvard name can certainly carry quite a bit of weight.</p>

5

<p>The single largest factor that determines how well you do is you. That said, one needs to be able to obtain the education necessary to be successful in one's chosen field and part of that education is being surrounded by your intellectual peers so that the overall pace is appropriate. One doesn't need HYP to be with your intellectual peers and challenged, but if those are your intellectual peers, Iona, and South Dakota wouldn't serve you well. There are however, many outstanding universities that would provide a challenging education to good students and from where they can get into top graduate programs where admission is based far more on academic merit than ECs and community service. Get a BS in ChemE from UHouston and a MS from MIT and Goldman will be interested in you.</p>

6

<p>sheed, i dont think ur looking at the OP's original post closely. its saying that no matter where you go, its your true skills that will carry you along the way. you are giving the scenerio of two people who attended two completely different schools who had equal capabilities of the workforce. the harvard grad obviously carried himself just as well as the south dakota grad, and yes you are right if the applicants are completely equal the harvard grad will get the job. but lets say the south dakota grad had everything the company was looking for and the harvard grad didnt seem to be the right fit. i dont think that piece of paper saying harvard on it is going to get them the job. an HYP degree may get you a good headstart in life, but in the end it is you who will decide your path in life.</p>

7

<p>True. I guess i didn't really see everything the OP was pointing towards.</p>

8

<p>Sheed- Jon Corzine did his undergrad at Illinois and ended up the CEO of Goldman</p>

9

<p>Tom Brokaw is a proud graduate of the U of South Dakota. Not everyone needs or can work for GS. There are only about 100,000,000 other jobs out there many of which will pay well and allow you to live a good life.</p>

<p>The richest man in Wisconsin was a high school dropout who was worth $4 Billion when he died last week.</p>

10

<p>Though of course your work ethic, people skills, etc matter more in the end than where you got your degree (especially for undergrad), schools seen as more prestigious can definitely help you get those skills. You have to be willing to push yourself, and you have to want to do well, and I think that that type of motivation can be brought about as a result of attending a school where most people experience that sort of motivation.</p>

11

<p>My Dad never went to college and worked his way up from an entry level job to a very important management position with a very large public utility. His last position he was chosen over a Princeton grad who was 10 years younger. It was known that the Princeton alum would leave the company if not selected. When the CEO asked the President why my Dad was picked he said because we have a problem we need fixed. It is performance that matters- always will be in the long rung.</p>

12

<h2>Here we go again :) </h2>

<p>Bottom line: YES, having a degree from HYP will give you an advantage. However, just because you went to ____________unknown/non-prestigious school, you can still be successful in life. You can still get a job, you can have a family, you can be a good person.</p>

13

<p>See, I am NOT discrediting the advantages of a HYP degree, at all. No, what I am saying is that people on these boards are giving it FAR TOO MUCH credit. Two posters in this forum alone have provided examples of great people going on to do great things. Just an FYI, most billionaires and successful people DIDN'T ATTEND AN IVY LEAGUE SCHOOL. <em>Gasp</em>, shocking I know. </p>

<p>I want people (especially our younger crowd who are seeing these stats and feeling its necessary for them to go to an ivy league to be successful or even get a job) to realize that the school does absolutely NOTHING for you. It is a tool for you to utilize. If you are a plumber and someone hands you a keyboard to fix a pipe, what good will that do you? Similarly, if someone tells you to nail a board down and you have no hands what good does giving you a hammer do you? If you do not have the skills, cannot develop the skills, or need a different set of skills that an ivy league requires/administers, then the school is nothing more then a big building filled with people walking around. What everyone must realize is that if you don't take advantage of opportunities given to you, if you aren't willing to better yourself, no school is going to magically just instill those qualities into you.</p>

<p>I agree to a lesser extent that being surrounded by peers of your academic standards can help, but all my life I've been at the top of my class, and many people say I should have maybe went to a magnet school or somewhere more challenging, but that stopped NOTHING. I still self studied japanese, I still read classics for fun, I still learned Spanish fluently, I still succeed in everything I set my mind to, NOT because of a school, or the promise of something, but because I WANT it bad enough. That's what people need, the DRIVE and DESIRE for success, and if you possess those two things than you can find a way to make what you want a reality, and as "lame" as that sounds, ask your Bill gates, steve jobs, Carlos Slims (and to people like his father who risked everything because they knew their drive and their mind was strong enough to beat destiny), and you will find the common thread between them all isn't an ivy league degree, it's the ability to envision something and make their steps towards it. It is this that separates the great from the good, the mediocre from the superior, and the weak from the powerful.</p>

14

<p>thank you for posting this, hyakku, i couldn't agree more</p>

15

<p>Bill Gates went to Harvard.</p>

<p>(dropped out, but still got in and went. Kind of like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook)</p>

16

<p>you can't be rich unless you go somewhere higher than georgetown</p>

17

<p>I would say Harvard and Wharton are best for Goldman, not so much YPS
Just because top colleges help you out in life, it doesn't mean that going to an ordinary college will hurt you or disadvantage you in any way, it's not the end of the world</p>

18

<p>Yup, here we go again.
I agreed with some of the stuff you said, but "regardless of where you get it from it will make ZERO difference if you don't have the skills to go with it." really threw me off.</p>

<p>In today's materialistic/capitalist/whatever you want to call it/etc it DOES matter, because with an excellent degree, ppl will assume you're 'good.'</p>

<p>As I usually say, the BETTER college you graduate from, the more LIKELY your chances at being successful INCREASES. therefore, IN GENERAL, better degrees = better life (open to interpretation what that means).</p>

<p>Just do what you can. End of story.</p>

<p>Edit:
[quote]
you can't be rich unless you go somewhere higher than georgetown

[/quote]
I assume you are joking.</p>

19

<p>
[QUOTE]
n today's materialistic/capitalist/whatever you want to call it/etc it DOES matter, because with an excellent degree, ppl will assume you're 'good.'

[/QUOTE]
</p>

<p>Erm again, if you don't have the skills to go with the position you will not be keeping that job, no matter if you've got fifteen degrees from Harvard.</p>

20

<p>Ok. Some of it is true: You CAN be successful regardless of where you go. Depends on you. </p>

<p>Then again, you have to question what success means. Is successful making 6 digits a year? Having a family? Doing what you love? What exactly, is success?</p>

<p>Personally, I couldn't live with myself if I ended up middle class or high middle class for that matter. I say that because I've grown up incredibly poor and I know I have the potential to reach political and financial power. Thus, you can't say to me I'd be "successful" if say I went to i.e. ITT Tech only because that school would give me a degree. Ok so I could get a job. Raise a family. Pay taxes. And be an AVERAGE American. </p>

<p>On the other hand, a degree from HYPS + its equivalent has the networking factor. You have more opportunities. It opens doors. If you are terrible at what you do, you won't get anywhere. And yes, someone will a degree from a Nowhere School can beat you if that person is more prepared. But if school is a TOOL that you use to your advantage, and assuming that you are ambitious and driven, then the tool that will aid you more will be the best. If you are a driven kid, going to U South Dakota might get you to the top. But going to HYPS would probably open many more doors, give you the networking you need, give you a name, and you will probably get there quicker. </p>

<p>Plus the end result is not all that matters. It's the experience. I am a Junior in HS so I have yet to know where I will end up. But as someone mentioned, </p>

<p><<<one doesn't="" need="" hyp="" to="" be="" with="" your="" intellectual="" peers="" and="" challenged,="" but="" if="" those="" are="" peers,="" iona,="" south="" dakota="" wouldn't="" serve="" you="" well.="">>> </one></p>

<p>True. If you feel like you belong in a top school because you whatever your achievements might be, then not going to HYPS (or equivalents) will certainly take a toll on you because you know that you had the potential and that you would have done something with that school to propell you to wherever you want to go. Which is probably why you see so many posts of kids who are down because they didn't get to HYPS. At the end though, it is not the end of the world. If they could have done it in the top schools, they could do it anywhere else.</p>