cellardweller

It was actually Paul Allen that convinced him to drop out after the first year at Harvard to dedicate himself to starting a software company. Would his path have been different had he not attended Harvard? Nobody will ever know and Microsoft was struggling for a long time until his Harvard buddy, Steve Ballmer joined him in 1980. Within weeks of joining Microsoft, Ballmer orchestrated the acquisition of the precursor of DOS from Seattle Computer Products for $50,000 and largely managed the negotiatons with IBM which secured the future of the company.

FLVADAD

The key is taking full advantage of the resources the school offers. For example, our lowly ranked local State U. (by CC standards) has enormous opportunities for undergrad research in their Honors Program. They have a Research Program that can be added as a second major. The school is huge, but they are cultivating a group of about 1,700 kids for whom they are rolling out the red carpet with funding, one on one mentorships, collaborative projects, and intern positions within local institutions. Anyone who goes there and takes full advantage, and performs well, will not only an edge, but will be choosing from many fantastic opportunities by graduation.

Now, does the school have the highest ranking? No. Is it considered top tier? Nope. Household name across the country? Nada. But motivated students there are well supported and appear to have unlimited potential for scholarship and exposure to professionals within their chosen field. They graduate with a record of accomplishment (published works, research presentations, etc.) that you generally only expect to see among graduate students.

It would be very hard to convince me, given those circumstances, that students coming out of that program won't do exceptionally well. Oh, and by the way, nearly all of them are on full scholarship so they are getting that great education without any debt or depleted savings.

randombetch

I love topics where people pretend that the college they go to doesn't matter so that they can feel better about themselves.

galoisien

I don't love people who haven't grown the prerequisite maturity for attending college, though they might have even been admitted to an Ivy, by boasting about their admission on the internet to feel better about themselves ...

yeoldstudent

Don't overlook the small, little known colleges. They tend to have extremely dedicated professors and small classes. You'll get a better education and your professors and fellow alumni will be more likely to help you get a job. I went to Montana Tech and got a better education than any Ivy League person I've ever worked with.

kh892

FLVADAD gave a good example where intelligent students can get A-class education and opportunities. Let me reiterate that college is what you make of it. If I was in charge of grad school admissions, I would certainly pick the intelligent student with a high GPA and good research credentials from the honors program at the state school FLVADAD mentioned over a HYPS grad who simply coasted his way through college thinking that the name-plate alone would get them places.
College is what you make of it. Intelligent people with initiative can get a Harvard education from UCLA, U Michigan, or even a lesser State U and on the flip side, HYPSM are plainly able to produce unsuccessful people as well as very succesful people -> Take a look at our current president.

Milkmagn

It really doesn't matter in the long run. Studies have shown that students who got into ivies but chose to attend less prestigious colleges do not have a long term salary different than those that got into ivies and chose to go there.

Amen

Westmere

As long as you're satisfied with where you went, nothing else matters.

Even so, this topic is pointless: you are where you went to a decent degree - there's no denying it. If you're telling me that, on average, you consider a person who went to Boise Community College equal to a HPYSMIUDBADYZX graduate, then you are one of the extremely rare human beings in the world who lack the capacity to judge others. You can't expect people to not think of you differently when you tell them your alma mater; it's not my problem that my expectations or impressions of a person differ depending on where he went. No, that graduate should have considered how others view him when he was choosing schools.

This is, whether you like it or not, the way that the world works. Welcome to reality, first stop: the painful truth.

FLVADAD

Perhaps that is your world of reality Westmere, but not mine.

I certainly don't think of a person differently based on where he/she went to school. I think of people differently based on their personal qualities, attributes, character, and abilities. Why would I care what school he/she attended?

People contend with extremely different circumstances from one to another, much of which is beyond their control, but which often dictates where they live, where they go to school, etc. That's the way life is. Judging someone solely on what college they attended is an extraordinarily superficial way of thinking IMO.

Westmere

I did not mean nor say that I would judge someone solely on where they went. It does, however, tell me something about a person.

Milkmagn

anyway, grad school is more important

kelseyg

I'm a student and I usually don't know where most of my professors and teachers go to school. I don't know where the people I intern with went to school or where my coworkers went to school. Every so often it comes up when they learn where I'm going to school, and it doesn't change my opinions about them.

I'm not being idealistic - I know some very intelligent people who went to a range of schools, from state to LAC to ivies. I'm not suddenly more inclined to like a mediocre worker who attended an impressive school or be unimpressed with an intelligent person who attended a local college. Just as I wouldn't be more impressed by someone who was a member of one fraternity or the other. I can't imagine I'm an outlier.

Edit: I'm not saying it doesn't affect the conversation at all. For instance, I really like Reed College. If I found out someone attended there I'd say, "Oh - cool, was that a great experience?" I don't suddenly say, "Oh my gosh, you attended Reed?!? You must be much more intelligent and suave then I had previously suspected you of being from our time together."

x90

I agree with the title wholeheartedly. However, even though I try to avoid taking a school's prestige into high regard, it is something always looming at the back of my mind. For example: I got into Pomona College, a fine academic institution, and I was wait listed at Stanford, and despite the fact that I rationalize with myself that it is the academic rigor that counts, another part of me wants to be the guy who can dazzle the nonbelievers by saying I attend a school with world renown. It isn't particularly a good mindset, I know, but I'm trying to combat it (to little avail, mind you).

EDIT: The funny thing is, I am going to have to continue schooling past undergrad for my choice of work, anyway (medicine).

Milkmagn

What about people who turn down prestigious schools to attend schools they can afford and like better?

msneicirenee

Amen Milkmagn, because I would choose DePaul over Univ. of Michigan or Northwestern ANY day. I simply like it MUCH better, despite what the rankings say. And it's not a money issue (in-state for UofM).