principalviola

I was thinking today... A lot of people discount prestige and say it is not worth anything. I kind of used to be like that, but I think prestige is (though not as important as some other factors) a part of the process too.

I was reading this on the college forums "prestige is not worth it" and so on. Basically that thing that your high school teacher tells you when you get rejected at your ivy... Is this so? I am not fully taking the side of "omg HAHVAHD" here, but I am curious.

Clearly, on boards like CC (filled with intrinsic learners) the only schools that get attention at prestigious ones. Do not take me wrongly, in the BS scene just because a school is not in HEADS GCM does not mean it is any worse. It struck me that either way having a degree from Harvard is simple better than one from University of Guam. The variable in quality of degree is not in the education received, or anything that the university can actively change. In boarding schools, heads gcm have been here for years and hence they have gleaned a reputation. In colleges, prestige clearly makes a difference in career prospects...

So what do you think, is prestige as useless as people make it seem? I, personally, believe that prestigious schools are prestigious for a reason. Tell me one super prestigious school that does not provide a good education... Does this make it better than another school, though? I am not sure of that... Clearly an employer would like Harvardians a little more, no? Look at huge consulting firms like McKinsey, they recruit from places like ivies....

Any thoughts?

pan1956

I think I understand the point you are getting at. The prestige of attending an institution or bearing a degree from that institution has a value above and beyond the quality of the education that the institution provides. The quality at Guam may be the same or better than at Harvard, but from Harvard you derive the prestige, and hence the degree is more valuable.

And you suggest that from prestige there follows ECONOMIC VALUE. Because Mckinsey recruits people with prestigious degrees and educational pedigrees, then you can assign ECONOMIC VALUE to prestige.

If I am correct in my interpretation of what you suggest, then I think that you are arguing that PRESTIGE IS REALLY A FACADE, in a sense like a label, and that the real substance is what lies behind it.

principalviola

Correct. Prestige is a facade with real substance behind it. In reality, though, the prestigious ones are the good ones. Few schools are super good and not prestigious, the economic value can be contested, however, that prestige is expensive.

pan1956

I understood that you meant that prestige is a facade that Mckinsey is willing to pay for. But that it is just that: A FACADE. The real substance is independent of the facade. Real substance can exist and stand alone, without the facade that Mckinsey is willing to pay for. Hence your metaphor about GUAM, where the education may be as good as at Harvard. If you go there, you get the same education, but you miss out on the prestige, and Mckinsey is unwilling to pay for you, even though behind the facade YOU ARE EVERY BIT AS GOOD.

principalviola

Maybe I misspoke. It is not a facade, in all senses of the word. Such prestige (in some ways) may make the school a better place in terms of recourses (fa). I agree with you but I have a lack of words for what it is.

It makes you better off, not a better person? Well, CC is def not as good as Harvard. I think by the time you get into the league of schools which parallel Harvard (solely because they have so much recourses) you will be countering with schools that are super prestigious.

Izzy Busy Bee

the point is, the University of Guam probably isn't as good, simply because is is so underrepresented. There likely aren't many super high quality universities with no prestige. LSMSA may offer just as good an education as Exeter, but very few people have heard of it and so their student body is likely much less diverse, etc.

principalviola

What's LSMSA? Your point is proven... HEADS GCM + RL + Hopkins + Thomas Jefferson and a few others are the ones that are well known. Hence they get a bunch of "recourses".

Izzy Busy Bee

LSMSA= Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts. I have a friend that goes there.

Sarum

I Was a retained executive search exec (CEO,COO, Board Members) in another life. If you PM me I can tell you what the big 5 thought of the prestige college candidates.

musicallylatin

Thank you for using the UofG!

I love you now.

(Ok, not really love, but you're on my CC faves list.)

benevolent4them

prestige is somewhat factor. It shouldn't make the decision for you, but it should have some kind of impact. HEADS + GCMLM top schools.

morris2

"A lot of people discount prestige and say it is not worth anything"

I think very few, if anyone, will say it is not worth anything. It's worth something, the question is how important is it. That will vary from person to person.

Personally I feel it's worth very little when put up against other factors used to choose a school such as fit, facilities, classes or athletic programs of interest.

In this thread, Struggling to decide..., it seems that the parents are struggling with this exact issue. How much extra should one pay for additional perceived prestige.

Sarum

There are as many Prestige school grads unemployed in NYC this Spring as any other college grads. The rehires will happen fastest for those with the best track record out of school and not where they went.

principalviola

That's like saying top grades at Exeter is same as getting all As at my school. Best track record, relative to where.

Sarum

Give it a couple more years..you'll get it