First and foremost, these two – courtesy of Jeffrey Brenzel, the newly retired dean of admissions* at Yale (and a Yalie himself ['75]):
[Epilogue:</a> After Colleges Accept You | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/after-colleges-accept-you]Epilogue:”>After Colleges Accept You | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)
[Beyond</a> the College Rankings | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/beyond-college-rankings]Beyond”>Beyond the College Rankings | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)
And yes indeed, some opportunities that many people would kill for, other people get – and they just plain hate them.
For example, as the son of an IBEW electrician in New York City, I got a summer job as an electrical helper on construction sites. (Those gigs were pretty much reserved for union members’ kids – generally if not always sons.) Great experience (especially if you’re even thinking about electrical or other construction work as a career), a work environment at least as pleasant as most summer jobs, something like $11-12 per hour, and the union even paid our Social Security taxes for us…and this was back during the Cold War!
And I hated every day of it.
Meanwhile, in my experience having been an Ivy grad has helped to some extent, other things being equal. In this age of grade inflation, employers and graduate schools may not know what to make of a 4.0 GPA. But they sure know that if someone managed to get into an Ivy, Little Ivy or Public Ivy, she’s got a good head on her shoulders.
(Not to mention that in many settings, school names get exchanged much more readily than grades. When’s the last time you saw someone’s GPA on his back window?)
In certain lines of work – such as BigLaw, investment banking, management consulting and certain tutoring companies – an Ivy or similar [let alone HYP] degree sits somewhere between “big help” and “unwritten requirement”. (Even if your M.B.A. or J.D. is Ivy or near-Ivy, but your B.A. or B.S. is not, they might ask you what happened.)
More broadly, studies have shown that even (especially) since the start of the Great Recession, Ivy and near-Ivy grads have done much better, other things being equal**. One reason for this is that even though it’s mainly your first and maybe second employer who seriously considers your school, it’s your first and maybe second job that sets the tone for your whole career.
[I’ll be glad to substantiate all this upon request. This post has multiple links as it is.]
Combine that with Ivies’ plunging acceptance rates***, and what high schoolers face is not much unlike the entertainment world, where people put in years and decades of hard (and low-paid) work acting, dancing, singing, playing baseball/football/basketball, doing stand-up, etc.
Basically it’s a lottery ticket with long-shot odds and ginormous prizes…and most of them know that going in. Thing is, people – especially young people – tend to think they’ll always be the exception…especially if that’s been their life so far.
(For example, ask yourself why graduate school [as in M.A. and Ph.D.] admissions is so competitive despite the fact that tenure-track faculty employment has taken a nosedive for many years now. Because you have many very smart college – often Ivy, near-Ivy and the like – upperclassmembers figuring “I’ll beat the odds once again in my life, and get one of those professorships.” Guess how I know!)
Bottom line: Brains and hard work – even over many years – is not even close to a guarantee. To the extent possible with young adolescents, kids (and IMHO it should start in middle school) who might be serious candidates for top colleges and universities should have their college admissions prep include the understanding**** that they can bust their buns with tough courses, many ECs, leadership positions and awards and the odds are the payoff will be they’ll be much better prepared for Honors programs (and they may get serious merit scholarships) at State U.
And if and when they get there, they may just have the last laugh:
[Best</a> Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ.com](<a href=“Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ”>Best Colleges & Universities - Ranked by Job Recruiters - WSJ)
[li] He’s staying on at Yale as College Master (Timothy Dwight), and as a Philosophy instructor.[/li]
[**] Or even going further back. Name the last U.S. president who never attended either Harvard or Yale!
[***] Darn skippy I wouldn’t have been accepted today.
[****] As in, a motif woven throughout the prep process and even parenting, not just a disclaimer mentioned once or twice.
What do you think?