“It’s cool to be gunning for an elite school and high status career” is code for “everyone pokes their nose into everyone else’s scores / GPA / college acceptance, and everyone thinks that being an investment banker or hedge fund / private equity guy is the coolest thing for no reason other than it makes a lot of money.” No thanks. In our household, we don’t make our decisions based on what others think is “cool.” Under the radar is far more chic and elegant.