<p>I don’t see how that “confirms” anything. One’s experience is one’s experience. If one of your HS classmates / friends / cousins-in-law had a negative experience socially at Princeton, that’s his experience. It’s not “confirmed” by the presence of another HS friend who had a similar experience.</p>
<p>A mom from my town with twins felt her one D got a great education at Princeton and that D is now happily employed by a non-profit. However, the rigor of Princeton did not lend itself to this D earning a high enough GPA to get into law school, which had been the D’s plan. Meanwhile, her slightly less academic twin, who did not get into an Ivy and went to a state school, earned a great GPA there, did get into a good law school, and is now happily practicing. It all worked out, but there was some regret.</p>
<p>I haven’t read Gladwell’s latest, but would say that the same high-achieving environment that excites and inspires, can be a real pain in a** come time for job interviews at the campus career center. It’s no fun to have to compete with all those hyper-ambitious super-stars for an interview slot.</p>
<p>Most employers would hopefully appreciate that a less than perfect GPA from a highly rigorous school is different than one from a less demanding school.</p>
<p>Yes, my employers have all appreciated that a 3.2 in Engineering from Cornell is not the same as a 3.75 from “fill in the blank grade inflation school” in Leisure Studies.</p>
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<p>To get a job in engineering in the first place, one normally needs a degree in engineering, not leisure studies, regardless of school.</p>
<p>An engineering employer would favor someone with the desired engineering degree from a non-name school over someone with a hotel administration degree (closest thing to leisure studies) from Cornell.</p>
<p>My company hires folks with engineering degrees for roles in sales management, finance, business development, investor relations, etc. When I worked in aerospace, I hired engineers for engineering roles; but a person with a degree in engineering can do lots of things besides engineering.</p>
<p>What is your point exactly?</p>
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<p>Ironic considering Cornell’s Hotel Administration School is probably the most selective of all Cornell’s divisions at the undergrad level. </p>
<p>They rejected everyone who applied in my year. Everyone from that group who I knew gained admission to Cornell A&S and Engineering or other Ivy/peer colleges. Not surprising considering the GPA/SAT range of the highest rejected would place him/her comfortably within the top 5% of our graduating class</p>
<p>Moreover, employers who do hire Hotel Administration School graduates are willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Cornell Hotel school graduates with lower GPAs according to folks I know who do hiring for hotel/resorts.</p>
<p>My firm also hires a lot of engineers for project management, business analyst, sales, and programming roles.</p>
<p>cobrat - again, you seem to know something about everything. Cornell Hotel is not the most selective school. It looks for fit and try to weed out people who try to use it as a back door to Cornell. GPA and test scores are not the most important factors. They require applicants to have hospitality experience, so if your friends didn’t bother to have any hospitality experience, even with 2400 test scores they wouldn’t be admitted. Hotelies tend to have higher GPAs and most of the graduates do not pursue a career in hospitality. Their curriculum is very similar to AEM. It’s really a pseudo UG business school, but with hospitality focus. The lowest admittance rate is AEM.</p>
<p>I know couple of folks who went to P. One absolutely loved it and is very successful, the other said she couldn’t wait to get out of there - the academics were too much to handle. College is really what you make of it. Another went to Cornell and found it quite hands off and hard but stuck through it, and is doing fine. But doesn’t have too much love for his alma mater. Parents like to think their investment was worth it. Really I wish students would focus on “fit” vs name brand.</p>
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<p>Oh, come on, cobrat. Seriously? Give it a rest. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Well, one thing is for sure: Cobrat would be safe anywhere. He will always have an army of cousin, friends, and acquaintances to come to his rescue.</p>
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In 2011 (the first result that came up in a search), the hotel school had the 2nd highest acceptance rate of all the schools at Cornell, after the Ecology school. SAT scores followed a similar pattern. The hotel school was the only school with 25th percentile verbal in the 500s. I suspect your graduating class results relate to the hotel school evaluating applicants based on different criteria than most selective colleges. For example, 88% of the current entering class have experience working in the hospitality industry. Working experience might be more important than stats, leading to top students in HS class without good working experience being rejected. They also require interviews and supposedly try to weed out students who aren’t serious about working in the industry.</p>
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<p>Not only do you know one person who hires for hotels/resorts, you know so many with whom you have discussed the GPAs of their hirees that you can make that kind of declaration? Really? :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Why would a hotel management graduate be applying for engineering jobs in the first place?</p>
<p>And is there really any doubt that Cornell’s hotel management program is one of the better-ranked hotel management programs in the country?</p>
<p>Anyways, the fact that Cornell offers hotel management at all is usually exhibit A for why it’s an odd fit with the other Ivies. So I don’t know if it’s relevant here.</p>
<p>Both hotel management and engineering graduates could be applying for consulting, finance, accounting…jobs.</p>
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<p>Raise your hand here if you’ve ever discussed with “people you know in other industries who do hiring” what their thoughts are regarding GPA’s from various schools. In industries and schools you’re not affiliated with. </p>
<p>I know plenty of people who do hiring in all different industries, but because I’m reasonably normal, my small talk with them doesn’t consist of having them spell out for me their philosophy of comparing GPA’s.</p>
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<p>That is too easy. How about a 3.3 in theoretical physics from Berkeley vs. a 3.6 from Harvard in sociology? I think this is where an Ivy degree really earns its weight in gold.</p>
<p>You think that Harvard degree would outweigh the degree from Cal? I think it would depend on where the student is applying for a job, what kind of job, and the other things on that application. Both Harvard and Cal are excellent universities.</p>
<p>I think the school name on the resume helps get the interview, not the job. The candidate gets the job based on their own intelligence, experience and personablity. But the name on the resume can secure the interview. After that, you’re on your own.</p>
<p>Canuck, in 30 years of recruiting for large corporations I have never seen a 3.3 in theoretical physics from Berkeley be problematic, even for roles where the “unstated” cut-off is a 3.5. We are not morons.</p>