It doesn't matter where you go to college!!

College Search & Lists
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@happy1 The article did say that it included Ivies and Ivy peers. However, even if you add MIT, Stanford, Duke, Chicago, Northwestern, Williams, and Amherst, Cal Tech, and Johns Hopkins, then maybe all of those schools make up 1% of students. That would change the multiplier from 60x more likely to only 30x. Still, 30% of the Fortune 100 CEO’s are coming from a pool of only 1% of undergrads. That is clearly significant.

42

What immediately stood out to me in the above article was the table that noted the 29 “elite” undergraduate schools , based on having average CR and Math scores of at least 1400. All were private , many very small and of course can freely select for top scores. There are many kids at public schools with 1400 + SAT’s, particularly at flagships. I did see that the authors did address that issue at the end, noting that not all very high 1% type ability kids apply to the schools that are in the initial table (because of finances, wanting to stay closer to home, fit, etc.).

43

sry…ignore this…

44

In reading through this thread the following is evident:

  1. There are talented students at all colleges, with the greatest concentrations at the elite colleges.
  2. There are careers that permit students from most accredited colleges to succeed. These include practical medicine (not research or teaching) and software development.
  3. Even in careers like software development, an elite degree helps in getting the first job. It may also be helpful during periods of industry contraction (such as the one Silicon Valley is entering) when some may want to shift jobs or careers.
  4. An elite degree is almost a prerequisite to obtaining professional track entry level jobs in certain industries such as IB and Strategy Consulting, and is helpful in getting admitted to elite graduate schools.
  5. Investment Bankers, Strategy Consultants, Partners at top law firms, Federal Judges, CEOs and the super wealthy are very disproportionately graduates of elite universities.
  6. Leading edge research (particularly that being done in universities) is predominantly done by graduates of elite universities.

So, again, where you go to college does need to fit with the type of environment in which you wish to spend four years and your career objectives.