<p>An msnbc article on Ivy league graduates with some interesting salary numbers: Quote from article</p>
<p>"Median pay for workers with 0-5 years of experience:</p>
<p> All Ivy League schools: $55,700
All bachelor’s degree graduates: $43,800
(A typical worker in this dataset has 2 years of experience and is 25 years old.)</p>
<p>Median pay for mid-career workers with 10+ years of experience</p>
<p> All Ivy League schools: $113,000
All bachelor’s degree graduates: $76,900
(A typical worker in this dataset has 15 years of experience and is 43 years old."</p>
<p>Stupid. Let’s lump together all non-Ivy elite u’s and nowheresville-state-u’s in one thing and call it meaningful. Let’s not adjust for where people find jobs, because there’s no cost of living / salary differential between diff parts of the country.</p>
I agree with this criticism. My local community college just went from Indian River Community College to Indian River State College a year ago, because it started up a few 4-year degree programs. This “study” lumps that school with Duke, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Stanford. All schools I would put at about as good academics as the Ivy League (better in some areas). Yet they’re in the same category as a community college turned state college. Doesn’t seem exactly right.</p>
<p>The article mentions that an Ivy league degree gives you an edge in 4 specific areas: finance, consulting, law and medicine. It is too narrowly focused.</p>
<p>If you want to be a software engineer for example, a degree from Harvard will not give you an edge over someone with a Comp Sci degree from CMU, I am pretty sure of that; I have been an interviewer at my company for my group for a long time. Even degrees from RPI will give you an edge. We hire a whole bunch of RPI graduates. If you want to be a Financial Engineer (Quant), an Applied Math degree from NYU (Courant Institute) or JHU will give you an edge.</p>
<p>If you want to work in Special Effects, a degree from USC, NYU Tisch (or say NYU ITP program) and Ohio University (see Digmedia’s son), or even from the New School will give you an edge.</p>
Why parents are “obsessed with” ivy league schools is that they want to help their kids “open doors”, and hopefully along the way they also teach them a thing or two about working hard.</p>
<p>I think it is indisputable there is an edge. Maybe not that great but it is there. The quality of the education itself is excellent as are alumni networks and you get to rub shoulders with some connected folks.</p>
<p>I think it’s valuable in a crude way for what it signals. Extremely high stats, extremely high drive and intelligence. It’s as if the graduates are “pre-screened”. So yes, I’d expect the main advantage is at the start of the career.</p>
<p>Too big a pool to be meaningful. For instance, who is going to nap a job with a strong starting salary among these pairs: An RN with a four year degree from Seattle U or a Ceramics major from Brown? A solar/alternative energy specialist from Oregon Inst. of Technology or a Women’s Studies major from Harvard? </p>
<p>Now, getting down to apples to apples you might get into some results: A finance major from Pacific Lutheran vs. a finance major from Dartmouth, both applying for an East Coast/NYC job and I think we’d give the edge to the Dartmouth grad – but if the opening is at Boeing or Microsoft . . . </p>
<p>Perhaps the more meaningful thing to do is . . . work like hell, kid. Be smart, work hard and hope the winds are favorable.</p>
<p>Anyone who thinks a degree from a highly-selective school doesn’t help you is living under a rock. And NOT just for the first job. Of course, you can’t have poor interviewing skills or be a terrible employee, but resume-wise, it helps. I last interviewed for a job 4 years ago and my top 5 professional degree school STILL opened doors. My kid edged also found that he got to the short list at a few places with the help of his school. After that, it was up to him.<br>
Not to say others can not be equally successful. I have written a number of times that the CEO of my company (Fortune 300) is one of the most highly respected CEOs in the country and is not from a prestigious school.</p>
<p>Kei, are you disputing that sentence about the quality of education and rubbing shoulders with connected folks? </p>
<p>It may be a generalization, and it’s not exclusive to the Ivies, but I think it’s true. There is no doubt that Ivy students are getting a great education and are surrounded with connected folks.</p>