For some, it’s the same as having a strong desire to work for FAANG. It’s a feeling that getting the job or the admittance to a T20 college is a goal in and of itself. Not necessarily a good thing or bad thing. Just a thing that happens. And if that admittance or job offer is the goal, so be it. And if it truly makes someone else happy, so be it.
Some brilliant graduates will dream of going FAANG. Other brilliant graduates will dream of going to smaller companies, even unknown companies, or starting their own companies. Sometimes it’s the same difference that drives some high school students to be Ivy or bust, and others (who could be admitted to and afford T20) to be perfectly content at Random State University ranked in the 170s. Neither good nor bad. Just is.
Each will do as they see fit, or as they see personal reward awaiting. I once tried to understand all. As I get older, I become more Doris Day and say “que sera, sera.”
But it’s fun to wonder why sometimes.