<p>Well, I DO know that Chicago is a place where non-privileged students get recruited. Of course, that’s one of the points of getting an education, and especially of getting an elitist education. </p>
<p>I was not making a “false binary distinction”, nor was I suggesting that the categories of privileged/non-privileged were immutable. (Well, priv./non-priv. is probably a false binary distinction in the sense that there are probably 4-5 relevant categories, not just two, but two will do for discussion purposes.) Networking your way to meaningful contacts during college is a great trick if you can pull it off, but if you are good at that you are going to succeed anywhere. I’ve seen a few people do it, but it requires either or both of at least two things: (a) extraordinary talents and achievements, like being a sports star or significant leader, and (b) an institutional culture that supports social mobility on the basis of talent. Networking after college requires being at least in a good enough position to do that and to benefit from it.</p>
<p>One of the important things the Ivies have going for them is extremely strong institutional culture that supports social mobility on the basis of talent. Chicago has that, too, very clearly, without having the extensive alumni network or proximity to Eastern financial centers that the Ivies have. The same is true with variations for Berkeley and Michigan. I’m just not so sure about Virginia. That’s never really been my impression of it, or of the people I’ve met from there who wind up on Wall St.</p>
<p>No college gets you a job. The best a college can do is to get you a sympathetic interview with someone who will seriously consider hiring you on your own merits. Chicago has the power to do that, and does. Maybe UVa does, too, but I don’t feel like I know that.</p>