<p>i think it has a lot more to do with the fact that at an elite school kids from a lower economic status, were, in those days, very few… thus, what would happen is that these relatively-to-very poor kids would make friends who were, on average, very wealthy and had many connections. Therefore, these kids enjoyed the kind of ambiance, friendships, and plugs that high-income people did… which certainly helped them later in life. Their cohorts at bigger state schools, especially due to the size of these schools, were very likely still mingling (word?) amongst people in the same socioeconomic status, thus not beneffiting from the connections that the kid who went to the selective schools did.</p>