Because they are immature, and not because they have a wealth of professional experience to draw upon. Do you ever hear yourself at this point?
What? No it doesn’t. This is bizarre thinking.
Please take a nap. Drink some water. Take some deep breaths. Pull yourself together.
I think it’s more a function of the fact that I will have moments where I am very happy to go to UW Madison, only to be crushed by someone in the school who says they’ve struggled to find a job. Maybe it’s a friend group I have? I have a lot of friends at UW who seem to have the same pessimistic outlook as me from my high school. Also, I know someone at Williams College who’s incredibly toxic, and claims that going there has such a huge (he literally used the word" divine") advantage compared to UW Madison. I don’t know why this is, Gen Z as a whole seems super college college obsessed, obviously it’s rubbed off on me.
Many / perhaps most kids in state from any state aren’t high on their in state schools.
Pick your state - and you’ll find similar.
Funny - Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Michigan, Wisconsin - all have kids who have the same issue.
One has to hustle to find a job. Not all do. You can, for example, look at a school like High Point, not prestigious at all, but has placement rates higher than most anyone.
This is, by my count, the third thread you’ve started on more or less the same topic. Let’s get one thing clear. Having UW Madison on your resume doesn’t hurt your chances anywhere. Not in investment banking. Not in law. Not in academia or any of the fields you’ve expressed interest in. Anywhere. At all. No matter what you want to do, you will be able to get internships, pre-career advising, professional connections, and alumni support in doing it. Do exactly the same investment banking firms show up to recruit students at Wisconsin, Michigan, Williams, and Harvard? I have no idea. Maybe some, maybe not. Maybe at Madison, you’ll have more access to financial firms in Chicago versus New York. Maybe not. There are a lot of students from the Northeast who attend UW-Madison, and they can’t all end up in Chicago.
What I do know is that you’re in an excellent school, one of the top universities in the country, and all that matters now is what you do with your opportunities. Yes, you will meet people who have trouble finding jobs. You won’t know why. Someone at Williams described the advantages he has over you? Did you not say he was toxic? Well, I guess so. The fact is that no school you attend will lay out a red carpet to guide you to the career of your dreams. No matter where you go, you have to take advantages of the resources available to you and make your own luck.
Every college at UW-Madison has a career services office. Find the right one for you and make an appointment: Career Services for Undergraduate Students – Career Services at UW-Madison – UW–Madison Start looking into opportunities. Spend less time here complaining that your university doesn’t measure up (yes, it does), and more time actually investigating and creating opportunities for yourself. Start now.
One thing I know for sure: if you keep it up with this attitude, you will waste what could be an incredible four years at a wonderful university in a fantastic city. There’s a reason (many of them!) why UW-Madison students are blissfully happy. It’s your job to find out why that is.
Why did you choose to go there if you don’t respect it? It must have been what you thought was the “best” school to which you were accepted? Good choice, then! I can tell you they limit the number of MN kids they accept because everyone wants to go there, so it has become a reach for most students here. I suggest you stop talking to prestige-obsessed students. The kids I know at Madison absolutely love it.
This could become a self-fulfilling prophecy if you continue your lament. Go to the career center, get an internship in the summers and show those employers your best work. That is how the Madison (and other college) kids I know get jobs. I know two Madison seniors right now who have had jobs in hand since last summer at reputable companies which you’ve heard of. They are pretty happy!
Most don’t want to leave Wisconsin. They like it. They are on the long list to become Packers season ticket holders. They have second homes on lakes in northern Wisconsin with their parents and siblings, enjoy the low cost of living.
(I grew up there. More than half my high school class still lives in the town. Some went to Madison and they don’t care what the ranking was, but they were just happy to attend.)
Every actuary I’ve ever know (who passed the exam) is employed, and always in high demand. Many insurance companies are in the midwest so not always in exciting places, but employed.
If you learn one thing in college, I hope it’s that sentences that begin with “I know this one guy…” end with no meaningful conclusions. Sign up for history, poli sci, philosophy, or … well, anything that teaches you to make an argument and use evidence and critical reasoning to support it. Your threads are showing that you’ve got a lot to learn. So go learn.
Linkedin isn’t the school which reports 62% stay in state, not 80% - so if you’re going to make an argument, get your facts straight.
Now - placement can depend on a lot of things - opportunities in the state (my son, from Alabama, applied and interviewed for several engineering jobs in Wisconsin because Wisconsin is a hotspot of engineering - in fact, his only in person interview was in Wausau, Wisconsin.
Schools have large majors that might cater to local jobs - teachers, healthcare (UW health), etc.
Finally - you’re looking at a book some guy wrote - and there has been many schools on that list.
Well here’s Money Magazines Five Star Colleges for 2023.
Dang - I don’t see my alma mater (Syracuse as my undergrad) - but I see a heck of a lot of great schools. Pretty good company I’d say.
btw - there will be not just a kid but thousands of kids from schools like Ole Miss and Kentucky and Oregon and Nebraska and the little Ivies that outperform the far majority of kids at these schools. You’re making an argument that the school will “ensure” your success - and you haven’t lived - because it’s so far from the truth…Yes, kids from these schools will do great and on average outperform those I mentioned but there’s no absolute - and zillions from most any schools will do well. I look at my street of high end homes to see this - from Lee U to Miss State to MTSU to Cornell, etc.
but anyway enough of this…
One last fact - did you say you are in state - so you’ll pay $9,646 in tuition next year vs. $58K at Michigan and $62K the final two years…hmmmmmm - and again my opinion - you’d be INSANE to go to Michigan - that’s $200K difference over four years for roughly the same education.
Good luck.
Badgers are in demand after graduation. How UW is making it happen. (wisc.edu)
Your posts sound immature.
My daughter’s BF went to an Ivy League school and transferred because he didn’t like it. He graduated from a college that many have never heard of, and then worked for a well known organization. He is now in law school and chose a school that offered him a lot of money (did not want loans). He has the job offer he wanted with an excellent salary. He did not graduate from a top college or law school (good law school, but not top). His maturity, communication skills, and intelligence are obvious in his interactions.
I would change your attitude to one that is valued by students, professors and employers, and get to work. Your resume will be what matters, not the fact that “only” UW is written on it.
Investment bankers do nothing but worry about money. It is literally their job.
Closing as this is the posters third thread expressing the same concerns.