<p>confidentialcoll,
I never deny that the school makes a difference. I’m denying the idea that the school gets you or gives you a job, or that you’re entitled to a job just because you attend x school.
Hence "A SCHOOL DOESN’T give you or get you a job, YOU do. "
There are plenty of people with work experience, no work experience, etc coming from top schools. It’s not a matter of because they go to X school that they get the job, they get the job for a combination of reasons, and it has to do with THE PERSON landing the job and his or her qualifications. A school on a resume is just one qualificatoin, and can get you in the door for an interview, but that’s only one qualification and rarely JUST the deciding factor for an employer to hire a student in and of itself-without looking at other qualifications. I’m not going to deny or agree at the success of different schools because frankly I don’t know the statistics. And even behind statistics, you never really know the whole picture(ie possibly family connections, or applicant’s side qualifications-that may not even be known to you a friend or observer of those hired, etc).
The poster could have replaced Vassar for any number of top schools, like Williams, Pomona, Claremont, Brown, Columbia etc…and my answer or response would have still been the same. The bottom line is that regardless of where you go(at top schools), for those “top jobs” or “good jobs” you will be competing with numbers of qualified students at your school who are chasing the same goal you are, and across other schools, thousands of students nationwide also competing for the same jobs you are. In terms of economics, there is a higher demand than supply of “good jobs”.</p>
<p>(continued from my prior post)</p>
<p>… on the other hand, we had an Associate in my department who had attended Vassar for undergrad, then subsequently earned an MBA and was hired out of the MBA program.</p>
<p>Many colleges that were not represented in undergrad hiring were nonetheless represented at the firm, at higher levels, via MBA and lateral hiring. At the time, one could argue that being hired at the MBA level was more significant than being hired out of undergrad, since the Asssociate jobs were not set up as 2-year transient positions, like the undergrad Analyst hires were at the time, they were more important, “permanent track” jobs with higher compensation and responsibility. </p>
<p>The plan for great people who cannot get in to ultimately desired paths right out of undergrad should be: do great in college (the better regarded, the better), do great in a first job, whatever it is, for a few years. At that point, you have an option to stay in your current path or leverage your prior accomplishments to get into an educational program at the next level that is a target for something you want. Whether that program is MBA, LLB, DDS, whatever.
Vassar can work just as well as lots of other places if you go that route.</p>
<p>Two acquaintances from my youth attended Vassar, one is a highly successful attorney and the other is a psychologist. both obviously attained their successful careers following further education.They each were admitted to top programs in their respective fields. What they did at Vassar helped them to attain that further education.</p>
<p>Monydad as a good point re: post-graduate education. </p>
<p>Also, speaking only from anecdotal experience, but confidentialcoll and liek0806 have a point. Even going to a top feeder school doesn’t garentee you a job, but it does tend to mean that you don’t have to be a super-star to be considered or even get a job. OTOH, NOT going to a feeder school doesn’t mean your doomed, but it might mean you pretty much DO have to be a super-star to get your dream job straight out of college.</p>
<p>I go to a small LAC a lot like Vassar. Not being into finances, I’m not sure how heavily recruited we are, but while we may be better than Vassar (maybe?), we’re certainly no HYP. However, I do have a friend (the only one interested in finance at all) who was offered several very prestigious and high paying jobs, some that I think he didn’t apply to through the school. But this guy was also the number two ranked student in the year (certainly number one in his job-related major), and had spent the previous two summer doing exactly the kind of work he was being hired for. So, it’s possible, but you have to be damned good. Or, alternatively, you can be willing to take a different job for a few years, and see where that leads you.</p>