32 Comments
 

School is one of many factors that decides where and what you'll do for work. It's not the end all be all.

Therefore, it's no surprise that you'll have a few kids from shitty state schools at the same desk.

Don’t know what you’re trying to get out of this post. Doesn’t make you any smarter, nor does it make anyone any dumber lol.

 

For a lot of people, Ivy League schools are even cheaper than state schools because they have excellent financial aid programs. A lot of state schools are also extremely expensive out of state, and a lot of people aren't fortunate enough to live in a state with a good flagship public university and have to pay out of state. And not everyone at state school parties hard and there are some people at Ivy Leagues who do. I think the best value of Ivy Leagues is just improving your odds, but these schools don't guarantee anything in the same way going to a non-target isn't a guarantee you will not succeed. My firm (PE) is I would guess ~70% Ivy League/top target schools, ~25% semi-targets and  5% non-targets. No one resents the semi-targets or non-targets for doing less because I don’t think that’s the default assumption and also as long as they can do the job, it doesn’t really matter

 

the rest of my comment keeps getting cut off…

5% non-targets. I don’t think anyone automatically assumes that the semi-target or non-target kids worked less hard, especially with how much grade inflation there is at Ivy League schools. Even if they did, I doubt anyone cares as long as they have a great work ethic now and can get the job done

 

Lol I graduated from an Ivy and I paid maybe a couple grand, total, over my entire college career. Chose an easy ass major that sounds impressive on paper and went on road trips and partied every semester with great friends. I love my life. If you want to bring down Ivy kids you're gonna have to do it some other way buddy

 

Never. I grew up lower-class. Did not pay a single cent to go to my ivy. In fact, I was actually paid to attend with a small education stipend. The opportunities my school opened for me were unparalleled, and I truly believe that I would not have had the same career outcome going to a state school. My title is outdated now but if you ever pursue more entrepreneurial ventures or try to raise your own fund, I've found that the network and brand name matter immensely. As to my time in school, I'm sure I was able to put less time into worrying about my future IBD career and more time having fun than my state school buddies in my banking class. And there should be no fault to them for that. Hard work should be respected, not mocked, and they are all grinders.

 
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I could be alone in my thought process but here's my background / thoughts:

I'm a junior at an ivy from suburbs in CA who will be interning this summer at a BB. I don't come from an uber amount of money. I would be considered well off but the 320k price tag for four years is still a serious commitment on my dad's behalf. I'm nondiversity so I didn't get that advantage coming in as well.

I chose to go to the Ivy for sake of increased opportunity. Sure, I could have gone to a state school or some other school that didn't cost nearly as much, and probably would've been a more fun experience in terms of sports teams partying etc, but I figured going to a good school for four years to increase my opportunities on the other side would be worth the sacrifice (My parents agreed). Not to mention, not everyone here is an absolute bot. I have a handful of friends that are some of the best people I've ever met. I think the stigma around the average ivy leaguer is super misleading. There's a massive amount of wokeness in the student body which is sometimes absurd, but it really doesn't affect your day to day life. I knew that attending this school would drastically increase the chances of me landing a high paying job, and it did just that. I didn't even know what banking was coming in. But when the time to network rolled around, my friends who were at other schools saw a drastic difference in email response rates, people getting on the phone, etc. 

I don't mind at all that I will be sitting at a desk next to someone who went to some other school. He / she probably worked their ass off to get there and that's good for them. Taking comfort in that I was provided significant opportunities to start myself in a strong career space is what I care about / what people should care about. Hindsight is always 2020 and the thought of what if will always lead you down to bad paths. 

 

State school kids are usually more affluent than ivy kids. Most kids at ivy are on financial aid and pay less than these state schools where daddy pays for your off campus apartment, fraternity dues, the Jeep you bring to campus.

Yes, the richest kids at ivys are better off than the richest kid at state schools, but for the median student, in 2023 with the rise of robust finaid packages and divesity initiatives, state school kids aren't the blue collar grinders you think they are

 

Look at all these chumps who dropped a hundred and fifty grand on an education they could’ve got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library

 

I really don't understand people trying to dunk on Ivy League students to be honest. Fuck you for either being rich (which we're all trying to do as seen in our presence on this website) or fuck you for trying hard and being smart in high school.

As an anecdote, which seems to be shared across Ivy League students on this thread, I only paid $10K to go to my Ivy due to the generous financial aid (my family made about $120K in a LCOL area). I would've had to pay $160K over 4 years to attend my state flagship.

Not only that, I got to study across a wide spectrum of academic subjects, get the opportunity to travel internationally, drink and smoke a lot, rub elbows with powerful people, and ended up with a great job with no stress due to my school's network and general perception of me. Even if I had to pay full price for my Ivy, I think I'd take that offer. 

I'm not hating on state schools - some of my favorite analysts were from Cal or Michigan, but it seems weird to try to dunk on kids who attend the Ivies? I recognize and respect my fellow analyst class cohorts who came from untraditional backgrounds and the work they had to put in to break into banking; I would hate to think that they thought of me in the way you guys do...

 

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The only difference between Asset Management and Investment Research is assets. I generally see somebody I know on TV on Bloomberg/CNBC etc. once or twice a week. This sounds cool, until I remind myself that I see somebody I know on ESPN five days a week.

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