26 Comments
 

Subconsciously sure, but once I get to know the person well, all that fades away. If you went to a school with a poor academic reputation but are super bright and interesting to talk to, the school thing doesn't really matter. Likewise, if you went to Harvard, I assume you're smart from the beginning (in addition to likely being kind of a d-bag), but there have been many times where Harvard grads have been very underwhelming in conversation.

So in short, I think everyone who went to a "top" school judges people based on their alma maters, but I would argue most people are secure and mature enough to realize they might be wrong, and in many cases are.

 
happypantsmcgeeWhen I do I am usually disappointed/wrong.

I have a friend who is an Art History major from Michigan State and she is pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

That said, I graduated #284 out of 287 in my high school class and never spent a day in college. What assumptions would you make about a guy like me?

 
Edmundo Braverman
happypantsmcgeeWhen I do I am usually disappointed/wrong.

I have a friend who is an Art History major from Michigan State and she is pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

That said, I graduated #284 out of 287 in my high school class and never spent a day in college. What assumptions would you make about a guy like me?

So you buck the stereotype and she doesn't. In the context of work, the smartest people I know went to solid state schools and are all around pretty normal people. The dumbest human being I have ever worked with went to Wharton. Win some, lose some I guess.
If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses - Henry Ford
 
Edmundo Braverman
happypantsmcgeeWhen I do I am usually disappointed/wrong.

I have a friend who is an Art History major from Michigan State and she is pretty much exactly what you'd expect.

Stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason.

That said, I graduated #284 out of 287 in my high school class and never spent a day in college. What assumptions would you make about a guy like me?

wouldn't you have to intentionally bomb everything to finish that low?
 

Do I judge someone? Sure, to an extent. Where you went to school can say a lot about you as a person, and provides a mental framework to work with when you're meeting someone or getting to know them.

When I mention the school that I transferred from to people (both at school and elsewhere), I know in their head they are mentally processing me. "Hmm, either got a good scholarship or didn't try too hard in high school. Probably a football fan and (since I'm white) probably Greek. Must have shot the lights out there to end up here, so pretty smart."

No big deal.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

If they went to HBS, I'd assume they are at the top of the social hierarchy, slayed tons of super hot chicks from BC and the greater Boston area, etc. (if male) and that they are some of the brightest, most interesting, accomplished and outstanding individuals on their way to becoming movers and shakers soon, masters of the universe who will be ruling the US and the world.

 
SECfinance
N.R.G.slayed tons of super hot chicks from BC
LOL
Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 
N.R.G.If they went to HBS, I'd assume they are at the top of the social hierarchy, slayed tons of super hot chicks from BC and the greater Boston area, etc. (if male) and that they are some of the brightest, most interesting, accomplished and outstanding individuals on their way to becoming movers and shakers soon, masters of the universe who will be ruling the US and the world.

Sup, Brady.

 
Edmundo Braverman
N.R.G.If they went to HBS, I'd assume they are at the top of the social hierarchy, slayed tons of super hot chicks from BC and the greater Boston area, etc. (if male) and that they are some of the brightest, most interesting, accomplished and outstanding individuals on their way to becoming movers and shakers soon, masters of the universe who will be ruling the US and the world.

Sup, Brady.

I think if Brady reads this, he'll die a little inside.

 
Best Response

No, not really. Once I get to know a person, perhaps I make assumptions then, primarily because they lead to it i.e. something they said, or how they act.

I do sometimes look at someone successful and search for where they went to school when I was younger. It was good motivation, especially if someone went to a lesser school so to speak, especially because at one time, I thought I would fuck up. Having said that however, I find people I usually meet tend to make that distinction themselves. A high school friend, who dropped out of college, always measures himself against me whenever we hang out so sometimes its not even you.

 

If they went to Yale, I assume that they are probably a closet homosexual who does a lot of cocaine.

"They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off in the economic crash that Nancy Pelosi caused. They’ve got zero real-world skills, but God they work hard." -Jack Donaghy
 
DbailsIf they went to Yale, I assume that they are probably a closet homosexual who does a lot of cocaine.

like

"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
 

Hey guys, long time reader first time poster. When i think about judging on schools, i primarily look at it as a show of how well you made decisions as a teenager. I look at people in good schools and think 'damn, those kids were smart enough not to let stupid shit mess them up when they were young' , because where you end up by your mid 20's imo is more so a show of your ability to not be stupid as a teenager (like i was lol) and let shit distract you from what you've heard about 'you'd better do good in school' your whole life growing up. once you hit a little older who cares where you went, you are a different person(hopefully). I myself find that i judge younger people for where they go/went to school more so and people a little older i take academics with a grain of salt judge them on what they actually do.

 

I love how it say for Columbia "don't kid yourself, there are only three Ivies"

Yale Harvard Princeton?

Guess even UPenn doesn't consider itself an Ivy

The MIT one is amazing

"Then, again, if a girl somehow does wander into the frat house that’s home to the wild men of Gamma Gamma Graphing Calculator, she probably goes to Wellesley, where any kind of sex that does not involve strap-ons or Belle & Sebastian is almost always considered rape, or at least rape-y."

Also as a Duke student, I love their categorization of UNC

Reality hits you hard, bro...
 

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