I wish I went to an Ivy

I genuinely love my school, don’t get me wrong

Without doxing myself, I go to a well respected school filled with smart kids that aren’t super hardo. We have a cool campus, place a good amount into banking blah blah blah

But FUCK man

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I could just tell my tail chasing 15 year old self to LOCK TF IN

And it’s not even nessarily for recruiting purposes either. It’s the sense of pride and accomplishment I see Ivy League kids have when mentioning their school. For some reason I want that same sense of pride that I just don’t have when it comes to my school

And the worst part is that I KNOW if I locked in from 9th grade onward I could be at an Ivy rn

But hey, I guess a valuable life lesson was learned, right?

25 Comments
 

The trade off is being able to party way harder and have a way doper and more american traditional college experience than those nerds 

 
Most Helpful

When you get to your 40’s, it kind of doesn’t matter as much.  I’m helping one H alum break into my industry.  Another H alum is pivoting to a second career (tech to entrepreneurship).  You will still face challenges regardless.  While it’s easier to pitch my friend for people to give him a second thought because of his educational accomplishments (maybe for fundraising for foreign capital), the world is still a ruthless place. 


To me, for my kids, Ivy is a crapshoot. Even USC, Berkeley, UCLA, University of Washington are reaches.   The playbook I took is getting less upside these days (state school UG and good MBA).  It is interesting what that high economic mobility path will be (probability adjusted).  

I think “state school and good MBA” still works and will work for the near term, BUT I think you need to gun for the hot industry 10-15 years from now, starting in your UG or early career.  Not exactly have to work there in your first job, but use it as your North Star and prepare in your 20’s and early 30’s.  

For us non-technical folks, it’s physical AI all the way.  How this stuff interacts with the physical world and Main Street.  In some ways, forget the AI replacing white collar jobs, that’s too in the realm of the engineers.  You want the real world, physical environment to create more surface area for your non-engineering approach to shine. 

I think that’s the formula. 

Also, learn accounting so you can be the CFO and get paid early stage (be the only finance person in the room - get skillset leverage).   

Real world, salt of the earth experience is still valuable. Maybe even more valuable since it represents the underrepresented. 

Have compassion as well as ambition and you’ll go far in life. I am interested in digital immortality. Check out my blog at digitalimmortality.com
 

I'd actually say after your fist job it really doesn't matter as long as you can show demonstrated track record of success and/or serious skills (and humility) to back it up.

When in doubt, use more peanut butter
 

Do you really don't. I'm not kidding when I say this but caliber at lot of recent Ivy grads has been going downhill for quite some time. It's probably because the culture has been absolutely dog shit recently, not necessarily the IQ of the students.

You can experience this from the average attitude that's brought when you meet people who graduated within the past 5 years.

I'd actually say, depending on the team and the role, there is even a negative bias against Ivy grads for early and maybe even mid-career positions. Personally, I think Dartmouth is an exception to this downhill trend. Honestly, when I meet people who graduated reputable Southern or Midwestern schools recently, I've rarely see this attitude problem. 

It's not prevalent everywhere nor obvious to everyone but there really is some kinda shakeup. And it's mostly cultural IMO - you know it's like how company culture really impacts success of the company but for higher education.

MIT and CalTech diff story. 

When in doubt, use more peanut butter
 

At this point you're basically rage stalking me.

I need you to STOP

Especially what happened in Seattle recently, perhaps you can empathize with how any erratic behavior can be seen as "concerning".

When in doubt, use more peanut butter
 

As someone who went to an Ivy, I think this is kind of a loser take. Having a sense of pride in your school is almost entirely self-dependent on how much you actually enjoyed college and how much you promote your school. 

I have a ton of friends who wish they could have transferred and claim the best day of college was when they graduated because they didn't like the culture of the school. Yet, others who went to their local state school love to talk about their time during college. One of my MDs keeps season tickets for UNC and flies down any weekend he can. 

IMO prestige can make you happy but it can't take you all the way. Every Ivy is more different in terms of student body, curriculum, and lifestyle than people give them credit for. Columbia vs. Cornell and Brown vs. Penn are two sets of opposites for an example, and I have friends who both loved and hated each because of who they are and how they fit in. Ex. Penn is very pre-professional and doesn't promote 'exploration' in the same way, while Brown can feel fluffy or woke, Cornell and Dartmouth can feel isolated and overly fratty, and Columbia is a nightmare of its own managing both NYC and school-specific social structures.

There's no saying that you would have found a 'better' group of friends, or had better IB connects at a Ivy especially given that you said your school already places well. If you really want the "Ivy" prestige, go get a H/W MBA after a couple years.

 

as someone very fond of life in netherlands and denmark and other non-anglo societies. i will say usa is such a non egalitarian society. if ivy leagues are really your only socio economic ladder then you have lost your marbles. germany is all about polytecnic unis. theyre 1000x  more useful to the world than any ivy leaguer. einstein, rudolph diesel, werner von siemens .

americans truly live in a bubble

 

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"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

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