How to maximize ROI going to Target / Ivy League

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If you are a risk averse individual whose singular goal in life is to maximize ROI there are four career paths available . 1. High Finance/ Consulting 2. Tech 3. Medicine 4. Law. Only in the first option does undergrad pedigree play a significant role in maximizing ROI. 9/10 times a non target applicant will get his resume thrown out because he/she attended the wrong school. While undergrad pedigree is somewhat important in tech recruiting and to a lesser extent medical and law school admissions, a 3.8 GPA with solid extracurriculars, self made apps for tech, MCAT, LSAT from a non target college will always make someone competitive with most Ivy League students applying for the same roles. Hence, only in finance/consulting could attending Ivy League schools for full freight could be considered a no brainer decision over your local state flagship.

Is there an argument to be made about the "network" that you build at these schools given the higher probability that one of your classmates ends up being the next Forbes X Under X? Guess it's less of a factor with remote classes now.

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Went to an Ivy. Here are my thoughts:

Med school/law school = indifferent towards undergrad prestige. Easier to get a higher GPA at a state school, more time to focus on LSAT/MCAT. Alternative is go to an ivy, get wrecked by the pre-med reqs/mess up your GPA (less than a 3.8 for T6 law), take a bunch of gap years, and then reapply. But you went to an Ivy! Yeah, now your 25 years old and just started med school/t6 law school and there's a 22 year old who got a near perfect gpa at their state school with half the effort.

FAANG/Comp Sci = Contingent on your own coding skills. Indifferent towards undergrad. Possible to get in through self-study with an unrelated major or even without graduating college.

IBD = Indifferent towards undergraduate prestige also (lol). Non-targets have a pretty solid pipeline into IBD these days. 3.7 + at a state flaghsip would do the trick. Very different from when I started undergrad in 2009.

Buy-side Recruiting = Most likely, you won't get the PE job at Blackstone/KKR, unless you're top 5 percent at your target. You need to get at least a 3.9+. Pretty big gamble to go to an ivy for this specific purpose. Don't bank on it.

B-School: Honestly, undergrad prestige doesn't really matter, though it "helps". Less than 20% of MBA candidates at H/S/W are from an Ivy. Have seen some really mediocre people at top MBAs these days. It was way different 10 years ago. Also know a ton of Ivy->Top BB->UMM/MF people who didn't get into H/S/W. Its a really saturated profile. H/S/W take less than 250 of these sort of profiles yearly.

Capital Raising = I think here's where the major benefit of going to an ivy comes in these days. If you want to do some sort of startup, VCs won't really question your background if you went to an Ivy (assuming you have a somewhat decent idea). Might be harder to pull off if you went to a state school.

Networking = Another major benefit of going to an ivy. You'll be surrounded by some very wealthy peers. Maybe you get tapped to run their family office 20 years from now?

It takes a special person to really thrive at an Ivy. You'll really see the benefits of going to an ivy if you're confident that you'll be in the top 20% or so of your class and/or are an amazing networker. Otherwise, really... don't bother, you're better off going to an easier/cheaper school.

Some examples of friends who went to a state school and are crushing it at my age.

State school -> Local Med school -> Dermatologist who just started at 550k working 9-5 State School -> Local Dental School -> OMFS. Will hit 7 figures next year. State school -> Started ecommerce company at 22 -> Currently doing 3 million in Revenue with a 30% margin. State School -> Bank teller -> Instagram Sensation -> Just hit 700k net profit State School -> Worked at CBRE Brokerage -> Clearing mid 6 figurers as a commercial real estate broker State School -> Local Law School -> Opened his/her own law firm focused on immigration. Clears mid 6 figures. State school -> 3.9 GPA in some humanities major (lol) accepted to HLS -> biglaw in NYC State School -> Comp sci major -> FAANG State School -> Chem major (really passionate guy) -> Currently doing a natural sciences PHD at Stanford/Harvard

Not sure why I'm getting so much monkey shit, but undergrad prestige is not worth as much as it used to be.

If your family is upper middle class and doesn't qualify for financial aid (2 mill - 10 mill net worth), I would really question dropping 400k for an ivy undergrad degree. You can have a very successful career from a state school. You could also go to an Ivy League grad school later in life, which in many cases can cost less than an Ivy League undergraduate degree.

I've taken classes at a state school and an ivy, and I can assure you its tougher to get As at an ivy versus a state school. You're competing with the best and the brightest at an ivy. Most into classes are curved to a C+/B-.

Grad schools unfortunately look at GPA as an absolute number. A 3.7 from Princeton is viewed as the same as a 3.7 from a secondary state school..