The case for pursuing prestige

So after all the dust settles, I was a bit disappointed at this cycle. I was able to land a few great offers at M7, but no dice at HSW. It kind of got me reflecting on my UG + career trajectory. 

I was never one super hungry for prestige. I went to a good high school/T-10 UG, but was never interested in the traditional prestige careers. As a result, I didn’t work super hard in UG, came out with a 3.3 and kind of just followed my creative passions and trusted my gut in pursuing what I loved for work. Ended pretty well with me joining a startup that I loved, had significant impact and promotions and actually had a decent exit.

However, I also have friends who didn’t go to a T-10 UG but were super prestige obsessed. As a result, they went the route of IB -> MF PE, and were able to land HSW this cycle. I feel like I went balls to the wall like they did, I could have also landed BB/MBB -> MF PE (I don't think these things are rocket science, I just have absolute 0 interest in finance).

So now here we are, I can't help but feeling "behind" my friends, but also wonder how did I fall down this prestige trap. I didn't even give a shit about prestige before I started applying to MBA (I was only picking schools to prioritize based on how attractive their curriculum is to me vs their rankings.) Not really a question but more so a disillusionment with the advice of “pursuing your passion”.