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This is not what these studies measure, but people in Academia are much more likely to have gone to elite grad schools (in their respective fields, which is not
by cozzyd 8y ago
This is not what these studies measure, but people in Academia are much more likely to have gone to elite grad schools (in their respective fields, which is not the same as undergrad rankings of course). And, in my experience (Stanford undergrad, MIT PhD, currently UChicago postdoc), elite grad schools predominantly select people from elite undergrad institutions. It's possible to get into a great grad program from a non-elite school, but it's much harder, while someone like me in the middle of my class at Stanford was able to get into good grad schools without too much trouble.
This is probably not just due to snobbery; it's much more likely for the admissions committee to have heard of your recommenders and such. If you do research with a famous professor at a non-elite school you'd probably have similar results, but the barrier is a bit higher.
- bartcobain 8y agoNetworking is one of the main reasons when going to college. While education, the courses and knowledge is really really, really important. Networking is just as important as that. Your social skills really matter in your life after college and it might help you paying your student debt.
- geebee 8y agoThat's almost certainly true, but interestingly, the list of elite schools does get shuffled up a bit at the grad level. Few undergrads would consider UCSD more of a prize than any Ivy, but as a graduate research program, it would be considered very elite. Berkeley arguably has more top 5 PhD programs than any other university, but again, when two high school students bump into each other in the hallway, whip out a ruler, and measure admissions packages, Harvard is definitely a longer and thicker acceptance letter than Berkeley. I do remember an interesting flurry or articles from a study a couple of years ago suggesting it doesn't matter much where you go to college provided you major in STEM. From my limited observations and experience, I'd say that's true - I doubt a strong CS major from UCSD experiences any real disadvantage vis-a-vis more selective ivies, but an international relations major from Yale definitely has a leg up on securing those prestigious early career internships and positions.
- kaitai 8y agoInterestingly there are significant differences across fields, and the data do indicate that this effect in mathematics, for instance, is much smaller than in the humanities.