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There is a large group of obsessed upper-middle class parents that believe you must go to Harvard (or another Ivy League school) to succeed in life. Sadly, the

There is a large group of obsessed upper-middle class parents that believe you must go to Harvard (or another Ivy League school) to succeed in life. Sadly, the jobs that are most dominated by nepotism and politics (law, government, academic professors of softer subjects) it really does help to go to Harvard or similar and have the brand name. Value-producing industries in the private sector are not exclusively merit-based, but it's much more likely you can go from the bottom to the top by starting a competitive business. And starting a business does not require going to Harvard.

esoterica 7y ago
But raising $100m from VCs is a lot easier if you did go to Harvard.
- seibelj 7y ago
  I totally agree, but it is still possible. If you build a $100m revenue per year business starting from nothing, no one can take it away from you in America (currently at least, who knows about the future). Many people have successfully done this. However, I have yet to see anyone become a Supreme Court Justice who went to community college. I believe almost all of them went to Harvard or Yale...
  - tathougies 7y ago
    > a Supreme Court Justice who went to community college To be fair, you cannot become an attorney just going to community college. You need a graduate degree. Graduate school admissions do not have the legacy admissions preference that undergrad does. While true that all current SC judges went to Harvard or Yale, they did not necessarily go for undergrad. For example, Clarence Thomas went to Conception Abbey Seminary for undergrad, which is a little-known school in Kansas.
    - seibelj 7y ago
      IMO I should not have to go to any college to become an attorney. California does not require attending law school to take the bar exam and become a licensed attorney. The law is written on paper, case law is produced by the courts, and the techniques for comprehending and using law are not rocket science and can be self-taught using books. Expecting that only top-tier colleges can train good lawyers is elitist nonsense, just more gate keeping by the upper class.
      - tathougies 7y ago
        I actually agree with you! Most cases should be able to be settled in court just by the two parties at odds. If the law is too complicated so as not to allow that, the law is what needs to change, not the individuals seeking redress.
  - mtnGoat 7y ago
    oddly, those states have already been compiled and in modern times you appear to be correct(i didnt go to too much effort to break them down by years served) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_by_United_States_Supreme_Court_Justices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_b...
api 7y ago
> you must go to Harvard (or another Ivy League school) to succeed in life. For certain career paths it helps a lot. It also depends on where you live. In the Northeast there is a very tangible class system based on where you went to school. This still exists on the West Coast but it's much less intense unless you are going for big-time VC money or working in law or finance.

esoterica 7y ago

But raising $100m from VCs is a lot easier if you did go to Harvard.

seibelj 7y ago
I totally agree, but it is still possible. If you build a $100m revenue per year business starting from nothing, no one can take it away from you in America (currently at least, who knows about the future). Many people have successfully done this. However, I have yet to see anyone become a Supreme Court Justice who went to community college. I believe almost all of them went to Harvard or Yale...
- tathougies 7y ago
  > a Supreme Court Justice who went to community college To be fair, you cannot become an attorney just going to community college. You need a graduate degree. Graduate school admissions do not have the legacy admissions preference that undergrad does. While true that all current SC judges went to Harvard or Yale, they did not necessarily go for undergrad. For example, Clarence Thomas went to Conception Abbey Seminary for undergrad, which is a little-known school in Kansas.
  - seibelj 7y ago
    IMO I should not have to go to any college to become an attorney. California does not require attending law school to take the bar exam and become a licensed attorney. The law is written on paper, case law is produced by the courts, and the techniques for comprehending and using law are not rocket science and can be self-taught using books. Expecting that only top-tier colleges can train good lawyers is elitist nonsense, just more gate keeping by the upper class.
    - tathougies 7y ago
      I actually agree with you! Most cases should be able to be settled in court just by the two parties at odds. If the law is too complicated so as not to allow that, the law is what needs to change, not the individuals seeking redress.
- mtnGoat 7y ago
  oddly, those states have already been compiled and in modern times you appear to be correct(i didnt go to too much effort to break them down by years served) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_by_United_States_Supreme_Court_Justices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_law_schools_attended_b...

api 7y ago

> you must go to Harvard (or another Ivy League school) to succeed in life. For certain career paths it helps a lot. It also depends on where you live. In the Northeast there is a very tangible class system based on where you went to school. This still exists on the West Coast but it's much less intense unless you are going for big-time VC money or working in law or finance.