Other things you learn at an elite university: 1. How to greet, stand, dress, and speak in a way that reassures social elites that you are like them and can b

Other things you learn at an elite university: 1. How to greet, stand, dress, and speak in a way that reassures social elites that you are like them and can be trusted. 2. How to mingle with elites without being intimidated. 3. How elites' system of friendship and obligation works -- how to ask for favors, grant favors, and make friends and connections with the elite. 4. What elites value, i.e., how to make yourself useful to them so you can enter into reciprocal relationships with them. 5. How particular systems work that are dominated by the elite. For example, if you go to Harvard, you'll probably pick up a little bit about how the financial industry works, just because that knowledge is in the air there and is of interest to many Harvard students. If you go to Pretty Good State U, you'll get a lot less second-hand knowledge of the financial system and fewer classmates who have a serious or even casual interest in it. I had a girlfriend whose parents were social workers, so I learned a little about that just from listening to her talk. If her parents had been investment bankers or diplomats, I would have learned about that instead. (As it happens, any of those would have been irrelevant to my own interests, so no harm done.) You won't just get those skills; you'll also get a head start on using them. You'll have the opportunity to meet people with valuable connections and people who will become extremely valuable connections in the future. It might be kind of minor league; you might just call someone up and say, "Hey, I'm looking for an internship in finance, but I don't know where or how to apply. Do you think your dad can tell me what kinds of places to apply to and what they like to hear from applicants?" That isn't exactly Instant Entry Into The Corridors of Power but if your classmate's dad is an executive at Citibank you'll get slightly better advice than you'd get from the career guidance counselor at Pretty Good State U.