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> Also, top school names only matter when starting your career Yes, and then it determines the next phase, and then the next.... I'm sure there are some medio

> Also, top school names only matter when starting your career Yes, and then it determines the next phase, and then the next.... I'm sure there are some mediocre (strictly career wise, not academically) people who graduate from Styvescent and Columbia and go to work at no-name mid-tier companies (I've met one personally). But these people are still orders of magnitude better off than people like me, who are destined for failure and disappointment. If you ever looked at my resume you'd agree.

lallysingh 5y ago
No they don't. What you actually do in your job matters a lot. If you're actually good, you get picked up by better firms. I've interviewed literally hundreds of candidates for top-tier companies I've worked for, and those candidates mostly cone from the 'rest' of the schools, not the top 10. I didn't come from the top 10 either. Also, for grad school, the top 10 don't matter as much to an employer as relevant research to something they care about. Grad rankings are nearly useless. I went to state school (VT) undergrad and grad. I've worked in plenty of very good places.
- rejectedandsad 5y ago
  I only work at Amazon so I’m not actually good. The “rest” are still only large in proportion because of their population size - most are like me and will never get into companies like Two Sigma or Google. I sure can’t.
  - lifty 5y ago
    You work at Amazon in IT? I don’t know your specific situation but you sure have a pretty defeatist attitude. That won’t serve you well. In my experience the most important factor for improving your career situation is finding opportunities and taking them and that requires a bit of a positive outlook and energy to expenditure.
    - rejectedandsad 5y ago
      I'm an SDE2, yes. I have no energy or a positive outlook because I already know that I'm considered an untermensch by everyone and society. It truly does feel like I have nothing, even my family thinks I'm a failure.
      - lifty 5y ago
        So you work for one of the most valuable companies in the world as a software developer, making decent buck, and you are a failure? I think you are young and have unreasonable expectations. You’re doing very good in the grand scheme of things; find your self worth and don’t listen to anyone that tells you you’re a failure, including yourself.
        rejectedandsad 5y ago
        > I think you are young and have unreasonable expectations. You’re doing very good in the grand scheme of things; The grand scheme of things includes people who have guinea worm and make $1/day, it's not a terribly useful metric. If the people I trust the most think I'm a failure...I don't know how else I should interpret that.
        fxtentacle 5y ago
        In my case, people I met usually categorized me either into "everything is awesome" or "you're a failure". Few people took the time to listen and understand that things are going OK but of course there's always things to improve. If you can get by financially and maybe save a bit for a bad day, then you're objectively doing OK or better. After that point, whether you're a success or a failure depends mostly on what you yourself think about it. There's a surprising amount of mean and selfish people out there. It's how they cope with difficulties in their own live.
        specialist 5y ago
        Most people are mostly wrong about most things most of time. So it's a safe bet that you and your personal board of trustees are probably wrong about you being a failure. Also, I rather like how you write. Very droll. Please keep it up.
  - fragmede 5y ago
    If you're at Amazon, please make use of their mental health benefit through Lyra. You sound worryingly depressed.
    - rejectedandsad 5y ago
      I actually ended up looking on lyrahealth.com - doesn't seem like Amazon offers it yet, and if it does it's not available on the internal site either. (Of course, Google does offer it)
- okprod 5y ago
  What you actually do in your job matters a lot. If you're actually good, you get picked up by better firms... Also, for grad school, the top 10 don't matter as much This depends on the industry. I have plenty of tech friends who quit school, went to a local state school, etc. and ended up at a FAANG or launched a startup well-funded by VC. However, at the top management consulting, law, investment banking, private equity, hedge fund firms, etc., it is unlikely you'll get hired without a top 10 undergrad or grad degree, family connections, or something unique like you have a documented 150% return in the market over a decade.

lallysingh 5y ago

No they don't. What you actually do in your job matters a lot. If you're actually good, you get picked up by better firms. I've interviewed literally hundreds of candidates for top-tier companies I've worked for, and those candidates mostly cone from the 'rest' of the schools, not the top 10. I didn't come from the top 10 either. Also, for grad school, the top 10 don't matter as much to an employer as relevant research to something they care about. Grad rankings are nearly useless. I went to state school (VT) undergrad and grad. I've worked in plenty of very good places.

rejectedandsad 5y ago
I only work at Amazon so I’m not actually good. The “rest” are still only large in proportion because of their population size - most are like me and will never get into companies like Two Sigma or Google. I sure can’t.
- lifty 5y ago
  You work at Amazon in IT? I don’t know your specific situation but you sure have a pretty defeatist attitude. That won’t serve you well. In my experience the most important factor for improving your career situation is finding opportunities and taking them and that requires a bit of a positive outlook and energy to expenditure.
  - rejectedandsad 5y ago
    I'm an SDE2, yes. I have no energy or a positive outlook because I already know that I'm considered an untermensch by everyone and society. It truly does feel like I have nothing, even my family thinks I'm a failure.
    - lifty 5y ago
      So you work for one of the most valuable companies in the world as a software developer, making decent buck, and you are a failure? I think you are young and have unreasonable expectations. You’re doing very good in the grand scheme of things; find your self worth and don’t listen to anyone that tells you you’re a failure, including yourself.
      - rejectedandsad 5y ago
        > I think you are young and have unreasonable expectations. You’re doing very good in the grand scheme of things; The grand scheme of things includes people who have guinea worm and make $1/day, it's not a terribly useful metric. If the people I trust the most think I'm a failure...I don't know how else I should interpret that.
        fxtentacle 5y ago
        In my case, people I met usually categorized me either into "everything is awesome" or "you're a failure". Few people took the time to listen and understand that things are going OK but of course there's always things to improve. If you can get by financially and maybe save a bit for a bad day, then you're objectively doing OK or better. After that point, whether you're a success or a failure depends mostly on what you yourself think about it. There's a surprising amount of mean and selfish people out there. It's how they cope with difficulties in their own live.
        specialist 5y ago
        Most people are mostly wrong about most things most of time. So it's a safe bet that you and your personal board of trustees are probably wrong about you being a failure. Also, I rather like how you write. Very droll. Please keep it up.
- fragmede 5y ago
  If you're at Amazon, please make use of their mental health benefit through Lyra. You sound worryingly depressed.
  - rejectedandsad 5y ago
    I actually ended up looking on lyrahealth.com - doesn't seem like Amazon offers it yet, and if it does it's not available on the internal site either. (Of course, Google does offer it)
okprod 5y ago
What you actually do in your job matters a lot. If you're actually good, you get picked up by better firms... Also, for grad school, the top 10 don't matter as much This depends on the industry. I have plenty of tech friends who quit school, went to a local state school, etc. and ended up at a FAANG or launched a startup well-funded by VC. However, at the top management consulting, law, investment banking, private equity, hedge fund firms, etc., it is unlikely you'll get hired without a top 10 undergrad or grad degree, family connections, or something unique like you have a documented 150% return in the market over a decade.