I think it depends on where you live and what you do. In high school, I considered the Ivies priggish and didn't apply. My high school colleagues who went didn'

I think it depends on where you live and what you do. In high school, I considered the Ivies priggish and didn't apply. My high school colleagues who went didn't disabuse me of my prejudice, and looking back after 20 years on Facebook, they aren't especially more accomplished than the rest of us. (Our most famous alum went to NYU and made it in Hollywood.) That said, in DC, Boston, and parts of NY, going to an Ivy is an unwritten requirement for a lot of jobs, so it generates a lot of ill will from those who didn't go. I think the solution is to just not live on the Northeast Corridor, and you can totally ignore it.