it's not that "college" would make a huge difference, it's that an Ivy league (or similar school) would allow a person like my friend to make connections that a

it's not that "college" would make a huge difference, it's that an Ivy league (or similar school) would allow a person like my friend to make connections that are helpful. The high-end prep school he went to means he has connections at global banks and financial firms, connections to families with 100s of millions of dollars of wealth, people in national level politics, international connections, etc... that wouldn't have been possible at a normal high school.