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Rdan5112 t1_isat4f5 wrote

Reply to comment by zimtrovert94 in Accepted (2021) - A school in Louisiana is celebrated for putting traditionally underserved students into Ivy League colleges, but an investigation uncovers its charismatic founder's controversial methods (CC) [01:22:56] by thesecondfire

It pisses me off that people seem to equate “elite universities” with “better”. It’s like putting a beginning swimmer on the Olympic team. They’ve got the best coaches, the best facilities, massive funding… it must be the best place to learn to swim… right? When people hear you were on the Olympic swim team, you can definitely get a job as a lifeguard, maybe even a coach…. Are we all tracking?

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Bama_Peach t1_isb4zfq wrote

As someone whose child attends an "Elite University", I concur that these schools are in no way better. But what these schools do offer that so-called "non-elite schools" do not are unmatched networking and career opportunities.

My son (who would fit the title of a student from an underserved community due to our race and the high school he graduated from) will be graduating college in May and has already accepted a six-figure job offer with a Fortune 50 company. This company didn't care what his major was; hell - I don't think they even care what his cumulative GPA is going to be when he graduates - they just wanted a graduate from a top-14 school in their corporate office. Every single one of his classmates that isn't pursuing a post-grad degree got the same type of offer from a comparable corporation. That's why people are breaking their necks to get into these kinds of schools.

Edit: Corrected a typo

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Marchesa-LuisaCasati t1_isnu83n wrote

You left out the part about if you get into a golden ticket school and you're from a middle or lower income family, the financial aid package is all grants and scholarships. The truly elite schools no longer use student loans as part of the financial aid package.

My kid also attended an "elite school" and graduated with ZERO student debt.

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Bama_Peach t1_isoaqyz wrote

You’re absolutely right; that’s most definitely a benefit that I forgot to mention.

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zimtrovert94 t1_isbc2k8 wrote

Exactly this. I went to a CSU. My network is significantly smaller than a UC Berkeley or USC.

And it sucks when half of the game is pure networking. Go to an elite school and you’ll literally run into people who worked with presidents or CEOs of major companies that can get you a big lead in.

At my CSU, I ran into more local politicians or business leaders. It’s a start but a far cry from elite unis.

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