I went to Penn, my sister went to Yale, and our mother went to Columbia and we all had very different experiences from what you describe here. None of us went for the "old-boys network" nor have we really seen that there is that much of one. Yes, there are a lot of monied alumni but I really dont believe that is what many of the students who want to go to top schools are thinking about.
We went for the academics and the reputation. I wanted to work in finance and so Wharton was a good place to go. My sister went to Yale I think solely based on the fact that she liked the campus. Our mother only applied to NYU and Columbia back in her day and that was a pretty easy decision to make at the time.
"I wanted to work in finance and so Wharton was a good place to go."
That's what the old-boys-network IS. It's not literally people smoking cigars, it's the preferential treatment you receive for having the brand name on your degree.
Yes, in the sense that an EE degree from MIT is a heuristic of sorts. It's got some differing qualities, but at the end of the day that heuristic will make a difference for two otherwise comparable job applicants, say.
Konstantin Guericke, one of the co-founders of LinkedIn, now offers coaching and mentoring to students and would-be entrepreneurs. But because he's deluged with requests, he tends to give preference to students from his alma mater, Stanford's engineering school.
"I don't feel a Stanford student is better than another one," he said. But "since there are so many, I use that as a filter."
I do hope that is sarcasm. MIT has the reputation of giving a world class, rigorous, education. People who attend MIT attend it because they know they will have the opportunity to receive that education.
Any school that is capable of giving an education of similar quality has a similar reputation. Claiming that the point of an education from a school like MIT is the "old-boys-network" is in essence confusing the effect with the cause.
I think we need to separate out the term "old boys" from "network." One of the most valuable things you get from going to a top school, whether MIT, Ivy League, or otherwise - is exposure to a network. They're not necessarily the "old boys" you guys are picturing, with money and power and political connections, but the folks who are starting companies, doing the most cutting-edge research... if you go to a school like MIT, you're surrounded by people like this - and you'll be able to reach out to these people for the rest of your life. And this can be very useful... when you're looking for a cofounder, or a guest speaker in a specific field to talk to a group of students, or you want someone to pass on your resume at company X, for example. If you go to a lower tier school, no matter how smart and motivated you are, it will be much harder to forge the same kind of network.
No I dont think that's what it is. I wanted to go to Wharton because it is the most rigorous undergraduate finance program in the country. And that is why it has a good reputation.
As someone who works with someone who got an undergrad degree from Wharton, I seriously do not believe you. But I'll assume you are telling the truth - even if so, it certainly does not apply to 90% of Wharton's student body. By my co-worker's own admission, finance is all about prestige, and the primary reason he went to Wharton is because of the name and how it gets you into IB jobs, not because of its rigor. In fact, he didn't want to go to a rigorous school but liked Penn because it was more of a party school than other Ivies.
I'd like to add that there are about a dozen other concentrations at Wharton that are not related to finance. Most people at Wharton dont concentrate in finance partly because there are a lot of very douchey people, like your coworker, who do in an attempt to get rich or something. Most people at Wharton are there for the rigor. Your coworker went to Wharton for the wrong reasons and thinks everyone else did too.
It's about recruitment. Every IBank and top tier consulting firm recruits heavily from the Wharton graduating class. That's what you're paying for.
You're also getting the opportunity (not guarantee) to get a top tier education - but that can be gotten anywhere. Study for the CFA tests if you really want to know finance. Go to Wharton if you want to get a job.
Was going to jibe about "high paying" job, but that's not really it. It's just any competitive placement benefits from active recruitment.
We went for the academics and the reputation. I wanted to work in finance and so Wharton was a good place to go. My sister went to Yale I think solely based on the fact that she liked the campus. Our mother only applied to NYU and Columbia back in her day and that was a pretty easy decision to make at the time.