[nir]

I think these articles and the responses are missing the real point which is how an Ivy League education became so important in America.

I grew up in Israel near the Technion, our MIT equivalent which produced a few Nobel Prize winners. It's not a big deal to get in, if you have poor high school scores you take a year long prep course, classes are hard but most people push through. Having a Technion degree might give you a slight edge getting your first job but that's that - you'll be judged by your performance moving on, not on your alma mater.

When I lived in the US for a few years, I couldn't understand how people allocate such importance to a person's high school performance (which is basically what determines their alma mater in the best case scenario, before family donations etc). To me it signals a risk-averse mentality that fears taking a chance on a potential hire.

[jshaqaw]

To be fair, I think much of the urgency around getting an Ivy League education has more to do with parental status insecurities than actual life outcomes. I have three Ivy League degrees. Have they greased a few wheels in life? Yeah sure. But not as much as you would think. I see plenty of people who didn’t get platinum plated degrees achieve tremendous things thanks to the other legs of the achievement stool - hard work and luck. I’ve seen plenty of my classmates fizzle out on those same two factors. There are a huge number of great schools in this country beyond the top 15.

[DollarGuru]

Educational elitism is just another sign of the class system at work.

[jshaqaw]

Agreed. As I age I am saddened by the growing realization that the educational institutions which I love and am proud of are key engines of perpetuating a class system.