[prododev]

Where your kid goes to school is a status symbol. And like most status symbols, it is a foolish and conspicuous waste.

Americans love to root for teams and build their identities around what teams they are on. In sports, in politics, in college selection, even which state or city they are from. College selection is just an easy way to buy yourself into a team.

[grandempire]

I’m gonna need a steel man here. Is this real status they are buying? If so it has real impact?

These are otherwise shrewd people.

[prododev]

Bragging about where your kid goes to school is extremely common. It signals not only what can you afford (like a car), but also lets you buy and display a bunch of gear. (University name) Dad is like a super common apparel and bumper sticker item. And having, e.g., Stanford Dad is more prestigious than eg New Mexico State Dad apparel.

[grandempire]

Yes, but having gone to Stanford is significantly better than New Mexico State. But is UC Berkeley better than community college transfer to UC Davis?

[bdangubic]

while having paper from Stanford may open some doors for you if you network well while you are there the degree from New Mexico State can get you a lucrative career if you know wtf you are doing. business work on the bottom line and in my three decades in the industry I have found more gems from non-Ivy league schools than otherwise by a wide margin

[drillsteps5]

Your second statement is accurate and contradicts your first statement. Going into the right school puts you on the right team which will make your future career easier, as your school affiliation will send the right signals to hiring managers/business partners/investors/customers/whoever you will need to work with.

[prododev]

Not in my industry (software engineering). Hiring managers barely care about what school you went to. It might afford you more career fair opportunities, but that's about it.

Now, some schools will give you more educational opportunities and better education, but honestly? The margins aren't that huge.

[drillsteps5]

I do not think the very selective schools provide better education. I'm not an educator, but I've done my research and it's a general agreement.

They do give you a better start in your career. You have ability to participate in research/development activities alongside with your professors who are leading experts in the industry, you create connections in the real world through the projects you participate in, and therefore you will have much more opportunities for a better start.

Many good companies (FAANG or whatever did/will replace them) recruit out of these schools. The likes of Deloitte, Google, all the 3-letter agencies do not recruit out of Iowa state, they only do top 20.

As you progress in your career it starts to matter less where you went (you can still tap your college connections many years later though), but if you managed to have a good start, your ceiling will be higher, too.

Even if you managed to graduate without much career prospects despite all the opportunities the school provided, you will still have the brand name on the resume which will make the recruiters and hiring managers to give you extra consideration.

Is this worth extra $100K debt you got to put yourself through Harvard? Not necessarily. But it might be.

[grandempire]

You’re wrong.

Test 1: If a resume showed up from Stanford CS, how likely would it be that you or your coworkers would completely ignore it without giving them a call?

Test 2: if you had an employee with Stanford CS how likely would it be that your coworkers would ever mention that individual having that degree?

[prododev]

#1 reasonably high? We turn down plenty of Stanford grads. What's their GitHub like?

#2 degree basically never comes up, except if someone is saying they had an atypical degree path. And institution? Never, unless it's a part of someone's identity and they are a big "I am a college team guy"