[jackcosgrove]

I just searched for "best predictor of career success" and found a bunch of conflicting results. Open networks, conscientiousness, grit, intelligence, class, etc. This is actually reassuring, since if there were a known path to success everyone would crowd into it. Curiously I didn't see any articles or studies saying "it's partially random" because no one wants to hear that.

I think academic prestige is best understood as a safety net. It won't guarantee success, because nothing can, but it can do a decent job preventing failure. In that respect the parents are right. Academic assistance is a way they can convert financial resources into something that can't be taken away from their children (and isn't subject to the gift tax limit).

That said it's easy to go overboard, and many do. Unless you want to work in a small number of careers that have target lists of schools they recruit from (which again is because the credential is a selling point to clients, not because the education is better), there is no difference between a public university and a prestigious one.

To the extent parents know that prestige is signalling all the way down, and does not imply being better at what you do or knowing more about your subject, they do have some inside perspective compared to the population at large.

[koolba]

> I just searched for "best predictor of career success" and found a bunch of conflicting results. Open networks, conscientiousness, grit, intelligence, class, etc. This is actually reassuring, since if there were a known path to success everyone would crowd into it. Curiously I didn't see any articles or studies saying "it's partially random" because no one wants to hear that.

I'm not sure which is the best for career success and it's incredibly difficult to quantify your parents network effect, but conscientiousness, intelligence and grit make for a very happy life. You'll naturally gravitate toward intellectually stimulating things, work hard at them, not care about meaningless things around you, and enjoy every minute of it.

[quesera]

> but conscientiousness, intelligence and grit make for a very happy life

OK, but do you think these traits are primarily the results of nature, nurture, luck, or individual practice?

[koolba]

1% nature, 99% nurture. The luck is having parents who realize that providing that nurture is attainable.

[quesera]

This is manifestly incorrect.

[grandempire]

> Academic assistance is a way they can convert financial resources into something that can't be taken away from their children (and isn't subject to the gift tax limit).

This is a really good summary. The end result is a permanent, non-transferable, protection with strong resistance to “inflation”.

> they do have some inside perspective compared to the population at large.

Would that advantage manifest as playing into the system - looking for opportunities for signaling? Or discounting - finding good education with less signaling value.

[jackcosgrove]

> Would that advantage manifest as playing into the system - looking for opportunities for signaling? Or discounting - finding good education with less signaling value.

Good question! I think that can play out both ways, ultimately based on how wealthy the parents are. If money is no object, play the prestige game. If you are middle class and know the rules of the game, maximize value.

For example, I am acquainted with parents who are teachers at a prestigious private school. Their child attended said school because of subsidized tuition, and then attended college in an honors program at a state university in the middle of the country. He was paid to attend! The parents are fully abreast of all the studies on the effects of education, both being teachers and being in the middle of the college admissions frenzy that goes on in these schools. So they know how the game works, and they are playing it to the max for value.

On the other hand, at this school are children from generational wealth who play obscure sports from an early age to give them an edge in admissions. The children never need to actually earn a living, and the target school admission is seen as a defense of a family legacy and bragging rights for the parents - pure prestige.

[throwaway2037]

    > children from generational wealth who play obscure sports from an early age to give them an edge in admissions

This sounds like a cut scene from Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore. Can you name some of the sports? This sounds like fun. In my mind, the #1 prestige sport is rowing. It makes golf look like a sport for poor people. Also: Dressage (show jumping with horses). To be clear: I still respect people who are very good at rowing or dressage, but they are almost always from uber wealthy families.

[jackcosgrove]

Field hockey, water polo. If you include club sports there's more like fencing and squash. And yes I think rowing too.

[throwaway2037]

Interesting. Field hockey is big in many public schools in the US Midwest. I would hardly call it a great signal. Also, water polo is popular anywhere that swimming is popular -- California, Florida, etc. Again, not a strong signal in my mind. However, fencing and squash: Yep, strong signals.