[rayiner]

> Why do we associate attending an Ivy League institution as a 17 / 18 year old for an undergraduate education as some sort of metric for success?

Because, statistically, they're going to earn a lot more money over the course of their careers (especially when you factor engineering students out of the state school equation).

[john_w_t_b]

I think you are wrong. Smart people have high earnings regardless of Ivy League or state school.

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/the-college-solution/2...

[ansible]

That's great, assuming your kid is actually smart. What if he isn't? If he can pretend to be smart (and all the other things Ivy League schools look for), then his path through life will be much easier by going to a prestigious school.

[lacksconfidence]

Completely agree. I find it difficult to comprehend how moving your lifetime earnings potential from 2M to 20M is seen as a horrible thing. You could work 1/10 the amount of your life, have the same amount of money, and figure out what makes you happy with the other 9/10.

I get the feeling most of the people that say money cant buy you happiness have never been dirt poor. I'm not saying money buys happiness, but its damn hard to be happy when you r stressed out over how to pay the rent.

[obstacle1]

I seriously doubt that graduating college 3-4 years before your peer group results in an $18mm advantage very often.

Also anything above $2mm is gravy where happiness is concerned.

[lacksconfidence]

Over 2m? I did some quick extrapolation, which is probably wrong.

Current rent: 1595/mo ~= 19k/yr

Add 2% each year for inflation(probably wrong, but gotta start somewhere) and sum up 42 years (25 to 67) comes to just shy of 1.3M, merely paying your rent. Take taxes out of that 2M and rent+food+retirement is about the only things you can pay for and thats cutting it close.

2M to live in the place I was born just isn't going to cut it. There are of course optimizations, you could buy a condo or marry someone who also works to up it to 4M, but for a quick back of the envelope calculation its close enough.

My original estimation of 20M is probably off by a factor of 2 to 4, depends who you brown nose it with in the ivy leagues.

But basically, every time i think about my current costs and inflation, i realize that the estimated 2M average lifetime earnings potential of my education doesn't get very far.

[obstacle1]

Sorry, I confused myself. I was thinking of having $2mm net worth upon retirement, not $2mm lifetime earnings. You're right that $2mm lifetime isn't super awesome.

I definitely agree that your estimation of the benefit to graduating 4 years early is off by a few factors, still.

[freyr]

Or when you factor engineering students out of the Ivy school equation.