[nostrademons]

I think that even the hedge fund stories have more to them than meets the eye for a casual observer. I have a classmate who works at Bridgewater, and has since graduation (well, graduation plus the six months of unemployment it took to find a job). He got there by e-mailing everybody in the Amherst alumni directory who worked in finance and asking if they'd give him a job, and an alum at Bridgewater was the only person who responded affirmatively. Now, he ultimately got the job through the alumni network, which is a tool that wouldn't be available to someone who didn't go to school - but his path was still full of rejection, stress, and closed doors.

I suspect that college does help skew peoples reactions toward you favorably, but that the ability to hustle ultimately matters more to your long-term success. Then the question is whether having that lifetime skew effect is worth the $100K+ and 4 years of opportunity cost. My personal feeling is that it probably is if a.) you get into an Ivy League or "brand name" college or b.) you come from a lower-class background and your parents don't have a network or much cultural capital. But for most middle-class kids going to a second-tier college, the opportunities it opens up are mediocre, and you are far better off putting the $100K+ and 4 years to work distinguishing yourself in some other way.