1. No, there actually haven't been "several studies that prove your college does not matter." The one study that has often been cited was reported in a 2001 article (with an extensive update in 2011) by the late economist Alan Krueger and his research associate Stacy Dale. Though often cited by journalists and commentators, it is clear that very few (if any) have actually read the articles, which did not say the various things that they are cited for. The articles are actually a long and hard read, with statistical analysis that would be incomprehensible to the kinds of people who cite the articles.
You just proved the arrogant part as accurate, LMAO. God I would hate to meet people like you in real life. You sound like someone who has no friends because you insist on telling everyone you meet that you are smarter than them. Hint - you are not nearly as smart as you think you are.
I've read the articles carefully. I've read large numbers of comments about the articles, and it is clear that the journalists and commentators who tend to cite them haven't haven't read them carefully -- in most cases, they apparently haven't read them at all.
You most definitely missed out. MIT is exceptional if for no other reason then they have no quotas, aren’t prejudice towards Asians and whites and most importantly are not woke.
My son is also interested in MIT, purely academically. He does run, though, and would like to run in college if he can. He is a junior and just ran 4:35 in the mile. Based on MITs recruiting standards we were hoping that if he can get down to 4:30 this year and have a good cross country season next year as a senior the coach may put in a word. I didn’t realize they were so good, though. Would a kid who will likely graduate with a time in the 4:20s (but maybe not as a junior) have a shot at a recommendation?
What other great tech schools out there have running programs that a kid like mine may get a coaches Rec at? We re starting our search this spring. Some other colleges he’s thinking about include Columbia, NYU, Cornell, mit, UPenn, Virginia tech, Georgia tech, Michigan. He wants to do comp sci.
I would look at RIT and RPI. I’d also suggest taking a look at Caltech: they have a quickly growing program, great running weather/close to good meets, a great coach, and are comparable to MIT academically. Getting in can be difficult, though.
If his grades and times and ECs are good enough the coach to support him, he only has a 40-50% chance of acceptance. That’s great compared to the normal rate, but it’s not the guarantee other colleges can provide.
If you are talking about MIT and stating, he only has a 40-50% chance of acceptance? think again and try 5-7% chance of acceptance.
I'm an assistant coach at a pretty strong high school team and we have a pretty strong Junior guy (mid 15s in XC 5k this year, low 9:10s and mid 4:20s in the 3200/1600 last year) whose starting to think about college. He's a very smart kid, great grades, internships, etc., but running is also really important to him. I was a pretty good D3 runner, graduated in 2018, and I still follow D3 running a bit, so we talked some about D3 schools that could be a good fit. I'd expect he could get to be a low 14, mid 29 kind of runner at least, so we were looking for programs that had have developed athletes of that caliber, which I know are rare but not unheard of in D3.
Obviously, MIT came up - I assumed they are a great distance program, given their team title in XC this year and second last year, but I was looking at their TFRRS and I didn't see any particularly impressive times on the track. I looked back to like 2015, but I didn't see anyone under 30 in the 10k or 14:20 in the 5k, and honestly not many runners even close to that level. It seems like MIT recruits very well for a D3 school and obviously has found success in XC and the mid-distance races, so this was pretty surprising for me.
Does anyone know why they haven't been very successful over long distance? I don't want the athlete to go there and realize their training isn't helping or find himself working out alone all the time. I don't expect to get an honest answer from their coaches, so I was hoping there might be some people here with knowledge of the program.
It seems like you've answered your own question - you've looked up the track times and confirmed that if he does indeed get to low 14's / mid 29's, then he'll most likely be the top person on the team and be working out by himself the whole time.
Is the focus on D3 schools just because he went to one and are tied to that scene? Most kids with that ability go D1 so you may be giving him the wrong guidance if you're implying that's one of his best paths since most people decide that is not the best path for them. Goes without saying, but there are plenty of D1 schools where they can balance both the academics and athletics.
I can’t stand this thread. It makes me feel stupid and like a failure. Also the arrogance is disturbing.
This thread reminds me why I despise everyone who went to schools like Harvard and MIT. My grades were just as good out of high school but I went to a public school on full academic scholarship. I got a better job than people I know who went to Ivy League schools.
Everyone at those schools has a superiority complex. Some of the most out of touch people I've ever met, and also BY FAR the most snobby people I've ever met.
I can’t stand this thread. It makes me feel stupid and like a failure. Also the arrogance is disturbing.
This thread reminds me why I despise everyone who went to schools like Harvard and MIT. My grades were just as good out of high school but I went to a public school on full academic scholarship. I got a better job than people I know who went to Ivy League schools.
Everyone at those schools has a superiority complex. Some of the most out of touch people I've ever met, and also BY FAR the most snobby people I've ever met.
I've actually had a different experience. The people I know who went to Ivies have generally been well-grounded and have not come across as snobby. The people I've found generally brag the most are those that are smart and went to public schools to save money - I think because they feel the need to prove they are smart.
I also think it's because when you go to an Ivy, you're surrounded by a lot of people that are smarter than you are. Whereas similar people who go to public schools tend to stand out more so are used to being the smartest person in the room (so behave that way).
However the 2 groups that are the snobbiest, regardless of school, are (medical) doctors and Ph D's.
How many people are you familiar with? I know many who fit into both categories and I agree with the other poster that the elite school grads are much more pretentious.
Speaking as a former CS student and current software developer, I definitely was not smart enough to get into Harvard or MIT, but I did go to a top 50ish college also located in Boston. My first job was working had kids from both UMass Amherst and Harvard. I think unless he's the top 1% of the elite, and starting his own companies, he'll probably also just end up working at FAANG companies or similar tier. Even today I work with people who went to coding bootcamps or no name colleges and regardless, with 5-10 years experience we make about $300-400K (in Boston). We're not millionaires, but not hurting for money.
I know my experience is probably unique, and I'll admit Harvard or MIT will open way more doors than your average Tufts/BC/BU/NEU grad, but in my opinion college brand name carries little weight once you've started your career as a software developer. My advice to your kid would be to pick a good school that can develop his passions even more. I would hate to be a smart HSer and have the joy of learning sucked out of me.
However, except if you went to Berkeley, you’re not getting hired at Jane Street
Jane Street is a small outfit that looks for very particular types of people. If you placed in the top of the Putnam, for example, they wouldn't be too worried about your alma mater.
My son is also interested in MIT, purely academically. He does run, though, and would like to run in college if he can. He is a junior and just ran 4:35 in the mile. Based on MITs recruiting standards we were hoping that if he can get down to 4:30 this year and have a good cross country season next year as a senior the coach may put in a word. I didn’t realize they were so good, though. Would a kid who will likely graduate with a time in the 4:20s (but maybe not as a junior) have a shot at a recommendation?
What other great tech schools out there have running programs that a kid like mine may get a coaches Rec at? We re starting our search this spring. Some other colleges he’s thinking about include Columbia, NYU, Cornell, mit, UPenn, Virginia tech, Georgia tech, Michigan. He wants to do comp sci.
However, except if you went to Berkeley, you’re not getting hired at Jane Street
this is 100% true; i worked at sig but know a lot of people from jane st
if you want to work for a truly elite job, either top-tier tech (think a16z led your seed, sequoia your a, etc) or the best on the street (sig, jump, two sigma, jane st) then it's:
everything else, honestly no chance -- they won't even look at your resume, and no amount of defense mechanism responses (oh but i went to school x, had way more fun! blah blah) makes it less true
However, except if you went to Berkeley, you’re not getting hired at Jane Street
this is 100% true; i worked at sig but know a lot of people from jane st
if you want to work for a truly elite job, either top-tier tech (think a16z led your seed, sequoia your a, etc) or the best on the street (sig, jump, two sigma, jane st) then it's:
everything else, honestly no chance -- they won't even look at your resume, and no amount of defense mechanism responses (oh but i went to school x, had way more fun! blah blah) makes it less true
quoting myself before i get downvoted to hell
this is not to say that williams and pp and other schools aren't good; they are and tit for tat they're probably about equal, just different sides of the same coin
but don't go to williams if you want to work at jane street, simple as
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