[quote=flyer]The variables other than education are the real deal breakers. Can’t tell you how many people I’ve known and my kids have known who got where they are via connections vs. education. In my kid’s case, even with great degrees, connections trumped education every time.[/quote]
Could not agree more.
I grew up with a lot of kids whose parents worked in the entertainment industry. Not one of these kids went to college, but almost all of them have good-paying jobs in the entertainment industry. Lots of people with Fine Arts or Cinema and TV degrees really want these jobs, but can’t get them. It is all about having the right connections.
If you look at the stories of the wealthiest Americans, you’ll find that most of them had some sort of connection that lead them to their successes.
That brings us back to the Ivy Leagues where the education is often no better than what’s found in state colleges. The difference is that the students in the Ivy League schools were specifically chosen because of their unusually high IQ and personal initiative. Those traits alone are two of the best indicators for future success. It’s not the schools that make the students successful, but the students who make the schools successful and give these schools their reputations. Of course, highly intelligent people who tend to come from more successful (read: more intelligent) families can make some powerful connections this way, and that’s why families have traditionally chosen to send their kids to these elite schools whenever they had the opportunity to do so.
