When I was in high school--even in college--Ivy League schools were spoken in such high regard. It was a high schooler's goal to just get into an Ivy League school. In college, I specifically had a professor, who also taught at U-Penn, whom made sure to keep us jealous of not being in an Ivy League school. "Once you leave this school and start sending resumes to companies, who do think the company is going to pick to interview? A Holy Family grad with ANY GPA, or an Ivy League grad?" The answer was always "Ivy League" grad. If you're unfamiliar with what being accepted into an Ivy League school is like for the rest of life, just ask an alumni. If you can't find an alumni, there are plenty of teachers for these respective schools that would gladly (mis)inform you.
The mystique of a student that makes it into an Ivy League school is slowly dwindling. The fault stems from a poor and well-known Ivy system--thanks to Ivy League alumni that tell the world--that once a student makes it into most Ivy League schools getting an A is as easy as blowing your own nose: Show up to class; do some semblance of work; A. Personally, I've known about this for about the last 5 years, and the first time I learned about it, I didn't even care. I didn't care, because I knew how brilliant/special/etc. someone had to be in order to get into those schools. Their reputation, for me, basically called for immediate respect. That would soon change...
Ivy Leaguers are NOT infallible. This is contrary to many non-Ivy beliefs. Some Ivys get in because they're phenomenal at sports--hence the term Ivy League, by the way. It started with sports before the vernacular changed to describe each of the schools associated. Some Ivy's get in because their parents are super wealthy (See: George Dubya Bush). And then comes the kids who actually deserve to go to an Ivy League school--the brilliant ones. The ones that can make a molecular phaser with their toes and their eyes closed. The ones that can do Rubix Cube in like 5 seconds--I know, I know, it's an algorithm, it's an algorithm, shhh.
So, all of that said, here in lies the problem: Graduating Ivy Leaguers are starting to be known for their uselessness. Yep, you heard that right. Some of these students are actually just as normal as you and me. They get jobs--ya know, the jobs that they took from you because you went to a "shitty" undergrad--and they suck at them. They are irresponsible, and don't know how to pull their own load without needing a mommy figure to help pay...err....do/check their work.
Why does this happen? great question.
I don't know the exact answer, but with the evidence I gave you earlier, my best guess is that getting easy A's for 4 years completely screwed up their work ethic. For some of them, it even short-circuited their Type-A personality. One person in my MAC program at Villanova--not an Ivy League--dropped out of the program because she wasn't used to getting 70s on tests and quizzes. She received A's on exams at her Ivy League alma matter so frequently, perhaps always, that she couldn't handle getting grades that didn't LOOK good. And I say that because the best kids in the class were getting 70s, which means she actually would have gotten those A's if she was just able to stick with it. Unfortunately, her Ivy League didn't teach her a very valuable lesson that every young person needs to learn: How to handle adversity.
Ultimately, Ivy League schools need to fix this if they expect to keep the reputation they have. And corporations need to stop giving jobs to Ivy Leaguers just because they are Ivy Leaguers. That's exactly how this country can perpetuate mediocrity--when we give our smartest the best opportunity and squander their chances of learning valuable lessons. If these schools manufacture workless workers and quitters, then soon enough Holy Family grads will, and deservedly so in a lot of cases, take the jobs that are rightfully their's because they earned their positions.
As an aside: I'm not discriminating against anyone else's non-Ivy alma matter, you're in the exact same boat. Just using HF, because of my experience specifically.
What do you guys think?
- PatInTheGradHat
As someone in a supervisory role with hiring power (and who has been receiving hiring advice from more seasoned colleagues), I'd say workplace attitudes are swinging in the other direction: some hiring managers are skeptical of applicants with Ivy names on their resumes. At the very least, I was instructed that school is good for nothing; give us an experience that's prepared you for a professional work environment, and then we'll talk.
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