I disagree. That is why people pay so much money to get into prestigious undergrads since they believe it will lead to access into prestigious grad programs, which in turn could lead to better-paying jobs.
The fact that people believe it doesn't make it true. It is natural when people are paying a quarter of a million dollars for a degree that someone else is paying $70,000 they are going to believe they've purchased some exclusive privilege. What the research shows is that when you look at similar candidates who attended an Ivy versus a less selective public university the outcomes are very similar. The key is to compare apples to apples - look at selective school students versus students who were accepted to selective schools but opted for state universities.
When we are talking about acceleration and students in the league of students who attend the Davidson Academy we are talking about outliers. Success for this group doesn't depend on an Ivy League education. I agree with the other poster who suggested you look at top flight grad programs and look where students are coming from. Sure, you'll see Ivies, but also plenty of state school grads as well as grads from small liberal arts colleges you've probably never heard of. They most important thing is what students do with their education while they are in college. Lazy students don't do well no matter where they go. Smart, go getters can do amazing things at all sorts of schools. It is that undergraduate record, research, scores that get students into grad school.
