Originally Posted by JonLaw
Originally Posted by Old Dad
A lot of the posts in this thread have been in reference to Ivy League schools and how difficult it is to gain admission. A great education and a good career can be had outside of those schools, so why bother with a system that drives people nuts? There are lots of other quality choices.

A good answer to this one is that in many cases, self-worth, meaning people's sense of their own value appears to be dependent on status and elitism.

Did I go to an Ivy League school?

Do I have an Elite Job?

Can I still become a Power-CEO or is it too late?

If not handled right, it results in suicide.

I know of two specific people who blew their brains out, in part, because of catastrophic status failure (for lack of a better word). One a lawyer, the other a specialist doctor.

That's part of what scares me about much of the thread. I'm hearing, "In order to get a job at the elite companies, they base their hiring practices a great deal on if the candidate came from an Ivy League school."

To that I have to ask, "Is that what is going to take to make that person happy? Having a job with an elite company? As for me and mine, we're quite content in jobs we feel passionate about and / or take pride in making a reasonable living and using the time outside of our normal working hours jobs to pursue other passions. In short, work to live, don't live to work. Everyone is different of course, if it takes an elite job to make someone happy, by all means, play the game of the Ivy League schools / Elite companies.