Whether those advantages translate into higher income is debatable. A recent paper found that controlling for an applicant's SAT scores, the SAT scores of the most selective schools he or she applies to -- a measure of ambition according to the authors -- predicts future earnings, but actually getting in does not.
This is the same thinking that says just because I applied to Princeton, but went to Penn State, I will make the same amount as people who went to Princeton.
Oh, wait.
I ended up working with people who went to Princeton, Harvard, and Yale for 10 years.
Haven't had a raise since I started working, though.
I want to point out that this is rear view mirror thinking during the actual boom times that ended in 2008.
