

Got degree envy? No worries, you can still make it big. - atestu
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/24/got-degree-envy-no-worries-you-can-still-make-it-big/

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sjs
> The top ten institutions in this group accounted for only 19 percent of the
> entire sample.

These top 10 institutions (3.5% of 287) supply almost 20% of the founders of
tech startups. It's nice to know that it's not a requirement but what did
people actually expect? I think that 20% is still pretty damn good for these
schools. Higher than I would have expected. There's nothing magical about a
school that makes you successful.

> Of the Ivy graduates, 28.6% ranked these networks as important.

Ivy schools will attract those who attribute great value to such networks.

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elblanco
And in other news, botanists like plants and fish like water.

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araneae
Number of times author mentioned he went to Harvard: 4

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hyperbovine
I find that with Harvard alumni, I usually know they went to Harvard within
five minutes of meeting them. And I'm not typically doing the asking.

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dschobel
My more cynical Harvard friends say that you can always spot the Harvard
alumni because they learn that the polite thing to say is "I went to school in
Boston".

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jacobolus
If you say you went to Harvard, people's attitudes and interactions often
immediately shift, in ways that sometimes can be overtly uncomfortable (other
times the changes are subtler). The subsequent conversation often then feels
less genuine: some sort of odd barrier has been erected; everything you say is
filtered through "oh, so that's how Harvard students think" etc.

I don't think it requires any cynicism to understand why people prefer quiet
indirection, and it's really less about "being polite" and more about "trying
to relate as people unfiltered by prejudice". Not sure that's quite coherent,
but maybe it helps in some way?

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dschobel
It does make sense. It is simply odd the baggage which seems to come with the
Harvard name, something which you acquire at 18 and yet seems to follow you
and define you more than any other institution I can think of.

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elblanco
I think we've already had this discussion.

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SlyShy
Duplicate: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=900086>

~~~
RiderOfGiraffes
Not a duplicate exactly, but carrying the same message.

