Rejected today? More bad news for you...

March 28, 2013 Another D-Day 

Thousands of dreams were made today and many more broken, when the Ivy League released its  regular admissions decisions for the class of 2017. Many years ago, when I was a little high schooler, I heard this analogy. Going to an ivy league or similarly elite school is just like riding in a luxury car, the ride might be nicer but the destination is the same. These words were comforting at the time but I am here today to tell you that those words ring more false than true.

The Importance of Being Elite

Attending a top school conveys advantages that last for life. If you are thinking that the education at Harvard, for example, must be so much better than at let's say Penn State, then you are missing the big picture. The power of a Harvard grad over anyone else is in the brand name, the prestige, and the ocean deep connections. An analogy that I came up with is Nike Sports. Say there are two pairs of shoes on sale and they look almost identical, except one  has the swoosh and the other has an X logo. Which pair would you buy? Nine times out of ten the buyer will choose the swoosh. Why? No particular reason, except for the fact that branding is powerful. In a similar vein, if you are an employer, would you take the Harvard guy over the SUNY grad? Some "shallow" industries hire exclusively based on branding, think consulting or finance. The reality is that many doors are closed to those of you not attending an Ivy+. The truth isn't pretty but then again few things are.

The View From Under The Bus

Before you work yourself into a fury, let me remind you that I am not writing from an ivory tower, I am  on the outside looking in. In fact I have already experienced the disadvantages of attending a state school. I am simply telling it as it is. On campus recruiting is mediocre at best, and supposedly UNH had a decent year attracting employers. We are mostly limited to local firms and some large companies looking to fill sales or IT drone positions. For example, recently I inquired about equities research or analyst positions at Fidelity Investments and was told by the campus recruiters that they don't recruit for those positions at our school. A quick look at several other Boston area schools showed that the coveted "front office" positions were available, just not to us. I know of a few students who tried to reach out to some better known firms such as Goldman, Citi, Morgan Stanley, of course with no success, and it was not due to lack of competence. The closest anyone has come to getting on the Street was Eric, who somehow landed a summer analyst position at Nomura, and that's because he has so much relevant experience. For those of you unfamiliar with the firms in banking, Nomura is one of the new comers.  I myself did not even bother, despite my strong interest in markets, I knew that my resume would be sent straight to the trash at anyone of these places.

All Is Not Lost (and another way to get that Ivy green)

My quick and simple advice is this, if you didn't make it past the ivy walls, do well at wherever you end up going (high GPA) and apply as a transfer. Work hard and try to stand out in order to get a strong recommendation from your professors. Cornell University has a 30% transfer admissions rate, although that number is artificially inflated by its guaranteed transfers program, it still provides a relatively easy entrance. I have one more tip that will get you in but I will keep it a secret  for now as it's something I am planning to do myself, to give myself one last shot. I guess you will have to check back in a few months to find out what I'm up to.