[stupac2]

Of course that is an issue for most of us here as well.

I suppose, but one thing that stories can help is that what matters isn't so much the education you get (though that's obviously important), but the connections you make. I got my job because my adviser happened to be partnering with a nearby company to test their instrument, now I work for that company (and while Stanford may have more emphasis than most universities on undergrad research, I don't think it's so much different for physics, so that's the sort of thing that can happen at many places).

My brother (who went to William & Mary) demonstrates that even more. He was sort of aimless after college, and he called me up to see if I knew anyone who worked at a marketing firm. By coincidence I did and they had a position open that my brother was a fit for and he got it. He then made a ton of friends there, and when one of them split off his own company, my brother went with him. He was employee #7 (or something) and is now managing their marketing dept (or something). Going to a relatively prestigious school didn't really matter so much (except insofar as he needed some kind of degree).

Anyway, I think the high-achieving students these days place way more emphasis on getting into the best schools than is appropriate, especially given the fact that it's really no ticket to long-term success, where what matters is mostly luck, hard work, networking, and more luck. Maybe if you really, really want to be a professor then it matters, but even then I kinda doubt it.

[stupac2]

Of course that is an issue for most of us here as well.

I suppose, but one thing that stories can help is that what matters isn't so much the education you get (though that's obviously important), but the connections you make. I got my job because my adviser happened to be partnering with a nearby company to test their instrument, now I work for that company (and while Stanford may have more emphasis than most universities on undergrad research, I don't think it's so much different for physics, so that's the sort of thing that can happen at many places).

My brother (who went to William & Mary) demonstrates that even more. He was sort of aimless after college, and he called me up to see if I knew anyone who worked at a marketing firm. By coincidence I did and they had a position open that my brother was a fit for and he got it. He then made a ton of friends there, and when one of them split off his own company, my brother went with him. He was employee #7 (or something) and is now managing their marketing dept (or something). Going to a relatively prestigious school didn't really matter so much (except insofar as he needed some kind of degree).

Anyway, I think the high-achieving students these days place way more emphasis on getting into the best schools than is appropriate, especially given the fact that it's really no ticket to long-term success, where what matters is mostly luck, hard work, networking, and more luck. Maybe if you really, really want to be a professor then it matters, but even then I kinda doubt it.