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Comment by mattiss | Hacker News Reader

The author seems like a tool. That's the thing about name-brand graduates (particularly Harvard), within 5 minutes of meeting someone you will hear about where they went to college, even 10+ years after they graduated. Clearly this is an exaggeration, but definitely has some truth to it.

However I must agree with the OP sentiments, it is way easier for name-brandies to get job interviews/offers. Nevertheless, I am doubtful that the price differential is worth it strictly to help you land a job. I guess I will never know what I missed out on, but faced with ~40k per year in loans I am very glad I chose to go to a state school.

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> The author seems like a tool. That's the thing about name-brand graduates (particularly Harvard), within 5 minutes of meeting someone you will hear about where they went to college, even 10+ years after they graduated. Clearly this is an exaggeration, but definitely has some truth to it.

hi, while you are right in surmising that i'm a complete and utter tool, i don't understand how your point relates to my article. i don't think i mentioned anything about people name-dropping their alma maters when making introductions (if i did, please let me know, and i'll remove the offending sentences). i certainly don't remember meeting people and having them name-drop their alma maters within 5-10 minutes, and i don't remember ever doing that either. but i guess it does happen, or else people wouldn't keep mentioning it so much on threads like this one :)

A friend's boss went to harvard and stanford - We meet up with him a lot, and he can be relied on to name drop his alma mater s once every 2-5 minutes. At first I thought this was a little pretentious and phony but I've actually come to like the guy - he tells pretty interesting stories, he's very outgoing etc. I guess we all have things that we are proud of. I'm definitely not a name-brand school person but there are somethings that I'm proud of that I probably talk about too much and I think most people are the same way. I try not to judge. I've found that you can actually learn some stuff from "arrogant" people if you just let them say the things that make them feel special.

Not me. Ever since I got back from Everest I keep my mouth shut.

See this is a great example - If I met you I would love to hear your story, but your modesty would make it unlikely that I would.

I was joking about Everest. Some day maybe :)

hi, this is the tool (author) here ...

regarding the price differential, please note that i am not trying to compare private vs. state schools, where the price differential is staggering! there are plenty of private schools that aren't "name-brand", and attending those costs around the same tuition as attending name-brand private schools. also, there are name-brand public schools (e.g., UC Berkeley) that cost the same as other public schools.

EDIT: Also, nobody has mentioned financial aid packages at private universities (not just 'name-brand' ones, but rather all private universities). depending on your family's financial situation, it's possible to pay tuition comparable to what you'd pay from going to a public school.

These programs tend to screw the middle class, the definition of which is actually pretty low (~50k/yr) I think. Sure if your parents work at McDonald's you will probably get a bunch of grants, but if not you are footing the bill.

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