Bias against ivy leagers?

[gear02]

So fox has a new reality show called My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss.

The website has this note:


Unbeknownst to these “business savvy” participants, IOCOR is a fictitious company and “Mr. Todd” is really actor William August setting out to dupe the 12 know-it-all participants.

But on the tv ads (which they show like every minute between baseball games), says to the effect of "let's take 12 ivy leagers and make fun of them". They do use the words ivy leaguers, but I don't recall the exact words.

Considering who they're marketing this show to, does this country have a bias against the Ivy League? To me, it sounds like it. I remember reading another forum and someone posted a question about colleges. After about 6 pages, there were tons of references about how their state college was just as good as Ivy League schools and they were better than those graduates. To me, it was sounding like they were trying to prop themselves up or something. I don't know.

I'm not saying that Ivy Leaguers ARE better or not. In fact the Ivy League is a sports conference, and not really related to academics.

Oh, and I did graduate from Brown, so I guess I am a bit bias...but I really don't understand the attitude towards these schools...

[ialsohaveadream]

In the sense that they have ridiculously large private endowments, yes, the Ivy League schools are better than most others. As for the quality of education? That's subjective.

I would guess there's probably a slight anti-Ivy bias, but you wouldn't know it by looking at our two Ivy-educated presidential candidates.

[gear02]

In the sense that they have ridiculously large private endowments, yes, the Ivy League schools are better than most others. As for the quality of education? That's subjective.

I would guess there's probably a slight anti-Ivy bias, but you wouldn't know it by looking at our two Ivy-educated presidential candidates.

Well I guess I was irked by Fox's attempt to sell their crappy program as bashing ivy leaguers as if it was revenge for something...

[GracieBayb]

I think it has the same sell quality as the reality tv shows that break down celebrities. When some people hear "Ivy League" they think of these perfect geniuses with stock options, 401 k, the whole deal - so to see them being broken down and made into fools would excite and make the non-Ivy's feel better...

just a conjecture

[ray]

I think that it is a fair comment to say that there are certain areas of study where an Ivy League education far surpasses all others (ie: Yale Law. There is a reason why they are the best law school in the nation). Also, as noted above, endowment for Ivy League schools can be extremely high and more importantly, their alumni support and network are so huge that it makes life for graduates easier when looking for career placement.

[Merlin]

People always like to see the "higher ups" get taken down a peg or two. Always has entertained the masses and always will.

Also, most people I know at that level, not just Ivy Leaguers but all MBA types, are pretty high on themselves. Not all but enough to build a good stereotype. For the most part they do well to eat a good serving of humble pie.

[LegendKiller]

There is a huge stereotype that Ivy's are really just riding on the coat tails of their parents (Bush or Kerry) and aren't really representative of somebody who works hard for what they have.


I work with a lot of people who went to Ivy's and I know some damn good people. One of the bankers we work with TA'd for Fabozzi at Yale, who is the guru of all fixed income investments. I really like the guy and I have massive respect for him. He's nice, doesn't put others down, and is overall pretty humble.

However, I know others on the flip side who take every chance they have to deride lower schools, act like their school is ultimately superior, and try to do everything to make themselves look better when around those who have lower ranked schools.

I think that I-L's offer one thing that other schools cant touch, and thats an "ole boy network". Their level of education is relatively on-par with what other schools teach. In the area of finance I have sat in with a friend of mine going to Yale and they got the same stuff, perhaps a little higher in some areas, but nothing major. (he failed lvl1 cfa..teeeheee ;) ).

Overall it doesn't matter where you went to school, how you treat others and how you display your knowledge will get you much further.


LK

[Cantacuzene]

There is a huge stereotype that Ivy's are really just riding on the coat tails of their parents (Bush or Kerry) and aren't really representative of somebody who works hard for what they have.


I work with a lot of people who went to Ivy's and I know some damn good people. One of the bankers we work with TA'd for Fabozzi at Yale, who is the guru of all fixed income investments. I really like the guy and I have massive respect for him. He's nice, doesn't put others down, and is overall pretty humble.

However, I know others on the flip side who take every chance they have to deride lower schools, act like their school is ultimately superior, and try to do everything to make themselves look better when around those who have lower ranked schools.

I think that I-L's offer one thing that other schools cant touch, and thats an "ole boy network". Their level of education is relatively on-par with what other schools teach. In the area of finance I have sat in with a friend of mine going to Yale and they got the same stuff, perhaps a little higher in some areas, but nothing major. (he failed lvl1 cfa..teeeheee ;) ).

Overall it doesn't matter where you went to school, how you treat others and how you display your knowledge will get you much further.


LK

I agree, but I think what you major in matters a lot too. If you are doing humanities, there is no comparison to the Ivy League. There are only 5 schools in the country that come anywhere close to Harvard's history program from outside the Ivy League, and even then they are fighting for a distant 2nd place.

[ialsohaveadream]

That's because Harvard hires people who were involved in that history. :)

[welfareloser]

all i know is that harvard was the only dental school that didn't accept me (out of 11) ... and it was also the only one that asked what high school i went to (hint: not the old-money prep school on the other side of the river.) and also the only one to send me the "f-u" letter on the FIRST day that they were allowed to (as in: "we didn't even look at your application.") and that they had the LOWEST average GPA, DAT scores and SAT scores of all the schools i applied to. and no, it wasn't because they prefer "diversity" types (ie, older students, students with lots of community service, musical ability, other odd interests/talents/accomplishments, etc...)

that's why i, for one, would enjoy seeing harvard types get a smackdown... an awful lot of em have awfully high opinions of themselves for reasons not apparent to me. (no, not everyone who goes to ivy league schools is a walking ego... but ivy league schools have a higher proportion of idiots with rich daddies than other good schools i know...)

[gear02]

Hmm...you know, I believe all of you. Going to an ivy league school, I saw a lot of the types you suggest. They say there's no high school that funnels students to the ivys, and yet there was an enormous population from two boarding schools in CO (Exeter). There were people that you wonder how the f*ck they got into the school since they couldn't add. Heck, Vanity Fair wrote and article suggesting everyone at the school drove Benzes and BMWs. And for a while, I believed them since I saw a lot of those cars.

I just find it unfair that the stereotype gets blindly applied. The people I met and were friends with worked hard to get there. Most of us are not rich, and none of us went to one of those private schools. It's just too bad, but I don't blame anyone but the schools for keeping legacies alive.

[bachviet]

I think the point of the show is that Ivy leaguers are supposed to smart but they were fool during the show and they will do everything for $$$/job.

[kimchicowboy]

yeah, i lived with boarding school kids for a summer once (they were from andover) and they were some spoiled pricks so full of themselves. argg.