There are a few good reasons why a highly selective school might be the best place for bright students. We will list them first and discuss each one below.
- Cheapest Option: For low-income families, highly selective colleges can be cheaper than the state flagship due to generous financial aid.
- Intellectual Peers: A large fraction of the class is bright, and some are incredibly so. This concentration of talent enables the college to offer classes that cover more material with greater depth.
- Career Prospects: Companies needing bright employees often focus their recruiting efforts to colleges that have the most bright students. This can result in better career prospects, particularly in fields like finance or management consulting.
Let’s go into each of these reasons.
The cheapest option for some
All of the most selective private colleges in the USA, those with less than a 10% admit rate, provide very generous financial aid. For many moderate income families, attending an elite college can be cheaper than the in-state flagship. Most of these colleges make attendance completely free for families making less than the median US income. A few, like Princeton, go even further making college completely free for families making less than $85K per year.
An intellectual atmosphere
The most selective colleges are full of smart people who are passionate about different things. You might be a science nerd with side interests in public policy and education. At selective colleges you will find fellow students and faculty who can engage all of your interests as deep as you want to go. Distinguished speakers will routinely come to campus to provide their viewpoint. You will have more to do than you have time for.
And let’s not forget about the classes. Places like UChicago, MIT, or Columbia are known to have demanding core requirements, forcing you to learn many topics in depth. Harvard offers extremely accelerated classes in math and physics for those that can handle it. They can do this because they many of the strongest STEM students in the country.
It can matter where you go
Some students or their parents have an unhealthy “Ivy or bust” mentality. They think attending an elite school ensures future success. Others think it doesn’t matter where you go.
I say both are wrong.
To illustrate why, I will ironically pull a quote from Frank Bruni, who is firmly in the “it doesn’t matter” camp. In Bruni’s book Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be, he quotes Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey. Here Christie is talking to his son when he was applying to Princeton (his son was accepted and attended Princeton).
Christie's Son: If I get in, do you want me to go? Chris Christie: Sure Christie's Son: But you went to the [University of] Delaware and turned out okay. Chris Christie: You're absolutely right. But I had to work a lot harder. That's the difference.
In this quote, Christie perfectly summarized the advantage that highly selective schools provide. It can be as simple as getting called for an interview among many with similar qualifications. I saw this myself, having attended the University of Kansas and later MIT for graduate school. I was still the same person but there was a notable difference in career opportunities afterwards.
In two particular fields, management consulting and finance, the advantages go far beyond just getting a second look. Since both fields hire a small number of people, they concentrate their hiring where the talent pool is deepest. Those are the elite universities and liberal arts colleges. Students who attend those colleges have multiple advantages. First, there are often specialized clubs on campus teaching students the skills needed for these jobs. Second, the companies come to campus to recruit, promoting social interaction before the interview process starts. Finally, there are numerous alumni at these companies willing to help guide students through the interview process.
But don’t go for “prestige”
Please don’t apply to or join an elite college because of name recognition or prestige. Once you get past the career advantages mentioned above, nobody really cares. And going for name recognition means that you miss a lot of great colleges. Williams College has much less recognition than say Dartmouth, but provide basically equivalent educations.
