jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
You are right on point except for the car/mortgage part.
Graduate degrees from elite schools, do we underestimate them?
- Thread starter jsupop33
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You are right on point except for the car/mortgage part.
SUJagFan
Well-Known Member
I wonder how that compares to someone who went to Podunk University and got a job starting at 40K. After taxes, insurance, rent, car note and so forth, would it be fair to say they take home ... 20K? 30K?
I'm not a math genius, but it seems like taking home 100K is a little different than taking home 30K. :noidea:
I'm not a math genius, but it seems like taking home 100K is a little different than taking home 30K. :noidea:
Da Sleeper
Well-Known Member
It's still who you know. When you look at the numbers O.K. a prof. walked one guy in to an cong. aid job. How many didn't get walked in to a great job.
I'll tell you at sTu we have scandal and drama, but we also have some people on the yard with some connections. I am a product of the Dr. P. Slade era, she personally recruited me to the School of Business when she was dean. She instilled in me a desire to obtaing the finer tings. :lol: When I graduated she asked me where I wanted to work. She walked me in the front door of a Houston based fortune 100 compay of my choice. After Sept, 11 I took a buy out to relocate and contacts at TSU walked me into my next job with a Fortune 250.
All of this to say don't think the access to power and privilage is not available at our HBCU's just because I wasn't available to you. Maybe you were not focused in undergrad and seeking to roads to early success. What was your role in not knowing the powers that be when you were in undergrad?
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
Sleeper, if they were there, I don't remember seeing them. Maybe I was blind and I definitely didn't see it to that level. Let me ask you this. Condeleeza Rice is now on staff at Stanford. An immediate past Secretary of State, do you think the person you have in that position at TSU now can make the same phonecalls that Condi can? Larry Summers was a Treasury Secretary before heading to Harvard. Those connections are real. I am not saying that every school doesn't have it fair share of connections, hopefully they do.
However, I have not seen the average schools pushing kids into positions of power and influence in their 20's. Atleast here in DC.
Heck, the only reason that John Wilson got the Executive Director of the HBCU office job is because of his time at MIT.
CEE DOG
Well-Known Member
You folks kill me bragging on these schools. I guess I am not impressed for one, I have two close friends, notice I did not say associates who went to Alabama A&M with me , majored in Physics who have charge rates of 150 a hour. :emlaugh: Now I am not a genius, but I do know they got their under grad, masters and one has a PHD from AAMU in physics making over 250K a year. Might I add they went to school for free with no student loans. They have been contracting on their on for at least 10 years and yes one is 38 and the other 40. Ivy leagues don't impress me. Making it on your on impresses me. Ok 250K in Huntsville versus 250K in DC or the North any where for that matter. :emlaugh: I don't go by impressions, I go by reality. Don't sleep on these blacks who went to AAMU Pops. They doing it big in Huntsville. Don't let these white folks fool you.
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jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
Oh, when it comes to STEM fields, I agree with you completely. In the policy/political sector, those elite schools are killing it. I know some lobbyist breaking a a million a year right now.
buckwheat
Well-Known Member
True! I have friends here in the DC area that got their degrees from HBCU's. One went to NC A&T undergrad/MBA Morgan. Her husband went to NCCU undergrad/Morgan MBA and are making millions with their consulting company. I have some other friends that graduated from FAMU that have their own consulting company also. I could name other people that I know that went to HBCU's in the area also. It's all about your hustle and doesn't really depend on where you went to school. Pop's, don't believe all the hype about IVY league.
Pops yes those schools have Market value, but as some one pointed out they still do not hold clout in Texas against the Texas A&M's and Baylors. In DC, Ivy League and the DC private school grads (GWU, Georgetown, and American) are in charge. That is where you want to be, so you need to go after those degrees. Does that mean, that some one from the University of Timbuktu can't get a DC government job? No it does not.The problem with us is we fail to capitlize and realize the importance of "true" networking as an undergrad. Most of the TSU cats who are doing well from within my inner circle alone are where they are because they understood the power of networking as an undergrad through conferences and other TSU related events. Heck Andrell Harris from JSU is a prime example. Everytime I was with him, he was having Mason introduce him to someone. Some people called him a suck up, but the brother knew the value of networking and is doing pretty well for himself because of it. I think you were at JSU while he was there. He knew who had connections on yall's campus and took advantage of every opportunity JSU afforded him. That's how most of my inner circle was and still is. We tend to live by the mantra of "do your job, gain knowledge, but stay on a networking hustle". I am sure this sister did the same while she was at Vandy because Peabody College of Ed is one of the best policy ed schools in the country. A lot of top notch policy advisors take faculty visiting fellowships there. Yes going to Harvard helped her, but I would be willing to bet she got where she is by her connections and networking more than anything.
I am thankful for the connections I made at Texas A&M and so far at U of A, but my connections from my internship with the CIA and through TSU have gotten me where I am today more than the other two institutions. I actually chose U of A over GW (George Washington) because I no longer wanted to go into educational policy or work in DC. I knew I wanted to work at a public university so a degree from U of A would help me out in the long run better than that GW degree (plus GW's fellowships for doctoral programs suck). You have to consider your long term goals and/or your profession when really considering the market value of those degrees. Since you want to work in Educational Policy at the Fed Level in DC, yes a Ivy League degree is valuable, even though I think you could achieve your goals without one. However, for someone like me who is wants to work in administration, not so much. Higher Ed faculty members do not believe Harvard Education grads carry much weight and will tell you if you want an Ivy League Masters or Doctorate go to UPenn. So my answer to your question is - it depends on your profession/field and know that networking will always win out at the end of the day.
PS - Yes most of the President's and Cabinet members have been Ivy League grads, however, is that really saying much? The US has continually been on a downward spiral. Maybe we need to give an HBCU grad or a non-Ivy League grad a chance to run the country and see how they do. Just to play devil's advocate....
I am thankful for the connections I made at Texas A&M and so far at U of A, but my connections from my internship with the CIA and through TSU have gotten me where I am today more than the other two institutions. I actually chose U of A over GW (George Washington) because I no longer wanted to go into educational policy or work in DC. I knew I wanted to work at a public university so a degree from U of A would help me out in the long run better than that GW degree (plus GW's fellowships for doctoral programs suck). You have to consider your long term goals and/or your profession when really considering the market value of those degrees. Since you want to work in Educational Policy at the Fed Level in DC, yes a Ivy League degree is valuable, even though I think you could achieve your goals without one. However, for someone like me who is wants to work in administration, not so much. Higher Ed faculty members do not believe Harvard Education grads carry much weight and will tell you if you want an Ivy League Masters or Doctorate go to UPenn. So my answer to your question is - it depends on your profession/field and know that networking will always win out at the end of the day.
PS - Yes most of the President's and Cabinet members have been Ivy League grads, however, is that really saying much? The US has continually been on a downward spiral. Maybe we need to give an HBCU grad or a non-Ivy League grad a chance to run the country and see how they do. Just to play devil's advocate....
+1
and I concur with what Buckwheat said too Pops. There are a lot of HBCU grads (even SWAC grads) doing well for themselves within the government in DC. Don't let the Ivy League hype fool you. They have plenty of people unemployed just like other graduates institutions. Again, our schools have connections, our graduates just do not take advantage of them. Good conversation though Pops.
The Founder
Well-Known Member
Not if your dream is to be a teacher.
The Founder
Well-Known Member
That's because people who attend Ivy League schools have no true connection with reality as far as being "working middle class" or "poor." I would love to see a FEW...not ONE...study of the poor attending Ivy League schools. My cousin graduated from Harvard Med School and is now a Cancer Surgeon at UNC. His wife went to Law School at Indiana. Now they rarely come home because they feel the community does not represent them...damn sellouts.
96lioness
QUEEN LIONESS!!!
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
TSU,
Andrell is a good friend of mine also. A lot of people don't like dude but I think he is a business genius. He has the business-first 24/7 mindset and I respect that. I am getting to that business-first mindset myself. I went to a public school for my Master's. I am not going to an Ivy League school for my PHD but George Washington is a big possibility.
Also let's not get getting a job in the government and getting a high profile job in the govt confused. I work in the federal gov't. Anyone can get a job where I am currently at. Very few people will ever get the opportunity to even interview for a job at Zakiya's level.
Andrell is a good friend of mine also. A lot of people don't like dude but I think he is a business genius. He has the business-first 24/7 mindset and I respect that. I am getting to that business-first mindset myself. I went to a public school for my Master's. I am not going to an Ivy League school for my PHD but George Washington is a big possibility.
Also let's not get getting a job in the government and getting a high profile job in the govt confused. I work in the federal gov't. Anyone can get a job where I am currently at. Very few people will ever get the opportunity to even interview for a job at Zakiya's level.
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
People should be free to live their life like they want to man. I rarely go home to visit my family also. I haven't seen my grandmother in 3 years and some of my aunts and uncles in much longer time period than that. Not because I feel the community doesn't represent me, hell, I just stay busy and don't feel like spending a wad of cash to run home. My fiance is the opposite, she runs home everytime someone in her family has something.
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
Conde got a master's at Notre Dame and there was a bit of luck in her case, her professor was the father of future Secretary of State Madeliene Albright. Come on now son..
Buck, you missing the point. There are plenty of people doing it big from all over the place. I am just saying the people I see on top tend to come from elite schools. Case in point, The Secretary of Education Arne Duncan only has a bachelor's degree from Harvard. He got a million and one PHD's working for him. When Rod Paige had the job, he had to have a PHD.
jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
Paying 200k for a degree that will net you low pay is not a good ROI.
Pops I think you're missing the fact that, while getting an IVY league or any education is important, but if you look @ the
familes many top people in top spots come from, they were already @ the top before they even attended school.
They had money already and postions waiting on them.
You can find that even @ the local level.
It's just mainly people like us or @ atleast people like me, that have to fight to shatter the glass ceiling.
Sure Obama worked hard to get there, do you think Bush jr. worked as hard?
Now I have personal friends who graduated Harvard Law school and guess what? You never heard of them.
Family connections, Hardwork, Education, Timining, who you know, all roads can lead to Rome.
Even with the top degrees you can still lose a spot to someone with so-called lesser degrees if they
are better connected than you.
familes many top people in top spots come from, they were already @ the top before they even attended school.
They had money already and postions waiting on them.
You can find that even @ the local level.
It's just mainly people like us or @ atleast people like me, that have to fight to shatter the glass ceiling.
Sure Obama worked hard to get there, do you think Bush jr. worked as hard?
Now I have personal friends who graduated Harvard Law school and guess what? You never heard of them.
Family connections, Hardwork, Education, Timining, who you know, all roads can lead to Rome.
Even with the top degrees you can still lose a spot to someone with so-called lesser degrees if they
are better connected than you.
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jsupop33
Loyalty & Respect
good point Tony,\
to pivot the question.
What does it take to get on a Barack Obama level, a Condeleeza Rice level, a Susan Rice level, a Colin Powell level, a Rod Paige level, a Ron Brown level, a Douglas Wilder level?
How does a brother make it to the top? Is it simply a combination hardwork, blessings, and luck.
I don't know. I feel the fact that I am a country guy from small-town MS forces me to work super harder to get respect. I sit around and see a bunch of these young established cats being groomed for positions of power and I try to figure out how can I get the spot they are going for. Right now, the only thing I know is work and hustle.
to pivot the question.
What does it take to get on a Barack Obama level, a Condeleeza Rice level, a Susan Rice level, a Colin Powell level, a Rod Paige level, a Ron Brown level, a Douglas Wilder level?
How does a brother make it to the top? Is it simply a combination hardwork, blessings, and luck.
I don't know. I feel the fact that I am a country guy from small-town MS forces me to work super harder to get respect. I sit around and see a bunch of these young established cats being groomed for positions of power and I try to figure out how can I get the spot they are going for. Right now, the only thing I know is work and hustle.
96lioness
QUEEN LIONESS!!!
In most cases, it is better to work hard and pray and earn your position than to know how to get to the spot where these young cats are. You and I know that most times people will cut throats, lie, connive, manipulate to get to a high place. And you know how you should regard people who are power hungry and those in high places.
And it is nothing wrong with hard work at getting respect.
True which is why I said that is not saying much about Ivy League grads in those high profile positions (President and Cabinet positions). They US Govt has been losing it's luster for the past twenty years while being controlled by Ivy League grads. I was not refering to entry level or GS -8 positions Pop lol. And as Tony pointed out most of those Ivy Leaguers are going to be what they are with or without those degrees (Bush is a prime example). Again, not knocking the degree, but I would want to know the 27 year olds background as well. What family connections did she already have?
Ps - GW is a great program and a great school. From the goals you have expressed on this board, their ed policy program is for you.
+1 - Keep doing what you are doing Pop - you will get where you want to be in due season.
Tigerpride
THE Logical ONE
I think for a graduate degree, you do need a name behind the degree if you are just starting out. IF you went back to school mid-career, it may not matter as much.
Also, it depends on the field. Someone from Harvard or Princeton would mean nothing to me if I was looking for a scientist/engineer. I think those are great places for business and liberal arts degrees.
...and POPS (since you started this thread), you are in a "kiss-azz" field so yes you need all the superficial superlatives you can muster.
...and I have never heard of an SEC degree having any academic respect outside of the norm. Learn something new every day.
Also, it depends on the field. Someone from Harvard or Princeton would mean nothing to me if I was looking for a scientist/engineer. I think those are great places for business and liberal arts degrees.
...and POPS (since you started this thread), you are in a "kiss-azz" field so yes you need all the superficial superlatives you can muster.
...and I have never heard of an SEC degree having any academic respect outside of the norm. Learn something new every day.
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You’re asking a question similar to;
What does it take to get to the NBA, NFL etc etc
I’m sure you could tell me.
BUT
I bet you know nba, and nfl caliber athletes that never
Made the league. Why?
How did Obama become president?
Review his story and see if his life his journey could be duplicated
By you or anyone else.
Pops only few people ever reach these levels
It’s possible tho. Even if not probable
I won’t call names but I’ve met 2 super famous
People, who you see every day in the media
I met them before they were famous
They are some of the richest and most famous people
Out here. So anything can happen believe that.
But KNOW
Opportunity favors the prepared mind
And having high goals is great
But is it the goal you want
Or is it the happiness you think obtaining that goal will
Bring?
what is the your
Ultimate goal? To have Power? To have lots of money
To be happy?
All of that being said Keep trying, keeping trying
Different methods, and all of the traditional ones, network
Etc etc
The job that will make you the most happy may not even exist
Right now. KEEP GOING!!
Remember you can’t find Gold in a Silver mine
Find a Gold mine and dig, dig dig!!!!!!
Why are you even in Washington anyway?
This may be where your answers lie?
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