[...] surrounded by more interesting people and get first dibs at the most interesting job opportunities (even though we bend over backwards to convince ourselves this is not true), those who stand out in their entry level jobs then get the most interesting promotions, and so [...]

[...] surrounded by more interesting people and get first dibs at the most interesting job opportunities (even though we bend over backwards to convince ourselves this is not true), those who stand out in their entry level jobs then get the most interesting promotions, and so [...]

[...] Sigma notes Study Hacks agrees completely: I don’t know why reporters sometimes seem so desperate to discount the value of wanting to [...]

you seem to assume that the goals of students should be to attend the schools which will maximize their future incomes

Where do I assume that? My post shows how this study is miscited and speculates why these miscitations occur so often.

In fact, I even go so far as to state in my conclusion:

It’s not my role to judge your ambitions. Instead, I focus on helping you pursue your educational goals — whatever they are — in a sustainable manner.

I think it is possible that like the reporters misciting Kruger, you’re seeing the boogey man argument you want to see…

I turned down Yale after getting in early action, Dartmouth after receiving a likely letter and plane tickets to visit for their admitted students’ weekend, and Williams after receiving a full scholarship that would have funded both my undergraduate and graduate studies. To Dartmouth and Yale I received nearly 100% financial aid.

Instead, I am at UNC-Chapel Hill, having the time of my life and learning more than ever. And if I make a little less money twenty years from now, that’s ok. That was never my priority. And it should rarely be the main consideration for high school students.

thus, the mean pay is much higher than the median pay (a right skewed log-normal distribution with a very long tail.

Right, I agree. When I said “cap,” I wasn’t referring to income taxes, just the property of a normal distribution that values far from the mean are, effectively, unobtainable.

A good example is pharmacy. It is a fix figure job and now requried a pharm.D. However, all th employer needs is a pharmaicst that is licensed. Having a degree from a top tier school (not that any of them have pharmacy schools) is all a person needs to get a job. Attending the University of Michigan Pharmacy school or the University of Texas does not get anyone a higher pay check or a better job. The same applies to becoming a Nurse Anesthetist (a six figure job where a graduate of Incarnate Word University gets the same as everyone else. In those fields, the mean pay and the median pay are the same and the pay for pharmacist is normally distributed (bell curve). The difference in pay has to to with year experience, management, or speciality such as oncology.

However, look at majority in Drama. Unless you are at an Ivy league such as Yale, NYU, or USC, you are probably wasting your time. Most SAG members make almost nothing but a few make tens of millions. thus, the mean pay is much higher than the median pay (a right skewed log-normal distribution with a very long tail.

Paying Harvard prices to go to Dental School or to become a dentist is a waste of time.

Okay, now I see what you’re saying. I agree. This is a good point. Don’t sweat the Ivy League if you’re interested in a career with a fixed income caps.

Look at going to law schools. A large number of graduates never practice and many who do graduate end up working for middle class pay as government attorneys, family lawyers, etc. But a few lawyers get very rich. Thus the mean is going to be much higher than the median. If one gets into Harvard or Georgetown, one should think about law school.

However, a Dentist gets the same reimbursement from the insurance company whether they went to Harvard of Suny-Buffalo. Paying Harvard prices to go to Dental School or to become a dentist is a waste of time. The credential does not generate more income. One can go to directional state university and become a pharmacist, speech pathologist, or physical therapist and make six figures. However, those programs are usually not offer at elite universities.