THe Elite School Scandal

As many of you are aware, a major scandal broke in which celebrities and other rich individuals have bribed college coaches, 'counselors' and SAT test-takers to help their children enter 'elite' colleges such as Harvard, Dartmouth and so forth.

At issue for me here is not the immoral lengths that some parents' went to secure their child's academic school, but the whole illusion and obsession that where you go to school somehow determines one's life.  It's a preposterous notion that only benefits the Ivy League and other 'elite' academies to get the best students to attend, while being harmful to students, parents, and society in general.

To give you a concrete example, the richest person I know was a retired businessman when I was growing up in Richardson, Texas.  With as much money as he made from selling his company, you might be mistaken in assuming he went to an Ivy League school, or perhaps one of the famous West Coast academies, or maybe JUST an elite public school like UT-Austin.  Nope.  Guess where he went - Texas Tech.

I have nothing against Texas Tech, but let's be blunt; it's better known for its football team than its academic prowess.  And yet, across the country, millions of very successful students attend 'average' universities like Texas Tech.  And there's several reasons for that:

1) The U.S. is home to HUNDREDS of great colleges.  With very minor exceptions, the vast majority of professions have success stories from every type of school.  You can get a great education at so-called 'average' schools that still provide amazing professors and resources.

2) Who you are as a person matters a lot more than the college you attended.  The reality is that while you can a great education almost anywhere, it really depends on how much YOU put into your education.  If you work hard, use the school's resources, network etc...you will benefit and do well with ANY college on your resume.  If you decide to party all four years, it won't matter that you attended Harvard.

3) The chicken and the egg problem - specifically, do students earn more money because they attended an elite academy or because they had personal qualities that made them more likely to succeed financially?  While there have been studies showing the Ivy League graduates do earn more than non-Ivy League students, there is no way to prove that Ivy League schools actually cause that income boost.  In all likelihood, these schools have a small but basically meaningless improvement in income.  What matters more is the quality of student these academies attract, and the career fields these student enter versus non Ivy-League students.

4) Many local schools are in fact "elite" in certain fields, and frankly superior to Ivy League schools.  For instance, if you are pursuing music as a career, you are wasting a lot of time and money attending Harvard.  You can make a lot more connections and get better training at so-called "average" universities like the University of Houston, Indiana University, and Florida State University, which all have GREAT music schools.  The same is true for most professions...SMU is known for its business school.  UT-Dallas has amazing facilties for the sciences.  The list goes on and on of 'average' institutions housing elite programs.  Even better, these 'average' colleges probably won't cause you to take on loads of debt!  Whereas unless you have a huge amount of financial or merit aid coming your way, attending those elite academies is extremely pricey.

5) If you define "success" solely as wealth, you are going to miss out on a lot.  I feel sorry, in a way, for these parents who are cheating for their kids.  If you value money so much that your child has to follow some prescribed path to success, you are going to raise a very stressed-out and anxious kid.  The Rat Race is fun for no one.

My advice to my voice students: Apply to 5-6 schools that you really like, and go where you won't incur a huge amount of debt.  And the rest will take care of itself if you work hard (and party less) during your college years!