You will need excellent grades to enter a good college." These were words that I lived by throughout my youth. They told of the expectations my family has set for me. Two of my cousins had obtained honor degrees from Cambridge University and my parents expect that I follow the same tracks to a promising future: by entering a prominent university. Consequently, my envious mind has constantly stimulated and encouraged me to study hard to realize this dream. But does graduation from an elite college indeed guarantee a brighter future? While it is hard to answer this question with absolute certainty, I believe that studying at a prestigious school, in many ways, does affect one's future successes.
This is an issue hotly and widely debated by parents whose children are ready to enter college. The New York Times Job Hunting Survey in July 2003, suggested that students who graduate from prestigious colleges are more likely to have better career choices than those from second-echelon colleges. In other words, degrees from celebrated universities do contribute to successful job hunts. But would this be the reason that many students are willing to struggle and to take all steps necessary to enter elite universities? I believe there are several explanations to confirm that this may be true.
First, our society achieves the consensus that students in highly competitive colleges have been selected based on an almost-crystalline meritocracy. These students are assumed to have taken the initiatives to work tirelessly and to achieve a great deal during their teenage years. Their admission implied that they had proven their capacity to excel and the motivation to overcome difficulties, and in the end, have stood out in competition against countless others. In turn, given their outstanding achievements, these students may have greater confidence in job hunting or in starting their own businesses. On the other hand, students in second-tier schools may often be perceived as not being as determined to compete and thus not as prepared to meet tough challenges.
