> The top ten institutions in this group accounted for only 19 percent of the entire sample.

These top 10 institutions (3.5% of 287) supply almost 20% of the founders of tech startups. It's nice to know that it's not a requirement but what did people actually expect? I think that 20% is still pretty damn good for these schools. Higher than I would have expected. There's nothing magical about a school that makes you successful.

> Of the Ivy graduates, 28.6% ranked these networks as important.

Ivy schools will attract those who attribute great value to such networks.

And in other news, botanists like plants and fish like water.

Number of times author mentioned he went to Harvard: 4

I find that with Harvard alumni, I usually know they went to Harvard within five minutes of meeting them. And I'm not typically doing the asking.

My more cynical Harvard friends say that you can always spot the Harvard alumni because they learn that the polite thing to say is "I went to school in Boston".

If you say you went to Harvard, people's attitudes and interactions often immediately shift, in ways that sometimes can be overtly uncomfortable (other times the changes are subtler). The subsequent conversation often then feels less genuine: some sort of odd barrier has been erected; everything you say is filtered through "oh, so that's how Harvard students think" etc.

I don't think it requires any cynicism to understand why people prefer quiet indirection, and it's really less about "being polite" and more about "trying to relate as people unfiltered by prejudice". Not sure that's quite coherent, but maybe it helps in some way?

It does make sense. It is simply odd the baggage which seems to come with the Harvard name, something which you acquire at 18 and yet seems to follow you and define you more than any other institution I can think of.

I've heard an MIT grad say the same thing.

You can always tell when a person is from Harvard, but you can't tell them much.

He also works there

Couldn't get a job elsewhere eh?

I think we've already had this discussion.

Duplicate: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=900086

Not a duplicate exactly, but carrying the same message.