Harvard Graduates Courted After Graduation By Alumni Association

[From article]
Somehow Harvard students are marked for life. Faust hinted at it. They sense it. But there is a fundamental paradox in Harvard’s vision of success: its inconceivable opportunities are often predictable, the supposed flexibility of its expansive network confining. Successful Harvard grads follow well-tread paths that lead from campus to New York, Hollywood, and across the globe. If they go where the existing university network shapes their trajectory, it is too easy to remain within the Harvard bubble—obscuring the possibilities that exist outside of it.

[. . .]

Harvard maintains its strongest presence along the East Coast—55 percent of the 2013 graduating class reported relocating there, according to The Crimson’s Senior Survey. And New York may well be the one city where Harvard maintains a presence comparable to that of Boston: 13.5 percent of the Class of 2012 left for the Big Apple after Commencement, according to that year’s Senior Survey.

[. . .]

Jeff F. Solnet ’12, a former president of the Institute of Politics, started building his D.C network as an undergraduate coordinator for the organization’s “Summer in Washington” program,” connecting students working in D.C. for the summer with alumni in the city. 

[. . .]

affiliation with a university alone usually means almost nothing in Hollywood, where success is aided not by where you went but by who you know.

[. . .]

“Why shouldn’t you work with people that you think are talented and that you like and that you’re familiar with? Hopefully not at the cost of other types of diversity, but, you know….”

[you mean like people who went to other schools?]

[. . .]

It’s hard because Harvard’s not super conducive to helping you find any opportunities in the realm of public service,” she says.

[you mean to say that Obama is not doing public service?]

[. . .]

But this uneven perception is largely a result of unequal recruitment strategies across professions, says OCS Director Robin Mount. The most visible are those of the Fortune 500 companies who approach Harvard to recruit on campus in batches, willing to pay high price-tags that other industries cannot match.

[. . .]

“There are a lot of things Harvard students don’t learn to do that most other college students do—like pay your bills, cook a meal, and clean your bathroom.”

[. . .]

“The world really—excuse my French—does not give a whatever about what university I went to,” he says. “What are the real, substantive contributions you’re going to make? The fact that I went to Harvard might open a door, but then keeping that door open—you can’t just rely on Harvard.”

[This last comment is especially true. During my brief career in what is now called the IT field, I found the true geniuses went to small colleges and to state universities, and some had no degree at all.]  

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2014/2/6/networking-after-harvard-scrutiny/

Club Harvard
The Postgraduate Social Network
By DELPHINE RODRIK,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
February 6, 2014