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The Dartmouth
July 10, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

A College By Any Other Name?

I have a confession: I came to Dartmouth partly because of its prestige. I appreciate that it is a member of a remarkably well-known group of universities. I enjoy that people have heard of it and are impressed when I tell them that I go to Dartmouth. This is not the only reason I came here; it is not even the primary reason. I love the atmosphere, the D-Plan, the class sizes, etc. Among all of these incentives to attend Dartmouth, though, is also prestige. In a recent column ("The Problem with Prestige," Oct. 22), Yoo Jung Kim '14 states that prestige is "often arbitrary, subjective and dependent on conventional wisdom." In reality, though, colleges obtain international prestige through years of academic excellence, and in the real world, this reputation matters.

Kim makes the straw-man argument that "attending Dartmouth, or any other Ivy institution for that matter, is not a guarantee of future accomplishments." Obviously not every Ivy League graduate is handed a million dollar check upon graduation. No reasonable individual would argue that an Ivy League education guarantees future success. But it certainly helps. Just look at one of Dartmouth's commonly stated facts when recruiting applicants: Dartmouth graduates have one of the highest median incomes of any college 10 years after graduation. This is not because Dartmouth gives us such an incredible education that we are far superior to our competitors (though for the most part, we are). It is because when an employer looks at your resume and sees that you went to Dartmouth, you have already done something impressive: gotten in and graduated.

Dartmouth also has an excellent alumni network that allows students to find employment. While prestige is not the only reason Dartmouth grads get jobs, it is also a contributing factor.This self-selecting process makes the job of an employer that much easier. Forbes' "Top Colleges For Getting Rich" top five are Dartmouth, Princeton University, Stanford University, Yale University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all notable, prestigious schools. Rather than comparing studies, though, just think about why this makes sense. If you graduated from one of these institutions with adequate grades, the employer knows that you will be a competent worker. This is why it matters to be known.

Prestige is not something as my fellow columnist would have you believe that is arbitrarily ascribed to random colleges throughout the country. Rather, colleges become prestigious because they consistently provide excellent academic environments and churn out intelligent, well-rounded graduates. Kim chose the word prestige because of its negative connotation of snobbishness. In reality, though, we are talking about reputation. When we (hopefully) graduate from Dartmouth, we will wear our school's reputation on our sleeves. When prospective employers see our resumes they will first notice that we graduated from Dartmouth College and will know that we are competent based on Dartmouth's reputation.

Sometimes, it can be awkward to say that you go to Dartmouth. Most of us have had that uncomfortable conversation when you say you go to Dartmouth and the other person claims that you must be some sort of genius. I am not saying we should accept the person's statement and proclaim ourselves geniuses to every person we meet. We can, on the other hand, recognize that Dartmouth is a nationally renowned institution and be proud of that fact. We should not feel shame that people believe we are intelligent and go to an excellent school. Nor should we boast about it and tell it to everyone we meet. Rather, we should be humble while accepting Dartmouth's reputation.

Like it or not, prestige matters. A school's reputation can go a long way for graduates as can a solid alumni network. People know Dartmouth for the same reason we wanted to come here: It's a really good school. Therefore, as Dartmouth students, we should embrace our school's prestige. When we get out into the workforce, our employers probably will.