Benito wanted me to pen another article on debt and relationships based on a date I had last night and the ensuing conversation I had with him. Obviously if I am talking to Benito at the end of the night it did not go well. Instead, I have decided to scoop him and write the follow-up to his Ivy Veil Post.  I should have written it in the first place because after all I am the one who peaked behind and paid the price of going back. I have more to offer than relationship advice, remember my motto: “I am NOT Lisa Scottoline.”

The catalyst for this post was a piece found at ATL (link before the break). The piece and the ensuing comments illustrated the peculiar plight of the ivy-unemployed, a secret previously as well kept as the private failings of our public figures before the late 60’s.

Let’s start at the beginning. Why are ivy-league kids in the breadline worse off than their non-ivy counterparts? Three reasons: debt, haters and shame. Ivy league kids are more likely to have alot of debt. After all if your parents are rich and well connected enough to shell out all that tuition money they can probably make some calls and find you a job.

Let’s also face facts. Alot of people really want to go to an ivy league school. Alot of those who don’t get in go on to have very successful lives and rise to positions of power. Many of these individuals take great pleasure in the misery and failure of the graduates of institutions they were not accepted to – particularly if they rationalized this lack of acceptance by attributing it to an immutable characteristic they did not possess but that s particular Ivy grad did. Yes Alpha Man usually it’s race. Bottom line- these individuals are not going to give you jobs.

I am not a psychotherapist but it doesn’t take one to see how an individual who has attended an elite institution that indoctrinates members to believe they are special, better than others because they have attended have additional feelings of failure and inadequacy when suddenly they don’t measure up but alot of individuals from “lesser” institutions do.  I will be the first to say THERE IS NOTHING SPECIAL about the ivy league. It’s also cold, arrogant and less attractive. But this phenomenon is not due to elitism. A non-ivy person loses or fails to gain a job and it’s like the USA fails to win the Gold in Hockey. For any ivy kid it’s failing to win the Gold in Basketball. You can’t tell me there isn’t a difference.

So what does all this mean? Am I saying don’t go to an Ivy school or that it’s not worth borrowing for? Not necessarily. It’s just a gamble folks, plain and simple. You bet big and you can lose big too, even bigger than the person who took a more conservative path, investing not only less money, but less time and less effort. Sacrifice is not a risk-free endeavor despite the conventional wisdom that education is the best investment you can make. An investment is always a gamble on an uncertain future. All you can know is what you are risking from this moment forward.