Sociologist Lauren Rivera of Northwestern spent two years researching the way elite financial and law firms really select their new hires. The original paper is behind a sciencedirect paywall, but Bryan Caplan has a nice write-up about the results. You're much better off with a degree from a tippy-top school than just any Ivy -- but they don't actually care about what you learned there. Your grades don't matter that much as long as they're not bad. Climbing a famous mountain or making a varsity team, especially if you're nationally competitive, would be wise. And oh yeah -- they do care what you got on your SATs. More reax from the Chronicle of Higher Ed and physicist Steve Hsu.
posted by escabeche on Nov 20, 2011 - 152 comments

Inspired by photographer T. Hayashida's book Take Ivy, a collection of images of (largely white) Ivy-league students of the 1960s, style bloggers Joshua Kissi and Travis Gumbs of Street Etiquette reimagine the book as The Black Ivy, where the race lines are flipped and the dapper dial is cranked up to 11.
posted by emilyd22222 on Sep 19, 2010 - 21 comments

Give it up for The Cramps and The Gun Club. Two of the greatest bands to come out of the late 1970s/early 1980s punk scene, they (wikis here and here) shared a few things in common: guitarist Kid Congo Powers as well as a penchant for re-invigorating the raucous, carnal, primal spirit of American popular music--i.e. early garage rock and rockabilly (what the Cramps dubbed "psychobilly") and blues. Start with this screamer from The Cramps, and this blistering classic from the GC's first LP. [more inside]
posted by ornate insect on May 5, 2008 - 48 comments

Second-tier colleges become first-tier colleges. First-tier colleges become fairy tales that New York Times contributors tell their kids about.
posted by geoff. on May 16, 2007 - 139 comments