I know that the world is totally different now but half a century ago, I was not accepted to an Ivy League school, so I went to a little-known school 1200 miles away from my home. With no connections except the friends I made in school, I got a job working on the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center. Yes, I did lag a bit behind those who went to better known schools or had family (nepotism) connections but I excelled and had an excellent 40 years working in our nation's space programs. When I retired last year, it seems to me that merit was still a powerful promoter of advancement, at least where I worked. Politics, something completely different.

TEK