HYP ug, class of 2008. i'm good friends with all of them. I will give as much info as possible without outing them.
1. white male, summa cum laude and phi beta kappa junior year, nationally ranked debator, editor for school newspaper, won prizes in model un, 179 lsat, yale law, currently at a prestigious litigation firm in D.C.
2. Asian male, applied math, around 3.8 gpa, magna cum laude, bulge bracket banking for 2 years focusing on tech/media/telecom, megafund PE for 3 years, now a first-year at HBS/Stanford.
3. white male, economics, magna cum laude, top 5 econ phd, just started as an assistant prof at a top 20 university. does consulting work on the side for private sector clients. only one of us 4 who is married. wife went to college with us, a solid 7 white chick.
EDIT: I was the only guy between us who did NOT get perfect 1600 SAT. I also went to the crappiest high school as well. 1 of my roommates was a national presidential scholar (only 1 guy and 1 girl chosen from each state), 2 of them were coca cola national scholars (about 50 each year), and all of us were national merit scholars and high school valedictorians.
i'm the least accomplished amongst my roommates. I felt pretty insecure at the 5th year reunion. yes, they are all quite happy with how their lives have turned out so far.
EDIT: the Asian guy is the least happiest between us.
Date: November 26th, 2013 11:02 PM Author: big famous landscape painting ratface
good to hear man. sorry you feel insecure. i'm sure they feel that way with each other a bit too cause we all feel like impostors inside some of the time
#1 was easily one of the most popular and alpha guys at our college. almost everyone in our class knew him, he was super smart but not geeky, very outgoing.
Date: November 27th, 2013 12:46 AM Author: histrionic up-to-no-good philosopher-king bbw
I have a hard time believing that 1 and 2 will be washed out. I know these guys well; all of them have been fucking winners their entire lives. success after success, nothing but net. although I agree with you that life is a marathon, super successful people tend to stay that way due to natural talent, work ethic, raw ambition, and other qualities that make them winners.
Date: November 27th, 2013 2:44 AM Author: trip temple headpube
EDIT: If 3 had landed at a top 5 university, he would've won by far.
3 could basically be done being forced to strive, unless his department is a real hard-ass about tenure. 3 probably makes ~$120k base (from his school, might make lots more from the consulting) working whatever hours he wants.
But since he's in the tier below the best, he probably has ambitions to get poached by the top tier, so he'll feel compelled to strive.
Date: November 27th, 2013 2:51 AM Author: trip temple headpube
Definitely. It's much harder to become an econ prof. I think it's fair to say that most people who enter finance as a quant from UG or grad school are people who realized at some point they wouldn't make it to being a professor.