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Lumifer comments on Open thread, Jul. 18 - Jul. 24, 2016 - Less Wrong
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Yes, they do.
There are basically three tiers: the elite (top 10-12 schools), the middle (top 50-100 or so), and the don't-bother (the rest).
This may be true if you want to go into research or in primarily reputation-based fields like politics and law. In engineering or technology, you'll be totally fine and get a reasonable job with a degree from other universities. Maybe in the US it's not worth the fees, but that's a different matter and does not apply in many countries.
To clarify, what I meant was: Are the famous, top n, or <exceptional metric here> places for education do provide a substantially better outcome for their students on average in comparison to less exceptional ones?
Sure, but the question wasn't what would get you a reasonable job. The question was whether graduates from top schools have "better prospects" than graduates from no-name schools and yes, they do.
I think the real question is whether they have better prospects given their level of ability and that's harder to assess.
True, though I think the real question is "better by how much" :-) If, given the ability, the top schools provide no better prospects, then (a) The common advice of "go to the best school which accepts you" is misguided and (2) the top schools have been running a marvelously successful con for decades and even centuries.
The answer to the question "do I get anything valuable from going to a better university?" might of course differ according to what it is you value; e.g., it could turn out that the "best" ones do a better job of preparing you for academic research but are no better for your out-of-academia career prospects, or vice versa.
(As it happens, I agree with you that they probably do have genuine advantages whether you're looking to maximize learning, future job prospects, useful contacts, or whatever.)
The question was also if the effort is wasted. I agree that the prospects are better at a top school, but that's not the same as "don't bother".
Is there a list?
It somewhat depends on the specialty, but standard college rankings will get you into the ballpark. Look at things like selectivity (% of applicants offered admission) and the distribution of standardized test scores for students.