Do you have children? Would you like any of them to go to an Ivy League school? I think an Ivy League education provides post-graduate benefits in terms of connections and job offers. At least, that’s what I have been told - by friends who went to Ivy League schools.
I have 2 in college, and I refused to have them even apply to my “alma maters” or other Ivies or Stanford. Today I think what you study and how you do is more important than where you go. When admissions were overwhelmingly based on academic merit and academic subjects were still properly taught, I think there was an advantage. Now, I think people have become skeptical of “elite institutions” and their graduates.
Let me add that they may well end up in “elite institutions” for graduate school in science or engineering. “Elite” in that context includes schools that are not normally thought of as “elite”, but professionals understand where the best programs are.
How many presidents have been Ivy league? But in some cases, it’s chicken/egg.
The reputations of these Ivy League schools are really based on their graduate programs -- Harvard and Yale for law, Cornell for medicine, the University of Pennsylvania for business, etc. And for some disciplines the Ivy League schools aren't even the best in the country at any level ... like engineering, for example, where schools like MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Georgia Tech have better reputations than any of the Ivies.
Your friend is correct. Graduating from certain schools definitely gives you a leg up and connections. In Boston, being a graduate of Boston College has it’s benefits.