The Student Makes the University

If you ask most Americans to name the ten most prestigious colleges and universities, you'll get a fairly uniform list of perhaps twenty schools. There might be some regional variance, some hometown pride, but for the most part the list is agreed upon.

This becomes more interesting at the local level. I live in a particular bubble in the East Bay, which exists within a larger bubble of the Bay Area. Within my corner of the world, that universal top ten exists, but there's another ten that's more locally flavored. The denizens of our bubble, affectionately known as "Lamorinda," are generally very successful in their fields and have come from a cross-section of schools. Sure, there is some overlap with the national list, but these folks produce a top ten of their own, one that's distinctly local. In our neck of the woods, Land Grant Universities figure prominently.

The power of these lists is undeniable. I have seen students choose colleges based on social value over actual fit. Students are reckoning with two things at once: a future overindexed on the college decision for its impact on their careers, and a journey of identity. Communities like ours have dangerously conflated the two. "Who am I?" asks the high school senior. "I am a _____ student," they answer, as if the university bestows identity upon them.

The other day, a friend told me that in Germany they have a saying: "The student makes the university." We have forgotten that. Or rather, flipped it. In our pockets of the world, we believe the university makes the student.

This is not in our DNA. It is passed down through the generations. It was passed down to me, and I made a vow not to burden my children the same way.

This internal conflict resurfaces every year when the rankings come out. I admit I look to see if my college is on the list. I even feel a flicker of personal responsibility, as if I have contributed to its ranking. This year, though, I noticed something different.

LinkedIn published its Top Colleges 2026: the 50 Best Colleges for Long-Term Career Success. My school was on it; I found it through alums sharing the notice. But what excited me was not that. It was how many schools I would not have expected. Schools that appear on neither the national list nor the local one. Schools that will surprise you.

This list is a reminder: the student makes the university. We do our children a real service when we help them find where they will actually thrive, not where the list says they should want to go. People will always make lists. It is in our nature to try to measure what resists measurement. But no ranking is going to tell a seventeen-year-old who they are. That answer comes from the inside. The school gets to be in the room when it happens.