""If you're interested in succeeding in an educational institution, you never want to be in the bottom half of your class. It's too hard," Gladwell told podcast host Minhaj. "So you should go to Harvard if you think you can be in the top quarter of your class at Harvard. That's fine. But don't go there if you're going to be at the bottom of class. Doing STEM? You're just gonna drop out.""
"For all of Gen Z's interest in pursuing trades as they navigate fears of AI displacing entry-level workers, STEM degrees remain a key ticket to secure white-collar employment. According to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York analysis released in July 2025 about job market conditions for recent college graduates, degrees in animal and plant sciences, and earth sciences, as well as civil and aerospace engineering, are among the undergraduate majors with the lowest unemployment rates. To be sure, information systems and management, and computer science degrees, ranked among majors with the highest unemployment rates."
Attending an Ivy League for STEM can place students into intensely competitive cohorts where being in the bottom half makes academic success much harder and increases the likelihood of dropping out. Students should consider choosing institutions where they have a realistic shot at ranking in the top quarter of their class. STEM degrees continue to offer routes to white-collar employment, with animal and plant sciences, earth sciences, and civil and aerospace engineering showing relatively low unemployment for recent graduates, while information systems, management, and computer science report higher unemployment. Elite colleges retain high rankings on graduation rates and peer assessment.
Read at Fortune
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