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Thought this was fun --- here is a list of the alma maters of some well known and successful people:
Actors & Actresses:
Sandra Bullock East Carolina U (NC)
Dean Cain Princeton
Chevy Chase Bard
George Clooney Northern Kentucky U
Glenn Close, College of William and Mary
Kevin Costner, Calfornia State U, Fullerton
Harrison Ford, Ripon
Jodie Foster, Yale
Sara Gilbert, Yale
Katherine Hepburn, Bryn Mawr
James Earl Jones, Michican, Ann Arbor
Tommy Lee Jones, Harvard
John Malkovich, Illinois State U
Martin Mull, Rhode Island School of Design
Jamison Parker, Beloit
Brad Pitt, University of Missouri, Columbia
Christopher Reeve, Cornell,
Adam Sandler, New York
Arnold Schwarzenegger, University of Wisconisin, Superior
Sinbad, University of Denver
Sylvester Stallone, University of Miami (FL)
Meryl Streep, Vassar
Spencer Tracy, Ripon
Denzel Washington, fordham
Joanne Woodward, Sara Lawrence

Artists, Musicians and Filmmakers
Trace Capman, Colby
Natalie Cole, U of Mass, Amherst
Francis Ford Coppola, Hofstra
Spike Lee, Morehouse
Meatloaf, Amherst
ARthur Miller, U of Michican, Ann Arbor
Martin Scorcese, NYU
Stephen Sondheim, Williams
STeven Spielberg, Calif State U, Long Beach

I'm going to continue this on another page.

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 06:32 pm: Edit

This is good stuff..I wonder how Spielberg made him self in the film industry.

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 06:34 pm: Edit

Part II: Famous politicians and lawyers

Corazon Aquino, Mt. St. Vincent
Bill Clinton Georgetown
Hillary Clinton Wellesley
Clarance Darrow, Allegheny
Calvin Coolidge, Amherst
David Dinkins, Howard
Jesse Jackson, North Carolina A&T state
Thurgood Marshall, Howard
Richard Nixon, Whittier
Sam Nunn, Emory
Dan Quayle, DePauw
Clarence Thomas, Holy Cross

Television personalities:
Tom Brokaw, University of South Dakota
Johnny Carson, U of Nebraska
Katie Couric, U of Virginia
Phil Donahue, Notre Dame
Kathie Lee Gifford, ORal Robertts
Bryant Gumbel, Bates
Arsenio Hall, Kent State
Lisa Kudrow, Vassar
Ricci Lake, Ithaca
David Letterman, Ball State U
Ed McMahon, CAtholic U
Bill Moyers, University of North Texas
Deborah Norville, U of Georgia
Conan O'Brien, Harvard
Jane Pauley, Indiana
Willard Scott, American
Jerry Springer, Tulane
Alex Trebeck, University of Ottawa
Paula Zahn, Stephens College

Writers and journalists
Dave Barry, Haverford
Leo Buscaglia, USC
Tom Clancy, Loyola U (MD)
Ann Compton, Hollins
Annie Dillard, Hollins
Rioger Ebert, U of Illinois, URbana
Nikki Giovanni, Fisk
John Grishom, Missippi State
John Irving, U of New Hampshire
P,J, O'Rourke, Miami
James Michener, Swarthmore
Cokie Roberts, Wellsley
George Will, Trinity
Tom Wolfe, Washington and Lee

Other well known individuals:
Barbara Bush, Smith
Peter Coors (founder of Coors brewing) U of Denver
Michael Eisner (CEO of Disney) Denison
Joyce Elders (former surgeon general) Philander Smith College
Milton Friedman (economist) Rutgers
Alan Greenspan (Fed Board Chair) NYU
Huge Hefner, (playboy) U of Illinois
Lee Iaocca, Lehigh
Robert Jarvik (inventor of first artificial heart) Syracuse
STeve Jobs, Reed
Vernon Jordan, DePauw
Monica Lewinsky Lewis & Clark
Murray Lander (bagel co ceo) Quinnipiac
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, George Washington U
Carl Saga, U of Chicago
Howard Stern, Boston U
Donald Trump, U of Pennsylvania


The question: does the prestige of a school matter all that much in terms of your future career success?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 06:39 pm: Edit

Sirmoreau,
I think you hit the nail on the head - Spielberg MADE HIMSELF in the film industry, something everyone has to do in their career, no matter where they go to college.

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 07:17 pm: Edit

So true, it's not the college that makes the person, IT'S the person that makes the person! I'm going to go on a run, now, thanks for making me realize the insignificance of the "name" of a college. I'm disappointed to see NO uc's on the list though .

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 07:36 pm: Edit

Oh there are plenty of famous folks from UCs, I'm sure. Check out the university sites. That might provide some info. I'm sure Carolyn is just checking colleges as she has time or something.

For UCB check out http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/UCB/famous_alumni.html (The Beav is there!)

UCI has it's own list which begins at http://www.rgs.uci.edu/rig/alumni.htm (a young school, though, and no huge names aside from Lovitz from what I saw)

It is fun to see who went where. I suspect, though, that if the people were famous *prior* to applying to a school they were more likely to get in. I don't mean to dismiss those famous people who got in ... I've certainly heard that many are as brilliant as the schools they attended. But a famous name *is* a mighty big key to have, as most schools readily admit. One of the things that many college search sites ask as you fill out the questions for the "Find my college match" is "Are you, or is someone in your family, famous?"

What I find more interesting are the ones who made their name *after* college. And even more fun is learning which colleges *rejected* a now famous people. Spielberg ... he was rejected from somewhere, I know. USC I believe.

By Sac (Sac) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 07:39 pm: Edit

From the Speilberg resource website:
"After being denied entrance into traditional film schools, Steven Spielberg entered California State University in Long Beach to study English. Steven Spielberg’s professional movie career began the day that he decided to jump off a tour bus at Universal Studios Hollywood and wander around the back lots. Apparently Spielberg found an abandoned janitors closet and turned it into an office.."

By Hautbois (Hautbois) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 07:43 pm: Edit

Here's an article you might be interested to read:
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/00/q1/0126-krueger.htm

I apologize if some else has already located this and alerted you to it.

It's entitled: Elite Colleges Not Necessarily Best Ticket to High Earnings

included in the article is ...

"The researchers refer to this phenomena as the "Steven Spielberg Effect"; the filmmaker, who was rejected by both USC and UCLA film schools, ended up attending a less prestigious program but went on to achieve tremendous success."

By Senior (Senior) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 07:50 pm: Edit

you forgot Kennedy - Brown

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 10:35 pm: Edit

Yes, I did - of course, JFK Jr. had something of an advantage in getting into Brown, as I'm sure Jody Foster and Melissa Gilbert did getting into Yale. : )

The point, I think, is that all is not lost if you don't get into your first choice college...just aim for the best schools you can and do the best with what fate throws your way.

Good luck to all!

By Tenisghs (Tenisghs) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 10:58 pm: Edit

I thought Spike Lee went to New York University....

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 11:03 pm: Edit

John Madden went to Cal Poly SLO!

Commander Robert "Hoot" Gibson, astronaut, NASA Space Shuttle Project also went to cal poly.


FAMOUS DROP OUTS -

F Scott Fitzgerald dropped out of Princeton, Dec. 1915
William Faulkner dropped out of the University of Mississippi
Edward Albee (playwright) dropped out of Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, after 3 semesters

Comics:
Woody Allen (Woody Allen) was expelled from New York University and City College of New York
Steve Martin (wild & crazy guy) dropped out of Long Beach State College, where he was a philosophy major; though Steve had excellent grades, he says he became disillusioned upon reading Wittgenstein's view that "all philosophical problems can be reduced to problems of semantics"!!
Rosie O'Donnell (movies, tv, K-mart ads) dropped out of Dickinson College and Boston University
Ellen DeGeneres (tv) dropped out of University of New Orleans
Dan Aykroyd (SNL) dropped out of Carleton University, Ottawa

Computers:
Bill Gates (Microsoft) dropped out of Harvard, 1976
Steve Jobs (Apple, NeXT, Pixar) left Reed College in Portland, Oregon, after 1 semester
Steve Wozniak (with Jobs, founded Apple Computer)
Lawrence Ellison (Oracle Computer)
Michael Dell (Dell Computer) dropped out of the University of Texas

Other Business:
David Geffen (Geffen Records, Dreamworks SKG) flunked out of University of Texas, Austin, AND Brooklyn College, NY
H Wayne Huizenga (Blockbuster Video millionaire, owner of Miami Dolphins, Florida Panthers and Florida Marlins) attended Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for 3 semesters
Ted Turner (media mogul) -kicked out, I hear!
Ron Popeil (tv huckster, RONCO)
William Hanna (Hanna-Barbera)

Conservatives:
Barry Goldwater ( berRepublican, Au H2O) Can you believe the anti-hippie himself tuned in, turned on, and dropped out? (Well, he dropped out at least)
Rush Limbaugh (media personality, tie salesman) spent 1 year at Southeastern Missouri State University before dropping out

Movies/TV:
Tom Hanks (actor) dropped out of CalState, Sacramento
Dustin Hoffman (actor)
Warren Beatty (actor)
Richard Gere (actor)
Burt Reynolds (former actor)
Sharon Stone (actress)
Bruce Willis (parody of an actor)
James Cameron (director of "Independence Day")
James Dean (actor, rebel, postage stamp)
Bill Murray (SNL, movies)
Andie MacDowell (actress)
Michael Keaton (actor)
Dennis Quaid (actor)
Kevin Sorbo (tv's Hercules)
Marisa Tomei (actress)
Brad Pitt (actor)
Stan Brakhage (experimental filmmaker)

Music:
David Byrne (Talking Heads) dropped out of the Rhode Island School of Design
Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction, Porno for Pyros)
Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails)
Yoko Ono (you know) dropped out of Sarah Lawrence College
Burl Ives (appears in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Christmas Special!)
Arlo Guthrie (singer) dropped out of Rocky Mountain College, Billings, Montana
Charlie Rich (Memphis blues musician, singer, songwriter)

Other Media:
Nina Totenberg (public radio) dropped out of Boston University

By Sirmoreau (Sirmoreau) on Saturday, July 12, 2003 - 11:07 pm: Edit

More importantly Michael Douglas went to UCSB.

By Rmehney (Rmehney) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 03:22 am: Edit

Reese Witherspoon - Stanford! Go Elle!

By Twinkletoes696 (Twinkletoes696) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 03:30 am: Edit

Julia Stiles is at Columbia and Claire Danes graduated from Yale I think

By Kiddielit (Kiddielit) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 09:59 am: Edit

Hautbois -- Having just finished The Lovely Bones (what a great book), I did a little search on Alice Sebold and saw that, while she did her undergrad at Syracuse, she studied fiction-writing at UCI.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 10:34 am: Edit

Paul Newman (who did some nice things with his celebrity status---before it was in vogue) graduated from Kenyon College.

So did Rutherford B. Hayes (who slipped into the White House by the questionable margin of a single electoral vote.)

By O71394658 (O71394658) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 11:44 am: Edit

I could've sworn Peter Coors went to Cornell and not Denver...probably some other beer guy...

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 01:06 pm: Edit

I checked - Spike Lee did his undergraduate work at Morehouse, Peter Coors did his at U of Denver.
They might have done graduate work elsewhere, of course.

Also, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Brubeck (jazz musician), Tom Flores (Former NFL head coach and general manager), Chris Issaak (musician), Robert Culp (actor), Janet Leigh (actress), and Alex Spanos (successful real estate developer and owner of the San Diego Chargers) all graduated from the University of the Pacific.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 01:21 pm: Edit

You know, you can look at all this information with a big, "So WHAT???"

But the more familiar you are with a variety of college flavors, the more you look at some of these combinations and say, "Yeah...that FITS!"

There just aren't a lot of RoseAnn Barr from Princeton... or William F. Buckley from Oberlin combos.

By Sunshine916 (Sunshine916) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 03:50 pm: Edit

go Kenyon!! (one of the awesome schools in this boring state of ohio along with Denison, Oberlin, Case Western)

Janet Reno went to Cornell and so did Bill Nye the Science Guy...

By Njjunior (Njjunior) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 06:35 pm: Edit

I thought Jackie Kennedy went to Vassar, not GW?

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 07:59 pm: Edit

No, she went to GW.

By Lethalfang (Lethalfang) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 03:31 pm: Edit

I went to Cal, so here is a partial list, for those who are interested:
http://calbears.ocsn.com/trads/cal-famousalums.html

Most large college will have almost proportional number of famous alumni. For one, success has little to do with fame.

By Girl (Girl) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 06:40 pm: Edit

Condolezza Rice (Bush foreign policy advisor)went to graduate school at U. of Notre Dame.

Jodie Foster graduated from Yale.

Josh Hartnett dropped out of SUNY Purchace.

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 07:55 pm: Edit

Michael Jordan-North Carolina.

-UNC c/o 2006

By Uncchlocalmayor (Uncchlocalmayor) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 07:55 pm: Edit

btw, he just left after 3 years.

By Morgantruce (Morgantruce) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Nearly everyone on this list went to college before they became famous. Jodie Foster was earning millions of dollars in her film career when she decided to attend college. How's that for placing a high value on education?

(I'd say I was a fan because of her decision, but that might not be wise... considering.)

By Lovejoy (Lovejoy) on Monday, July 14, 2003 - 08:17 pm: Edit

UW-Madison

People
85
University of Wisconsin-Madison • 2001 A
n ALUMNI
Prominent alumni
Jim Abrahams ('66), filmmaker, founder of Char-lie
Foundation to Help Cure Pediatric Epilepsy

edited for excessive length.

<moderator>

By Uschicka (Uschicka) on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 05:45 pm: Edit

George Lucas and Will Ferrel went to USC...did you hear how Lucas and Spielberg made a bet at one point on how well the new movie they were putting out at that time was going to do? If the movie did well, Spielberg would donate money to Lucas' alma mater, USC. If the movie bombed, Lucas would donate to Spielberg's alma mater. The movie? Indiana Jones. Let's just say Spielberg had some paying up to do.

By Progex (Progex) on Wednesday, July 16, 2003 - 07:35 pm: Edit

"Rosie O'Donnell (movies, tv, K-mart ads) dropped out of Dickinson College and Boston University"

Dickinson College? That's a new one for me.

By Bluexcow (Bluexcow) on Thursday, April 01, 2004 - 11:48 pm: Edit

i know jackie went to vassar. i was in her old room. very weird, full of history. but then she finished at gw.