But compare the overall academics by any ranking of which I'm aware and BYU is far better (USNews, Princeton Review, Etc.). So the "snobs" are academic minded. Many fields, like nursing, don't really care where you went to school. A Harvard grad makes the same wage as a SLCC grad as an RN. Likewise, it doesnt matter where you went to school if you're running gas stations. But there are many fields where the politics of academia do matter. Is it vain? Yeah. Is it a little silly? Yeah. But welcome to Earth where people are silly and vain. Some fields will require you to go to most respected schools with the best connections in order to be given a shot. It may not be fair but those are the hoops one sometimes has to jump through in this crazy world.