Comments on: Are Alumni Networks Valuable?

By: David Miller

David Miller — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:53:20 +0000

Ah, one more thing. It’s not only about whether you and I have mutual neighbors. Paths longer than 2 are also relevant, but are much harder to discover and verify. If we are both in the same alumni network we can guess that numerous such paths probably exist.

By: David Miller

David Miller — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:51:39 +0000

Also there is probably also some brand value effect, since your alma mater shows up at the top of your resume forever. Even well established older alumni have an interest in maintaining the brand. To do their part they can preferentially recommend candidates from their own networks. Recognizing this, the schools themselves aggressively advocate their alumni networks, and provide institutional support. It’s hard for me to see how a merged network could develop a brand that is either independent of or an amalgamation of the individual school brands.

By: David Miller

David Miller — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 19:51:14 +0000

Hi Rakesh,
I think that within a cohort at a single school the network forms at very low cost compared to within cohorts across schools. There is also a relatively low cost of network formation between adjacent cohorts at the same schools. The larger alumni network can piggy-back on this and again form at lower cost within schools than across schools.
Sorry for the delay; I forgot to check the follow-up notification box!

By: rvohra

rvohra — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 15:22:46 +0000

Dear sc

Alas, no. Must be the Hobbes in me. You said that you would help your 3rd grade buddy if the chance arose. Well, lets put this to a hypothetical test. Would you help if they would ask for $1K? Would you give them a strong reference for a job? What if many of your former schoolmates ask for the same favor simultaneously? I think the answer in each case would be that it depends. What is the extent of the claim? Is it one you could satisfy? What are the costs to you of acceding to it?

By: rvohra

rvohra — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 15:10:04 +0000

hi David

If its about whether one’s neighbor’s neighbors are one’s own neighbors, why rely on academic background to determine this? Why not verify this directly? Even if one accepts the density argument, this would suggest big benefits from merging networks.

By: sc

sc — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 09:25:23 +0000

Does it occurr to you that people just tend to be belpful to people with whom they have spent one year with? i’d help my third-grade buddy if the chance arised. It’s not some superimposed label as you seem to think.

By: David Miller

David Miller — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 19:32:12 +0000

The value of the alumni network is that it is dense: you and person you are doing the favor for are both connected to others from the same alumni network. If she fails to return the favor, you can complain to other alumni you know and pretty soon none of them will be doing any more favors for her. So your favor will be returned with higher probability if the recipient is a member of your own alumni network.