<p>I do. I feel great. And you should too. Anyone else?</p>
<p>I really want to be arrogant and feel good. Too bad i have to wait until April 1st to find out :(</p>
<p>I stopped giving a s*it about ranking and top schools once I got to college.</p>
<p>I realized that nobody but people who go to top schools care. In other words, the majority of the people around you don't care.</p>
<p>I wish I could say the same Haru, but NU has this pepetual "we're at least as good as the Ivies, why don't people realize that!!!" feeling. So it goes.</p>
<p>And I don't feel stoked for going to a top school. I love my school. I feel stoked because I'm doing exceptionally well there.</p>
<p>^^ ahhha but employers care...</p>
<p>I do. :)</p>
<p>MUWAHHAHAHAHHA</p>
<p>anyone feel like this thread is ridiculous and arrogant? obviously most people feel "REALLY GOOD" about going to a top school otherwise they wouldn't have obsessed about it and gone there in the first place. as someone mentioned above, it is different to feel "REALLY GOOD" about doing well at any school, but just going there doesn't really mean anything. so in conclusion, i would feel "REALLY GOOD" if pointless "look at me i'm so great" threads weren't on this site.</p>
<p>no, because attendance at a top school is almost entirely the product of being lucky enough to have won the cosmic lottery in terms of socioeconomic status and privilege, and there are millions of people who are more qualified than you who are systematically denied those opportunities. you shouldn't feel arrogant about what has been awarded to you by chance.</p>
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you shouldn't feel arrogant about what has been awarded to you by chance.
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<p>By chance? </p>
<p>I worked my butt off to get where I am, and you say I am where I am by chance?</p>
<p>^Pretty much.</p>
<p>Hasn't everyone figured out that going to a top school is pretty much a crapshoot for everyone? When a school's admittance rate is less than 15%, yes, I'd say it's by chance. Sorry to burst your bubble.</p>
<p>I kind of feel arrogant when I walk up the street to New School's territory. NYU's around west 4th-6th, they're around west 11th. In the same 5th ave corridor.</p>
<p>I never knew Michigan's admittance rate was 15%. :)</p>
<p>It's not. Neither is UChicago's. Or Georgetown. Or UVa.</p>
<p>
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I worked my butt off to get where I am, and you say I am where I am by chance?
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</p>
<p>Lots of people work hard to get where they are and never end up in an Ivy League school, or even college. I know a guy who supports his family by painting houses even though he was a physicist in the Ukraine - he still works hard. You should be proud of your work ethic if it got you into a top school, but humble - to be "arrogant" about it implies that you think your hard work sets you apart and gives you the right to hold yourself above others, when in fact you're just extraordinarily lucky.</p>
<p>edit: when I say "by chance" I mean that you most likely had a stable family situation and parents that brought in enough income for you to not have to take a wage job as soon as you turned 16, allowing you to devote yourself fully to academics and ECs and SAT studying and put together an impressive college app overall. Not only that, but you live in a liberal Western democracy where you have more opportunities and more control over your individual life than 99.9 percent of people who have ever lived. So yeah, I feel pretty humble about it.</p>
<p>jack,</p>
<p>i think you're taking this the wrong way. sure its okay to be a little arrogant when you go home and you go to a better school than a bunch of your friends in high school. but hey--they're all in the same situation as you, so in that context you likely did work harder and it paid off. but i mean, if you think anyone is going to fly over to africa to brag to some kid who makes 1 cent a week that he goes to "UBER 1337 HYPS" then i think you're overreacting a bit.</p>
<p>my argument involves neither of those strawman extremes and there is a difference between comparing yourself favorably to your friends and having a misguided sense of entitlement that stems from failing to understand the weight of one's social class and economic background on one's accessibility to higher education.</p>
<p>Just to let you know, I wasn't "lucky" by any means. I ended up at my 2nd choice school (PSU) my freshman year, because I wasn't good enough to get into Michigan. I really worked hard to maintain a good GPA at PSU, which is the sole reason I got into Michigan the next year. I don't think that was luck.</p>
<p>MightyNick -- News for you: ending up at your 2nd choice school is damn lucky. Look at the situation however you'd like, but that's my take. Glad you're happy with the way that things eventually turned out, regardless.</p>
<p>I think it's one thing to just "feel good" (or proud, blessed, excited, etc.) about going to a top school. Totally understandable. Crapshoot or not, odds are still good that you worked hard to get where you did. If luck (yes, luck...on top of a good work ethic) is on your side and you wind up somewhere that really excites you, then by all means, please feel great about it! But having an "I'm better than people who go to lower-ranked schools" attitude is, in my opinion, both unwarranted and inappropriate. It shows a lot of ignorance re: diversity of circumstances, correlation between ranking and educational quality, and unpredictability of admissions, to name a few.</p>
<p>I went to school in a 5 college consortium that spanned US News' Top 50. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was smarter than plenty of students at the higher ranked schools, and plenty of students in the lower ranked schools were smarter than I (where "smarter" could just as easily be replaced with more talented, better prepared, harder working, etc.). After taking many classes at all of the schools, I also realized the fact that ranking doesn't correlate directly with quality of education. </p>
<p>Yes, a top school is tough to get to and will do a great job of educating you. Be proud to be there, and be happy that you've found a great place for yourself! But never assume that your way is the best way.</p>
<p>"no, because attendance at a top school is almost entirely the product of being lucky enough to have won the cosmic lottery in terms of socioeconomic status and privilege, and there are millions of people who are more qualified than you who are systematically denied those opportunities. you shouldn't feel arrogant about what has been awarded to you by chance." Possibly the single most flawed argument I have ever seen. Maybe it comes down to luck when you have a 4.0/2300, but it isn't lucky to get those scores. It's work. What does "systematically denied those opportunities" mean? I don't think "Big Brother" selects random kids to spite. What exactly does socio-economic background have to do with getting into a good school? How much of an advantage does a kid whos parents make 120,000 dollars a year have over someone whose family makes 75,000? "Privilege"? What percent of Harvard's class do you think buys their way in? I'd say much less than 5%. Stop feeling sorry for yourself/others. Those who aren't given some things in life may be granted other, less obvious gifts.</p>