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No, I am not swayed by the idea of going to a “brand name” university, just a good one. That doesn’t mean I want to go to college just so I can drop the H-bomb. Caltech isn’t a “brand name” university, regular people have never heard of it. But obviously it gives so many research oppurtunities, provides a rigorous education, blah blah. I was only saying that more prestigious schools tend to offer better educations which will give you an edge in work, grad school, or whatever you are doing in life.</p>
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No, not automatically, but for the most part a better education leads to better success with money and “contributions” to society. Also, please elaborate on this evidence.</p>
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Boy, that’s offensive. Why do you assume that one of the reasons I’d like to attend Columbia is the fact that its an Ivy? I was only using Columbia as an example of one of the colleges on my list. Anyways, if you must know, I want to attend Columbia SEAS because I like how the engineering program also emphasizes liberal arts as well, to make you a well rounded engineer. Many engineering degree graduates from SEAS go on to other fields, such as business, politics, medicine and economics. This is really appealing to me, because while I am interested in engineering, I would like to broaden my horizons and become an “engineering leader” as Columbia says it. It sickens me when I see how politicians can have so much more influence over scientists (as we saw with the Bush administration and even now), and I not only want to be the typical engineer but something more than that. I tried making a change in my school this year, with no result - because I didn’t belong to the Student Association. I had never thought about running for something like that before - but now I severly regret not doing so. Don’t worry, my why Columbia essay? (if they have one) will be much better than this spiel.</p>