<p>So CC'ers, I have a question for all of you. It's been awhile since I've been on CC since high school, but now that I'm in my senior year in college I decided to come back to this old haunt of mine. And this is what I've noticed: NOTHING HAS CHANGED!</p>
<p>The obsession with rankings, the "best schools", the "Can I get into this top college?" Chance Me threads are still amok. </p>
<p>First off, I want to say that I think CC is an excellent resource. For example, back in the day, I used it to keep abreast of when college scholarship letters were coming in, what factors people might consider when choosing a college, characteristics of a specific college, etc. </p>
<p>There there seems to be a secondary product of these posts, and that is this obsession with rankings, prestige, and the elite. </p>
<p>Second, I have to admit, when I was applying to colleges back in the day, I took a look at the US News Report Rankings and applied to a handful of the top schools- Stanford, Harvard, Cornell, Washington University in St. Louis, Brown, Duke, Yale, Princeton, besides some UCs like UCLA. I'm now at UCLA and have been through a good part of college. And now looking back at some of the posts in this forum, I'm really confuddled, at myself back in high school, and now at this continuing phenomena years later.</p>
<p>What do you guys think is the reason we all want to apply to top institutions? Is it something to do with The American Dream? Is it for bragging rights? Are top institutions (let's say, as per the US News and Rankings) really better quality than schools that we don't typically associate with "academic powerhouse"?</p>