<p>“That’s how I feel about Cornell. Duke is no Harvard and Northwestern is no Yale, yet I was rejected by both. Surely then, when Cornell is such an anomaly, it must be significantly inferior. I’d feel better if I had a Dartmouth or Brown to pair Cornell with.”</p>
<p>Really, Saugus - shame on you. “Significantly inferior”? Are you listening to how ridiculous you sound? These are the top schools in the country. Looking from 10,000 feet, the differences between any of them are SLIM. You must honestly think that if you walk into a Harvard classroom, everyone spouts brilliance 100% of the time and if you walk into a Cornell classroom, half the class can barely add 2+2. These student bodies are all largely interchangeable. The opportunities at all of these schools are more than any one human being can take advantage of. Stop it. No one other than high school seniors sees appreciable differences in these schools once you’re at this caliber. But adults DO see appreciable differences in attitudes, and we much prefer the attitude of “yay for me, I’m going to one of the top colleges in the land!” rather than the whining, self-pitying, I-didn’t-get-into-HYPSM-my-life-is-over.</p>