<p>First of all, I'm going to post this in several places. I do hope the mods will forgive me, for last time I posted in multiple areas, which was months ago, I was reprimanded by email, although I had no idea I was committing such a CC-faux pas. </p>
<p>Anyway, on with it. I'm writing this because there are many of you out there who seem to be confused, angry, or simply misinformed regarding the atmospheres at Ivy League institutions and the personalities of the people attending. In general, the stereotype is that anyone who attends one of the infamous "HYP" - College Confidential vernacular for "Harvard/Yale/Princeton" which totally confused me the first time I visited this website - is a snob. </p>
<p>(Now I do realize that this is a dramatic overgeneralization, and I also realize that there are five other Ivies besides Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but this is only secondary to the point.)</p>
<p>The truth is, everyone, that these schools are not filled with snobs. In fact, I know people who attend and who have attended each of these schools, as well as a number of people attending various other Ivies, and not a single one of them is snobby. Most kids who go to those schools are into rap music and partying, but each one has a genuine interest in something rather academic, which is usually how they end up at their respective schools. My best friend from last year listens to Ashlee Simpson religiously and has the best social life ever, but she also loves to learn languages. She's working on her fourth romance language right now at college. </p>
<p>Most freshmen at Ivies are really just big highschoolers. I mean, they take the same time to adjust to the new climate as other college freshmen do. </p>
<p>I often hear "Yale? Why would you want to go there? Just for a big name? Everyone there is so pretentious." The reality is, a pretty small number of them is pretentious, or even mildly egotistical. All the kids i know who go there are remarkably well personable and cool. No one is ever like, "OMG I GO HERE I'M BETTER THAN YOU ALKJHYT." Never. </p>
<p>Well, there is always the exception. We can't make excuses for the few kids who brag and bother everyone. </p>
<p>But the rest of the kids are way cool; they just are really smart, too. </p>
<p>Anyway, I hope this has been helpful. I was just reading the Harvard thread, and I saw someone asking if the kids at Harvard are uptight and lame. Biased as I am, the kids at Harvard are not lame, nor are they uptight - they're just like you. So don't be intimidated. You just might be the best thing that ever happened to those places.</p>