College acceptances and compatibility (financial, academic, personal)

Parent Cafe
1

<p>Hello CC’ers,</p>

<p>As background, I’ve read the CC threads for some time now, looking for others’ thoughts on college search and selection, and financing an UG education. As a result, my daughter applied to a good mix of schools (high, middle and low reaches). We’re a full pay family that is not eligible for financial aid. We’re not millionaires but have managed to save for our daughter’s college education through frugal living over the years and two parents working full time. We are fortunate to be able to fund a four year private college education from a combination of current income and savings. We do not need to take out any educational loans to pay for UG. We have only one child and do not have to allocate the educational savings account between siblings. After receiving full ride or partial scholarships from several large public research universities (one is our state flagship, top 50 world ranking), certainly we are questioning whether a quarter million dollar price tag is worth paying for an UG degree. However, we are willing to finance our daughter’s thoughtful choice of college. She intends to major in one of the natural sciences and attend medical school after completing her UG degree. We are waiting to hear from three top 20 private research universities, including any merit scholarships offered, if any. One of these universities is an Ivy from which she was deferred during the EA round. Yes, we’re aware Ivies don’t give merit money. We are also well aware of the odds of being admitted to the highly selective schools. Our daughter has taken a more serious look at her acceptances thus far, especially our state flagship, and is excited about the programs offered.</p>

<p>I’ve learned much from this esteemed group and determined there’re basically three legs to the stool when considering college acceptances and where to matriculate. The three legs of compatibility—financial, academic, and personal—must all balance for best results. Since financial compatibility is not an issue for us, we’re now focused on academic and personal compatibility between schools. My greatest concern is that our daughter will matriculate to a school that could become academically toxic for her because of little support for women in the sciences. I’m also concerned that she won’t have a competitive UG GPA for medical school, or forgo her goal to become a clinical research scientist, if a highly competitive and non-collegial student body causes her to lose confidence in herself and her abilities. She’s a great student with solid stats but must work hard at her studies for success. I’m not discounting the academic rigor at any college, be it public or private. However, the “academic toxicity” of a college will be a primary focus during visits to campus for admitted students as our daughter determines the best fit “for her” and where to ultimately matriculate.</p>

<p>Can anyone comment on the atmosphere for women in the sciences at the top 20 private research universities or top 50 public research universities, generally? Are some schools known to be more “academically toxic” than others for majors in the natural sciences? Is there any way to find out how many UGs at a school start out as science majors, only to eventually declare a major in the social sciences or humanities by sophomore year?</p>

2

<p>I guess it would never occur to me that there would be a problem of women in sciences at top 20 colleges as far a sexism, which is what I think you mean. I think premeds and bio majors are mostly women although I might be mistaken. I do think that sexism is pernicious, so I don’t want to dismiss and it would be unrealistic to think one doesn’t encounter it, especially in the workplace. I think the culture at individual schools is going to be different. At Brown, my daughter took classes mostly in math, physics and computer science and I think there were only 6 females in her department class. I don’t think this was any problem for her and she experienced good support and relationships with her department friends, grad students she researched and mingled with and professors. I never heard about problems. She was a peer adviser and TA as a jr and sr. I know she did some activity with the Women in Sciences and Engineering group and was sent to a women in computing conference as well as was one of the students sent to the international robotics conference and has plenty of research experiences. That said, she did tell the university president they didn’t do enough to encourage women in computing and I think she would have liked more in her classes. It is a pretty ridiculous when one of the most respected departments in the Uni only has a handful of women in the department. Of course this is a known larger issue, and not caused by the actions of the uni particularly, and they don’t admit by major.</p>

<p>So I wouldn’t expect it to be an issue, but colleges vary. DD has remarked before on the collaborative and cooperative culture at Brown, especially noticed when she was visiting potential grad schools.</p>

<p>Confidence comes from within. But joining up in the Women in Science groups on campus to tap support and resources is a great idea.</p>

<p>I don’t think there is data on students changing majors and why. I hear organic chem is famous for separating the men from the boys of both sexes, lol.</p>

3

<p>These days, biology majors are majority women. However, pre-meds may be of any major, although they will need to complete the pre-med course work which overlaps considerably with biology major course requirements.</p>

<p>Since she is a pre-med, do you have any intention of offering her any of the savings toward medical school costs if she attends a lower cost undergraduate school? Remember that medical school is [url=&lt;a href=“https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/]expensive[/url”&gt;https://services.aamc.org/tsfreports/]expensive[/url</a>] (note that they are just tuition and fees, not including living expenses), and most pre-meds are lucky to get into one medical school, meaning that they may not have much of a choice to choose a less expensive one. If her medical goal is a lower paid specialty (e.g. the primary care ones), she may not be able to afford to enter such a specialty if she has to pay off heavy medical school debt.</p>

4

<p>@BrownParent, good point, she should look into the vibrancy of the Women in Science programs at the schools…</p>

<p>@ucbalumnus, I think she wants to major in biochemistry or biophysics or something close to those majors. She wants to pursue a MD/PhD because she’s interested in conducting clinical research of some kind. (I’m out of my league here discussing careers in the medical profession!) We’ve definitely considered using the savings account to help fund med school. We told our daughter that if she thinks she wants to go to med school and pursue the medical scientist program, then she should consider that she’s on an eight+ year funding plan vs. a four year funding plan. Money saved in UG is money that can be used to help fund med or grad school. That’s why the state flagship offer looks like such a great option for her.</p>

<p>I started the initial post about academics because of talks with other parents about some of their kids (coming from top private schools in the area) losing confidence in their academic abilities and struggling at the Ivies because of the “small fish in the big pond” syndrome. YMMV. One parent told me to read a chapter in Malcolm Gladwell’s book “David and Goliath” (seemed to be generally panned in book reviews). The chapter is titled “Caroline Sacks (fictional name) If I’d gone to the University of Maryland, I’d still be in science.” In the chapter he discusses the Big Fish-Little Pond effect. His insight offered is “the more elite an educational institution is, the worse students feel about their own academic abilities. Students who would be at the top of their class at a good school can easily fall to the bottom of a really good school. Students who would feel they have mastered a subject at a good school can have the feeling they are falling farther and farther behind in a really good school…How you feel about your abilities–your academic ‘self-concept’–in the context of your classroom shapes your willingness to tackle challenges and finish difficult tasks. It’s a crucial element in your motivation and confidence.” </p>

<p>Gladwell also says “what happened to Caroline Sacks is all too common…more than half of all American students who start out in STEM drop out after their first or second year.” Some anecdotal evidence he offers is that Caroline Sacks entered Brown as a STEM student, struggled academically, especially in organic chemistry, and the "experience of comparing herself to all the other brilliant brilliant fish in the pond shattered her confidence. It made her feel stupid, even though she isn’t stupid at all. She felt that ‘… other people are mastering this, even people who were as clueless as I was in the beginning, and I just can’t seem to learn to think in this manner.’ " He goes on to say that the students in her class were very competitive and quotes Caroline saying …"They didn’t want to share their study habits with me. They didn’t want to talk about ways to better understand the stuff that we were learning, because that might give me a leg up.’ "</p>

<p>Wow. I was taken aback by his statement that more than half of all American students who start out in a STEM subject drop out after their first or second year. Is this phenomenon as prevalent as Mr. Gladwell states at the Ivies or top public and private universities? Is the academic environment that toxic for STEM students?</p>

5

<p>If you are the sort whose confidence gets shattered easily you probably don’t belong in medicine. I think the cost of med school is a valid reason to consider public for undergrad, but I also think many people thrive at Ivy’s and their ilk, and graduate with fine GPAs (thanks to a fair amount of grade inflation). My dh husband majored in biology and physics way back when and got his PhD in biophysics. He’s not an MD, but is now teaching/doing research at a Med School. If I remember correctly he once told me one reason people apply to highly competitive MD/PhD programs is because they fund the med school, but they get frustrated by how few students actually stick with the research once they get their MDs. The med school forums here could probably tell you more about that.</p>

6

<p>No offense to Malcolm Gladwell, but his explanations are so glib as to be somewhat comical.</p>

<p>His statistic is likely sound- if I had a dollar for every kid I’ve known personally who claims at age 17 that they’re going to med school, I wouldn’t need to work. But I don’t believe this phenomenon is correlated to top ivies or top publics or anything remotely close to that. The typical teenager has very little understanding about how adults earn a living. They’ve seen teachers and dentists and doctors and depending on the socio-economics of their community and parents, they’ve seen what other folks do.</p>

<p>I got to Brown back in the dark ages and to me 'business" was the guy down the street from my parents who owned a carpet and linoleum store.</p>

<p>So kids who are good at math and science get told by their teachers, “oh you should consider medical school” which of course is a giant leap forward from the 1940’s where my mom reported that girls who were good at math and science were told, “you should become a HS math teacher”. (no knock on teachers.)</p>

<p>But my point is that a huge number of kids show up at college with the default option of “STEM” major. Whether they are truly interested in a STEM career is irrelevant, and for many of them, knowing little about the career paths (either in medicine, physical science, engineering, or in fact, non-Stem disciplines) the decision to major in STEM is akin to a 6 year old wanting to be a fire fighter.</p>

<p>Many of the “formerly known as STEM majors” in college that I know personally, didn’t get turned off by STEM. They just got turned on by something else. Linguistics, Econ, Agronomy, Ethnomusicology- kids don’t get exposed to these during “career day” at school. Could some of them have become fabulous physicians/researchers? No doubt. But that doesn’t mean they came from toxic STEM environments.</p>

<p>I graduated from Brown during the dark ages (1970’s) and most of my friends were either engineers, applied math majors, or eventually, became physicians. I don’t know a single one of the current doctors who majored in a STEM discipline- Brown encouraged taking the required courses for med school admissions but majoring in something you truly loved, since there was ample time to double down on cell biology in grad school. I don’t know if that’s still the case today, but my kids (all graduated from colleges during the 2000 decade) knew dozens of kids who are now in med school, or are completing residencies, or in a couple of cases, already practicing or working as researchers (a couple of MD/PhD’s in the bunch) and many (not all of them) majored in non-STEM. Music, philosophy, literature, history.</p>

<p>Agree 100% that if your confidence gets shattered easily you don’t belong in medicine. Whether it’s good or bad for our society, our style of med school education really requires a sort of stony confidence-- just getting in is a marathon.</p>

<p>If this were my D (and I realize it’s not) I’d be encouraging her to find a U where she can soar intellectually. What that means for your D is personal to her— but the “best outcomes” I’ve observed come from kids who show up at a campus charged up and ready to take on the world. Sometimes that means tilting at windmills- and no doubt there are frustrations at being the little fish in the big pond and having to prove yourself. But I see kids arrive at college already somewhat deflated with their path for the next umpteen years already crafted (get a 3.0 GPA, apply to med school, graduate from med school, claw my way into a good residency. Lather rinse repeat) and I can’t imagine a kid as talented as your D wanting that path.</p>

<p>A superstar from my son’s college class is an epidemiologist. He would have made a fine physician or researcher- brilliant guy. But he discovers that he loves the application of his interests in healing to huge populations and data-sets; loves knowing that instead of curing 1 person or 8 people or 15 people a day, as he would in practice, he has the potential of curing millions at a pop.</p>

<p>Take that, Malcolm Gladwell.</p>

7

<p>sorry- that’s a 3.9 GPA. Too late to edit.</p>

8

<p>A number of years ago now, Howard Greene published a book called The Select. In it he surveys students at 20 top colleges, including both public and privates.</p>

<p>One of the questions he asked was something like “Are your classmates cut throat?” Nobody at Wesleyan said yes. One half of one percent of Brown students did. (At some schools, 40%+ of the students did.) If Caroline Sacks found students at Brown too competitive, frankly, IMO, there has to be something wrong with her. I’d be hard pressed to name a school as strong in biological sciences as Brown is where the students are less competitive. </p>

<p>One reason for this is that many of Brown’s pre-meds are in the PLME program. This is an 8 year combined program. As long as you maintain a certain GPA in the sciences–which isn’t all that high–you’re guaranteed admission to the med school. (This is one reason Brown medical school isn’t higher ranked by US News. Part of the rating is based on the GPA and MCAT scores of accepted students and because you only have to maintain a certain GPA to continue on to the med school, Brown med students have lower median GPAs.) </p>

<p>I’m not in medicine, but I think there are a couple of things you should take into account. At some schools, there is some sort of screening which which prohibits some students from even applying to med school. Then the college will say that 90%+ of our grads who applied to med school are admitted. They leave out the “detail” that there were other students who didn’t make it through the screening and thus couldn’t apply. </p>

<p>The other is that if you are going to med school, you usually have to take the MCAT. If you go to a school that’s weaker in science, you may struggle with the MCAT. One of my young neighbors took the merit $ and went to a much lower ranked college. He was a star there. Then he took the MCAT. Then he took a year off to study and took the MCAT again. Then he gave up the dream of being a physician and went into another health-related field. If he’d gone to a better college, he might not have been a star, but he probably would have had a better background in science. So, one piece of info I’d ask for if I were you is “What was the median/average/25-75% MCAT score of your students?” </p>

<p>The third thing is that switching out of science isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I am an alum interviewer for my college. I interview students from a NYC public magnet. I would estimate that three-quarters of the kids I interview want to be MDs. The exceptions are almost invariably the kids from better educated, more sophisticated families. Being a physician is the immigrant / first generation college dream. Doctors and teachers are sometimes the only professional people these kids have ever met. They see it as a golden ticket to the good life. When they get to college, some of them decide there are other paths they’d much rather take. (And often their immigrant/ blue collar parents actively oppose considering anything other than STEM.) </p>

<p>My D went to an Ivy. She started as a STEM major and switched into another field. She found the other field much more interesting. Her sophomore year roommate was pre-med. She ended up in social sciences. That was in large part because she spent a lot of time her first year doing stuff at the university’s affiliated hospital. As a result, she came to the conclusion that she wasn’t cut out to be a doctor. (Eventually, she got a Harvard MBA.) Their suite mate did the same sort of activities and decided to become a doctor; she switched INTO the sciences. My D’s freshman year suite mate was going to major in science, but ended up majoring in economics. She is a physician now. So, note that switching out of science into social science doesn’t necessarily mean that someone isn’t going to go on to med school. </p>

<p>But yes, there are some people who switch out of STEM because they find it too difficult and get discouraged. Some of them will tell you if they’d gone to their instate public U they’d have majored in science. That may well be true. It’s when they say “…and then I would have gotten into medical school” that I have my doubts. Not everyone who applies to med school gets in–and I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing that some people who are weaker in the sciences give up that dream after taking organic chem rather than after applying to med school and getting denied. </p>

<p>If your D takes a cheaper path to save $ for med school, I certainly understand that. It’s a valid approach. However, if she thinks the pre-meds at less selective colleges will be more co-operative and less competitive than at top schools, I think she’s misinformed. </p>

9

<p><a href=“Premed Resources Thread - Start Here First - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums”>Premed Resources Thread - Start Here First - Pre-Med Topics - College Confidential Forums;

<p>Pre-med resources thread^^^^^ Have you read over this? It might help…And feel free to ask over on the pre-med forum. Lots of experience over there with this specific issue.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-picking-premed-school.html”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/1122176-bluedevilmikes-ten-step-guide-picking-premed-school.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>This thread addresses the question of what school to pick, especially if you have a reasonable assumption student will want to go on to med school.</p>

<p>Personally my younger son was pre-med at an ivy (econ major) that has a grade “deflation” policy, and he too was admitted to our state flagship (NC). He is currently an MS3, and enjoyed his time at the ivy. And as stated above med school is much more expensive than undergrad, just go look at the prices now and figure they will go up in 4 more years. So maybe $85K+ a year and then some!</p>

<p>Kat</p>

10

<p>I have to agree with blossom. I don’t think kids are “dropping” out of STEM due to toxicity; they are more likely dropping INTO another field. Kids and parents are pretty narrow in majors: Med school aspirations? Study biology, chemistry or some derivation thereof; Law school? study history or poli sci; Business school? Econ. Pre-college, a child may think “okay, I’ll be biology because I want to be a doctor”. Then the child gets to college and finds there are 67 other majors she never even imagined. Urban Studies! That’s what catches her eye and she decides to major in that instead of biology.</p>

<p>When I was at Penn, back in the day, You could definitely be premed without being a biology or chemistry major… There were students who were non-STEM majors but making sure they fulfilled all the pre-med requirements. This was actually seen as the smarter way to be pre-med. There is serious weeding in the science majors and/or the pre-med curriculum. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I’m unclear what this statement even means. I didn’t feel it was up to my classmates to teach me how to study. I had to figure out what worked for me, not mimic others. There were study groups but no one shared study habits. Some students found study groups useful; others did not and preferred to study on their own. </p>

11

<p>You should be able to contact the school to find out how many pre-med switch to non pre-med majors. I am not sure how meaningful that data is. During a presentation at my daughter’s school (a top public research university), they indicate that 1200 student start as pre-med and about 120 make it to med school. When asked why, the professor bluntly said they couldn’t cut it. He further explained that many underestimate what it took and the level of commitment that was needed.</p>

<p>I would contact current students to ask about your concerns about support. If you search on the college website, you will probably find clubs for science students that list contact information for the officers. They might be willing to talk with your daughter. The admissions department might also help.</p>

12

<p>How do you characterize a history major who applies to med school? Certainly that’s someone who does not show up in the statistics of being pre-med. So these 1200 students start and only 120 students make it type of statistics don’t really help a kid understand the dynamic at that school IMHO. </p>

<p>I also find that even talented and worldly kids don’t understand what a research scientist or someone working in an academic medical setting actually does all day. That’s why I’m suspicious of the HS kids I know who “are dying to become an MD/PhD” according to the beaming and doting parent- but the kid hates math. The truth is that a person can become a competent and caring pediatrician even if he or she hates math (as long as he or she is good enough at math to do well in Organic chem and the like). But I would love to see the stats on someone who can make it through an MD/PhD program while hating math. My bet is that it’s exactly zero. So much of research involves manipulating large datasets; the idea that someone is going to do cutting edge lab work without at least being able to tolerate the math strikes me as crazy.</p>

<p>So IMHO, most of the kids in HS who claim they’re pre-med and most of the parents who are so proud of the pre-meds really don’t have a granular understanding of the path to becoming a physician. Hence- the drop out/burn out/switch out rate.</p>

<p>And the idea that Brown is an uber competitive environment is just crazy. And some of the kids in PLME are the most chill humanists one could ever meet!!!</p>

13

<p>If it were me…and medical,school was a significant option, I would save the college money for MEDICAL school costs. There is precious little aid for med school, and the costs are staggering. So…IMHO, keep your daughter’s undergrad costs to a minimum, and then be able to offer her the money saved for her studies beyond undergrad school.</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>Presumably as either a humanities or social studies major (not sure what AAMC counts history as; history can be classified as either or both): <a href=“https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/2013factstable18.pdf”>https://www.aamc.org/download/321496/data/2013factstable18.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>From the undergraduate school’s point of view, a history major who is also pre-med tends to be fairly obvious if one looks at his/her course selection that includes pre-med science courses with labs instead of the more usual “for poets” type of science breadth courses.</p>

15

<p>My father entered college with the idea of being premed, but switched to chemical engineering because he found the premed courses too easy and “boring.” </p>

<p>In truth, he was one of those born engineering minds, and I cannot see him as a physician caring for patients. A research scientist, yes. A surgeon, quite possibly–one of the ones with great results but a lousy bedside manner. :D</p>

16

<p>I am also thinking that some kids who go to college with a pre-med mindset and 'wash out" often find themselves in over their heads, not because of a lack of smarts, but a lack of preparation due to the strength of their high school educations.</p>

<p>For example, my sons’ high school has a reputation for academic excellence–my boys worked hard in high school, and got good grades; got to college, continued to work hard and got good grades–but did not at all feel overwhelmed, more like college difficulty was just the expected next step in difficulty as was experienced in moving on from algebra to calculus.</p>

<p>But one of my son’s friends attended a less rigorous high school. He had a higher GPA than my son in high school–but he really struggled in college. He–and his mom–were astounded by how far behind he felt in the college environment, in so many areas, from researching/writing papers, to math preparation, to study skills. He got a real knock to his confidence, and it took him a couple of semesters to catch up to his classmates and regain his confidence.</p>

17

<p>That the Gladwell example you cite was Brown is pretty ironic, my having just described a complete different experience of my daughter. And she did not have a smooth path either, she definitely had her struggles and failures and stresses early on. But she did not have any crisis of confidence, and was inspired by the accomplishment students around her who she considered role models. Also, she was very motivated by learning for itself. Not that she isn’t competitive and wants to be the best but the concept of being in the top or bottom of the class just didn’t signify. So not to make it about Brown, but I did bring it up as an example of the type of school culture in a top school to look at if you don’t want a cut throat environment. This just really discredits Gladwell’s arguments and I feel he is really misleading people in service of a smart infotainment concept. Why does that student think she will pass organic chem elsewhere?</p>

<p>I guess your daughter really needs to look within, and how she responds to stress and competition and external validation. Not that anyone wants to go some place it is beaten out of you, but really this is sort of a “fit” issue perhaps, and career fit as well. I think some colleges do have a weeder class culture, but at the end of the day you have to pass organic chem anywhere you are.</p>

<p>My daughter was in varsity athletics in HS and I think that sort of competitive spirit and developing grit and determination and not being a quitter is pretty good for your mindset.</p>

18

<p>I agree with you BrownParent. A few years ago we had a lively thread going about running and whether our kids like to run at the front of the pack during a marathon or the middle of the pack or the back of the pack. I do believe this goes to fit. I do believe to some extend, Gladwell’s theories, only because I do think there are some kids that really excel when they are the big fish in the small pond…and face it a small pond offers much opportunity for the kid who is going to excel no matter where they are - a twist on the running in the middle or the back of the pack in a marathon. The son who is at a “big” uni was the sports kid…used to fighting for position, fighting for attention, moving up in position and competing. The son who eschewed sports (except for golf) which face it is not a team sport and doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body, went to a small college…and thrived being the big fish in the small pond e.g. running at the front of the pack. And yes, organic chem is organic chem is organic chem…no matter where you take it. </p>

19

<p>How will she pay for med school? Will you contribute or will she? Would it be better to let her go to a school where she gets merit scholarships and then use some of the money for med school?</p>

20

<p>Hawk, I’m a chemistry washout from a state university where I was definitely on the upper end of the academic spectrum going in. I don’t think it’s a matter of the average SAT scores of the other students. </p>

<p>Does your daughter have any smaller colleges to consider? What killed me was the huge lecture coupled with the Chinese-speaking TA who presided over our lab. It wasn’t an environment conducive to learning – at least not for me. I don’t have any regrets in hindsight - nor do I place blame on the school, like the fictional Caroline Sacks – I’m sure I could have pulled through if I had been motivated to focus more attention on school and less on my boyfriend. But if you are advising your daughter, please also consider the impact of class size and whatever support systems the school has in place.</p>

<p>My d. is a Barnard grad and hands down, I would say that the best place for a woman to get a start in sciences with plenty of support and encouragement, along with inspiring role models, is a women’s college . – but my d. is not a STEM major. (However, my d. did have some wonderful experiences with the science faculty at her college – so I have no doubt that she would have found it a supportive environment if that had been her goal). Of course your daughter already has acceptances in hand – and I’m guessing it doesn’t include any of the Seven Sisters. But just in case some other parents are reading this… I thought I would throw that out.</p>

<p>That brings me to another point. Stat-wise, Barnard was a big reach for my daughter, and she had some bumps in the road her first semester. Got a C on her first midterm and was devastated. But she rose to the challenge, maintained an A average after that, and graduated summa cum laude.</p>

<p>Now in grad school she feels that she is at an advantage over her classmates, who seem to be more stressed and have a harder time with assignments. She feels the rigor of her undergraduate experience has now put her at an advantage. So she’s the other side of the coin – some people excel in an environment that provides more challenge- and a more demanding undergraduate school might also provide better preparation for the next step. </p>

<p>I think the answer to your question, besides finances, depends a whole lot on your daughter’s personality. My d. was never cutthroat, but she tended to do pretty well in competitive settings. I think she has the right mix of willingness to up her game and put in intense effort to excel, a long with a sense of humor and a dash of cynicism that make it easy for her to shrug things off and move on when things don’t go as planned. </p>

<p>Your daughter has the capacity to do well at any of the colleges that have admitted her – the question is: will she do well? That depends a lot more on her personality and level of motivation than on whatever message Malcolm Gladwell is trying to sell. </p>