<p>Hi, I'm a Junior in high school and am starting to look for colleges that I might be interested in applying. The question that's always been in the back of my head is that how much does college affect one's life/career? I mean, there's always graduate school, which accepts people from any school as long as the resume is good. I've been stressed over colleges lately. I realized that my grades for this year aren't so good(B's and a C, which killed my straight A GPA). And I ask myself, what if i don't get into the college I've always dreamed of? What if I just get into an okay college? What difference does that make?</p>
<p>I think college in general has a big impact on your life and career. However, the individual school less so - though it's important you go somewhere you can be happy at, that has the ability to challenge you. What's more important is that you take advantage of opportunities at any college. </p>
<p>I don't think it makes a huge difference in your life if you go to an "okay" school, seeing as many successful people didn't even have that opportunity. Your attitude is everything.</p>
<p>A good student will be a good student no matter where he/she goes. A motivated student will be motivated no matter where he/she goes.</p>
<p>A successful student will be successful in life no matter where they go.</p>
<p>Grad school requires more than good resume. If that was actually true, I'd get in my top choices already!</p>
<p>In general, college itself will have an impact on your development as a person, no matter where you go because you'll meets lots more people and have tons of opportunities to try new things.</p>
<p>I totally agree with GoldShadow.</p>
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A good student will be a good student no matter where he/she goes. A motivated student will be motivated no matter where he/she goes.</p>
<p>A successful student will be successful in life no matter where they go.
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<p>True, but a good school can make student successful whereas a bad school can't.</p>
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True, but a good school can make student successful whereas a bad school can't.
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Not true. A good school can't make a student successful unless the student actually uses the opportunities available. A good student will thrive anywhere, so long as they are motivated. Some schools obviously offer more opportunities than others, but how you take advantage of the opportunities you do have is what matters more.</p>
<p>I'm sure we don't have to start a list of extremely famous or successful people who went to no-name colleges (or none at all), but it would be a pretty long list.</p>
<p>Read my sentence again, I said that bad schools can't make good students whereas, good schools have that possibility. </p>
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I'm sure we don't have to start a list of extremely famous or successful people who went to no-name colleges (or none at all), but it would be a pretty long list
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<p>They were smart and/or hard working to begin with. So environment has less of a role. But if a student isn't smart or/and naturally hard working, then being in an environment that is not academically focused and have no long lasting guidance would be detrimental. For example, if a student of modest IQ went to an inner city high school, he wouldn't find any incentive to study hard and focus on college admissions because other students don't either. Its a basic principal of behavioral science. People tend to do what their friends do. Of course if a child is gifted, then he/she may very well succeed anyways. Because of innate curiosity. If the child of modest IQ belonged to academically charged milieu, then, there would be a very high chance of success in college admissions and life in general. The same applies to undergrad. Lets face it, pedigree matters.</p>
<p>GoldShadow, I agree with you when you're talking about self-driven, self-motivated people. Unfortunately for the world at large, that group is not very large. Most people require exterior forces for motivation - they tend to work harder when surrounded by people that work hard. And vice versa.</p>
<p>So yes, I would say the college does matter. When there's very little intellectualism and everyone just spends their time drinking their lives away, people can get discouraged or feel socially and academically stunted (it's so much more interesting to have friends you can talk to about "smart" issues, as opposed to watching them puke).</p>
<p>But yes, for the type of person who's very driven to succeed, the school doesn't really matter, although going to a lower level school will be more of an obstacle.</p>
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But if a student isn't smart or/and naturally hard working, then being in an environment that is not academically focused and have no long lasting guidance would be detrimental
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<p>If you can't make a habit of being smart or hard working, you won't be able to hold down a great job no matter how good of a brand name you have on your resume.</p>
<p>unless you get into HYPS you might as well work at a car wash</p>
<p>Darn it, car wash for me...</p>
<p>College has a significant effect on your life, but not necessarily in terms of prestige of the college or your GPA. It's more important that the college experience as a whole enriches you are a person.</p>
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If you can't make a habit of being smart or hard working, you won't be able to hold down a great job no matter how good of a brand name you have on your resume.
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<p>But a student can develop those habits over the course of four years in the right environment. If not, he would likely not even make it out of the great school and get that great job. The right school, however, can motivate a student to become more studious and determined.</p>
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But a student can develop those habits over the course of four years in the right environment. If not, he would likely not even make it out of the great school and get that great job. The right school, however, can motivate a student to become more studious and determined.
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<p>That's why I said that
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it's important you go somewhere you can be happy at, that has the ability to challenge you.
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<p>I don't think only prestigious, expensive schools are the right environment.</p>
<p>I agree with that a successful student will be successful no matter where she goes. I'm also getting the the idea that the forte of prestigious schools is the peers. I kind of agree with how the peers influence the student in terms of study habits. I attend an average high school. Most students there are pretty laid back. I think I got a big arrogant after freshmen year, seeing how I was ranked first without even putting out my every effort. Now, my gpa is really bad lol. </p>
<p>Though I want to keep in mind that opportunities are everywhere. No matter which school I go, if I'm really motivated, I can be just as successful or even more successful than the students who came out of really prestigious schools. The reason is that for a student to end up doing just as well in a not so motivated environment, the student must be very determined.</p>