<p>It seems like a lot of the kids here are so interested in getting into expensive ivy league school. The Chance Me thread is full of them. </p>
<p>As I read these threads, it makes me wonder if I am the only person who wasn't interested in going to "prestigious" universities. Don't get me wrong now, I am not against large universities. In fact, I go to a very large research university with 30,000 kids. But, I don't think I was so obsessed with getting into Duke, UCLA UC Berkeley, Vanderbilt University and of course... the top ivy league schools.</p>
<p>Did anyone else feel this way while they were applying for college?</p>
<p>Yeah, I don’t really have any desire to go to such competitive schools. I see there only being two outcomes: working much more than I want and being much more stressed out than I should be, or not working as hard and not stressing as much as I should and looking worse as a result.</p>
<p>No I don’t want to go to an Ivy. I don’t see why so many people here are so interested in them… I guess it shows how prestige driven people are. Not worth the stress nor the money.</p>
<p>Can’t say I’m not applying to top schools though… but no Ivies.</p>
<p>Schools like Harvard live too much off of their namesake anyways. Although I did apply to Harvard on a whim (and was rejected), I honestly have not expressed any significant interest in any of the Ivy League schools or Stanford when I was applying.</p>
<p>Some top schools, like MIT and the University of Chicago, did pique my interest during the process, however. Oh, how I regret not having applied to Chicago…</p>
<p>I’m going to USC even though I got into Duke, Dartmouth, U Chicago, etc. just because it was the best fit for me and I received scholarship money, even though the other schools are much more prestigious.</p>
<p>My SAT scores sucked and ECs weren’t interesting enough for ivy leagues, so I didn’t bother applying, haha.</p>
<p>But I tell my mother even if I had top credentials I wouldn’t want to apply to Harvard or Yale. Maybe only Princeton and Columbia. But I honestly would have looked to some top small liberal arts school instead. I don’t have the money though, which is why I applied to my state school and like 2 other schools.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to an ivy league, but there are so many other GREAT colleges out there with just as much academic prestige. That’s why I don’t understand kids who apply to ONLY ivy leagues and not mix it up a bit with some top “fit” schools.</p>
<p>I always had my sights set on them when I was younger, because of the name recognition… but once I got to high school and started to realize who I was, I wanted no part of it. I’m a work hard/play hard kinda girl. I can be un-PC, loud, and obnoxious at times. Academics are not my entire life, and I don’t spend my time striving to be the greatest and show everyone else how wildly intelligent I am. The reputations of most ivies are snooty, upper class, and elitist – I’d probably offend everyone there. So I think an ivy (or most of them… I’d probably be able to handle Dartmouth) would be far too pretentious for me to tolerate.</p>
<p>I never wanted people to think I was elitist, priviledged, or made it in life because of the name of the university got me through.</p>
<p>At the same time, I wanted to go to a great school, and we all have egos - I have confidence in my intelligence and abilities but I can’t say I don’t want others to consider me intelligent as well.</p>
<p>In the end, I didn’t pick the university that was ranked highest in US news (top 10) but another school I thought was a lot more fun and a better fit for me. I’m satisfied with my decision, but sometimes I’d like better name recognition of the university, heh.</p>
<p>I like Vandy because I get the name recognition AND the social life of other schools. I work my ass off, but I can party just as much as I study. I like the idea of Ivies but wouldn’t be content to work that much harder for far less relaxation time.</p>
<p>I never really expressed interest in attending an Ivy League. I knew deep down that the only truly appealing thing for me (and my parents) would be the prestige/name associated with the school, and obviously one should never choose their school based on prestige alone. The super-competitive environment just isn’t for me and I know I’d spend way too much time studying and comparing myself to other, smarter people than me, which would ultimately result in me feeling like crap. I wanted a traditional college experience at a large (but well-regarded) state school so I did not apply to any other types of colleges. (I wouldn’t have gotten into an Ivy anyway, not that I’m complaining :P)</p>
<p>Schools I’d go to before even opening acceptance letters from Ivies: Caltech and Harvey Mudd College. They’re small, they’re elitist, they have VERY intellectually vibrant communities, and they’re so much more geared to my math/science major than the Ivies.</p>
<p>Most important to me in a college is quality/rigor of education (in which Ivies seem to excel – but not as greatly as my top college choices); second most important is the overall intellectual brilliance of the student body (in which my top college choices easily top the Ivies); third most important is probably the location (the closer to home, the better; I also love southern California overall); fourth most important might be the university’s reputation.</p>