<p>This is just such a classic CC thread, incorporating obsession with college ranking, bashing of so-called ‘lesser’ Ivies, mixed with a little elitism and helicoptering.</p>
<p>Many kids do not view attending a lower-ranked college as necessarily a negative action. They are much more concerned with ‘fit’, specifically particular departments relative to intended majors. There are so many reasons why a student selects a particular school, and only one aspect is perceived ranking.</p>
<p>Yes, my son talked to people in his chosen major who convinced him that a local school with good contacts and networking would be better than another he was also considering. We know people who teach at the school so he has a built in network of references and assistance when needed. In addition, the ‘lesser’ school was willing to work with him to double major thereby allowing him to declare it as an incoming freshman. </p>
<p>In the end the fit was just too good.</p>
<p>Some would call this hair-splitting but D turned down Wellesley for Smith on the basis of fit. Had an outstanding UG experience, has worked 2-1/2 years, and is now awaiting results of grad school apps and planning a 3-4 week trip to Europe in the summer as a present to herself (paid by herself).</p>
<p>Before choosing between Smith & Wellesley, she had been turned down by Yale/Stanford/Harvard. After a year at Smith, she said, “Yale could come calling now and I’d tell them ‘no thanks.’”</p>
<p>ALF: Of course you are right. He chose the waves in the end! They are ranked top 5! :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s hair-splitting!</p>
<p>My friend’s kid turned down a generous merit scholarship from the University of Chicago to attend Virginia Commonwealth University, because VCU has a superior studio art program.</p>
<p>State flagships have very high yield, which suggests that ALF is right.</p>
<p>For example, University of Florida has a higher yield rate than Dartmouth. (See <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/730073-how-do-yields-compare-top-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/730073-how-do-yields-compare-top-colleges.html</a>)</p>
<p>Just curious, how does yield matter? Anyway, we’re going through the prestige vs. fit scenario right now. S accepted at a lower Tier 1 college (USNWR 60’s) but still enamored at the prospect of getting accepted at a higher Tier 1 (USNWR 30’s). Should be interesting.</p>
<p>Yield matters because it suggests that these schools are more likely to be top choices of the students who applied there.</p>
<p>^ As if it matters what other students choose.</p>
<p>Are there people actually using magazine editors’ opinions of what is important in choosing a school? Is the best school something like the best song or the best restaurant?</p>
<p>
It’s awfully hard to compare yields at places like this. UF may get quite a few applicants who apply only there.
I think it has a lot in common with the best restaurant. Reviews can tell you a lot about whether a particular restaurant is likely to be a good fit for you, and there are some objective criteria that make one restaurant “better” than another. But if you don’t like seafood, it doesn’t matter how many Michelin stars the seafood restaurant has.</p>
<p>Nice analogy.</p>
<p>However there are plenty of people who are not especially fond of seafood who will still want to go to the four star Michelin restaurant because it is hard to get a reservation and they will then have bragging rights for having been.</p>
<p>
That’s true…but there are also people who think that’s the only reason anybody wants to go there.</p>
<p>If a kid is willing to work harder and achieve more because he/she is motivated by 'status," then so be it. I really wouldn’t argue with that, or with anything that makes somebody do better at what it is that matters to them.</p>
<p>For my youngest, right now, the only thing that makes her want to go to college is the potential of going to a school with a really great football team. I’m all for it. Whatever gets the kid to get her homework done. ;)</p>
<p>In the end, the kids come up with their own “real” rankings. For my oldest, it had to be urban and near the mountains for kyaking and rock climbing. Fine. Let’s get on the plane and find you something like that. Each kid is different.</p>
<p>I talked DS out of applying to some top schools he was lukewarm about specifically because I did not want him to be ‘that guy’ at the office party 25 years from now where someone says, “I went to Harvard” and ‘that guy’ says, “I got into Harvard, but didn’t go . . .” </p>
<p>In the ensuing office discussions about ‘that guy’ – people never say “he’s a great flagship-U grad,” but say of him “he got into Harvard and didn’t go.” </p>
<p>It’s been 30 years since I was a freshman in college, but I can still pick out the tuba player in the marching band who “got into Yale, but didn’t go because he didn’t like New Haven.” I know nothing else about him.</p>
<p>The risk turning down higher-ranked-U is that a student may be defined by the road not taken, not by the road one is on – again, in my experience.</p>
<p>My son was accepted to UC Berkeley and decided that he wanted a smaller and more collaborative environment for undergrad. He decided to go to Whitman College where his hard work had gotten him merit aid. He’s the only one anyone can remember at his rural northern California high school who got into UCB and didn’t go. He was briefly viewed by his classmates as crazy, but never seemed concerned. I know in my heart that he made absolutely the right decision for himself, he’s totally happy and thriving socially, academically and personally. </p>
<p>I’m really grateful for this thread because I still find myself talking to other parents and saying that he got into Berkeley but … blah blah blah. I just need to get over it.</p>
<p>
And somebody will probably say, “Yeah, suuuure he did.” So if you make a decision like this, it’s probably best to keep it to yourself most of the time.</p>
<p>I know someone who works in recruiting for a financial firm and they basically don’t look at resumes that don’t have Ivies on them. I think this is sick…but it’s true. So, you’re giving up something tangible when you give up a name. You also give up a certain glamour, in a society that values names and logos partly because its so enormous that there’s not a lot of time to judge people for who they really are. In these economic times its hard to give up something that may bring economic reward-- and certainly there are other rewards of going to name schools-- competition of the good kind, that spurs and inspires you to your best work, faculty who are drawn to the schools for similar reasons. </p>
<p>I really wanted D to have some of these benefits-- things I missed myself as a young woman. But it’s not what she wants, and in my life as a peripatetic visiting professor, I’ve seen enough great students at unheralded colleges to know there’s a lot of goodness and greatness out there, in all kinds of places. Also to know some of the perils of name schools. </p>
<p>I might very well eat in a highly rated restaurant just to see what it was like. But for a major investment and four years of my daughter’s life, I have to look way beyond any ratings, at what’s really most beneficial for her in so many different ways.</p>
<p>"I know someone who works in recruiting for a financial firm and they basically don’t look at resumes that don’t have Ivies on them. I think this is sick…but it’s true. "</p>
<p>-Well, then do not apply to these jobs. I do not know any of my 9 employment places (few very huge international companies, some smaller, various industries and set of customers), that cared about name of my UG and Grad. school. Few have asked for GPA though and I had to tell some that I will be guessing in my answer because I could not possibly remember after almost 30 years of experience. It helps that I graduated Magna Cum Laude, much easier to remember than GPA. For my D. it was a definite “who cares” as Medical School does not care, they want to see numbers.</p>