<p>I guess I'll have the worst Christmas ever....go to state school, be a dropout, get a job a McDonalds, get married to a fat girl, become addicted to beer, watch football everyday, and suddenly die of some weird and impossible accident (i.e. getting killed by a enormous paper cut). Human Ecology...Please Let Me Be Accepted!!!</p>
<p>What's wrong with going to a state school? Many state schools are still high quality and are more affordable especially if you are in-state. I had a tough time deciding between UVa and Cornell, but ultimately for engineering Cornell is better.</p>
<p>Also if you go to a state school there is a better chance you will arleady know people from you high school going there, for me I was the only one from my high school to go to Cornell, whereas UVa and VaTech had 20+ friends going to each.</p>
<p>Yes, it would be amazing if you got into Cornell, but your life certainly isn't over if you have to go to a dreaded state school.</p>
<p>U mich, UC berk, UVA, ever rutgers, are all excellent state schools.</p>
<p>I had an epiphany when I was accepted to cornell ED. I had been pessimistic about my chances of acceptance, and already had sent out 4 RD applications, and recieved an acceptance rolling from rutgers (which i was almost certain i would hate attending). When I got accepted to Cornell I was ecstatic...probably the most excited moment of my life. I can currently only think of a few in the future which will rival it. That's so you know just how much it meant and how excited I was.</p>
<p>During the next week or so I got around to sending letters of withdrawl/decline to rutgers, wesleyan, rochester, and lehigh. I suddenly realized I was very, yes that's right, VERY, sad about having to withdraw from these colleges. (even rutgers, but without the "very" perhaps). I had just realized that I had applied to all of them because I liked them (versus other academically equivilant schools). Believe me, Cornell is most certainly not the only college you like. While it seemed like the be all and end all for me, too, it turned out it wasn't. You will be happy attending any of most of the colleges you applied to. Don't worry.</p>
<p>I remember you feeling how you do, which is why I'm replying now instead of AFTER i switch my clothes in the laundry room to the dryers. Good luck and I hope you get in, but please believe me when I say you WILL be happy at college. If you even apply to a school like cornell, that means you will surely get accepted to other fabulous institutions and have your pick of which one matches your personality best!</p>
<p>drinkmilk -- as a fellow Cornell applicant, I really, really hope you get in! Please let all of us know:) When do yall hear about ED?</p>
<p>Yeah, I've been feeling kinda depressed after I read so many people's stats and how I have no chance at all. Even though University of Connecitcut is a really nice school, I just don't see myself there. Ah......sigh, sigh, sigh, ah...</p>
<p>ppl shouldnt be so fatalistic. If you dont get into Cornell it isnt the end of the world. I frankly think my chances are alot worse than others. My gpa is low and a good SAT score wont help much. Anyway there is so much in life. College isnt the be all and end all. There are alot more options.</p>
<p>quick question..when do we (ED apps) find out our scores...dec 10th or dec 15th</p>
<p>somewhere around there. it varies. we were told the 15th in 04 but found out it was the 10th at 5:00PM</p>
<p>You will get over it if you don't get accepted. The environment on this site can be overbearing as far as sensationalizing the college process, but in the end everyone will go to a good school, and ultimately attain a good job. A state school is not the worst thing in world-in fact, many great schools are state schools: UMich, UVA, UCONN</p>
<p>Settle down.</p>
<p>Oh boy, results near finals time.</p>
<p>how'bout U-wisconsin? (sorry, random note)</p>
<p>or UNC chapel hill</p>
<p>marrying a fat chick is a little drastic</p>
<p>but it's so trueeeeeeeeeeeee =P</p>
<p>just as long as her name is someting like Rockefeller, Carnegie, or Vanderbilt. ;)</p>
<p>Man, it won't be the end of the world. Anyway, didn't you hear people complaining about the dating scene at Cornell (yeah, I know we've had a huge debate over the topic on this forum, and I'm not saying anything about the validity of this rumour)?</p>
<p>It's not the end of the world, but it sure hell will (feel) like it.</p>
<p>
<p>ECONOMIC VIEW</p>
<p>Ivy League or Also-Ran? Does It Matter?</p>
<p>By TOM REDBURN</p>
<p>The long march is almost over. This week, my daughter, like countless other high school seniors, will choose which college she will attend in the fall. Does it make a difference where she goes?</p>
<p>It does to us, of course. But within the economics profession, there is a vigorous debate over whether highly selective and highly expensive colleges like most of those to which our daughter, Emily, applied confer any real benefit in later life.</p>
<p>Recent research by Alan B. Krueger, an economics professor at Princeton University (can't get much more selective than that) and Stacey B. Dale, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research, a consulting firm, suggests that it does not. They found that students who chose a school with lower admissions standards over a more competitive school earned incomes just as high as those who attended the elite college.</p>
<p>A fat paycheck isn't everything far from it. But what that means, Mr. Krueger explained, is that a student accepted at the University of Pennsylvania, a prestigious member of the Ivy League, would be just as well off going to Penn State, which some people know more for its football team than its academics. Most intriguing, the research found that even students rejected by a highly selective college did as well as those who attended it.</p>
<p>"The best school that turned you down," Mr. Krueger said, "is a better predictor of your future income than the school you actually attended." It's the person, not the place, that matters: students who apply to schools for the ambitious are ambitious enough to do well just about anywhere.</p>
<p>So what does this mean for parents? First, it's supposed to be comforting; you can console your child that the rejection letter from Brown doesn't really hurt.</p>
<p>And it suggests a cunning strategy: Apply to Harvard or Yale but then go to the college that offers the best deal. That's partly a joke, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of second-tier colleges the kind that offer generous merit aid to talented students using Mr. Krueger's theory to persuade high-school graduates to choose, say, Denison or Lewis & Clark, over Williams or Stanford. No doubt there's some truth to that argument for some students.</p>
<p>Now, like most fathers, I think I know what's best for my daughter. Funny how she has her own ideas, though.</p>
<p>As she culled through the acceptance letters, I thought Wellesley, the most prestigious name on the list, would push her the hardest to succeed.</p>
<p>"All girls," she replied. Exactly. No boys to distract her.</p>
<p>What about Pomona College in Southern California, where my wife and I met?</p>
<p>"It never snows," I told her.</p>
<p>"Too far away," she said. "I'd never see you."</p>
<p>What parent can argue with that?</p>
<p>For her, the choice has come down to two colleges. The well-known and nearby Wesleyan University, in Middletown, Conn., is a classic New England liberal arts college that prides itself on its diversity. It usually attracts several students every year from her high school; one of her best friends already goes there. Carleton College, a hidden jewel in the Midwest, is more obscure, but it has a better program in math, which she loves, and is close to Minneapolis, where her favorite aunt lives with her family.</p>
<p>WE'RE fortunate that she has such good colleges to choose from and that we can afford to send her anywhere she wants to go. But this also makes clear that the choice of a college is about a lot more than how much money our children will earn in their future careers.</p>
<p>For one thing, what about those who choose a lower-paying but socially valuable career like teaching over something like public relations or investment banking? Are they to be treated as less successful than the class goof-off who mostly drinks and parties but ends up making a lot of money after taking over a car dealership?</p>
<p>Beyond that, many parents care a lot about the academic atmosphere fostered at the colleges their children attend. We want bright faculty members who will challenge them to think harder, and we hope that they will meet interesting people and develop richly satisfying lifelong friendships.</p>
<p>And other academic research, somewhat counter to Mr. Krueger's, still suggests that having lots of smart, motivated fellow students in a concentrated place provides something immensely valuable.</p>
<p>"We're coming up with hard evidence," said Gordon Winston, an economist at Williams College, "that being surrounded by other bright, demanding students has a real effect on academic performance."</p>
<p>In the end, both sides of this economic debate point to one common conclusion: find a challenging college that's a good fit. As a parent, I want what's best for my children. But the decision should be up to them.
</p>
<p>Long post, but it makes sense...if you are ambitious enough to be applying to Cornell, you'll likely do well whereever you go.</p>
<p>"Man, it won't be the end of the world. Anyway, didn't you hear people complaining about the dating scene at Cornell (yeah, I know we've had a huge debate over the topic on this forum, and I'm not saying anything about the validity of this rumour)?"</p>
<p>I find that good looking people will find other good looking people, and that some people may be disappointed to discover that they aren't as good looking as they think they are. The rumor can hold true, though, sometimes it's hard to find attractive members of the opposite sex, but don't lose hope, it happens, 15 drinks later...just kidding, sort of. Most weekends are pretty good, for me and my friends. It seems when we're on the brink of giving up hope, things make an abrupt or comical turn around. For example, though we weren't having the best evening, we did see a girl make out with a guy in a penguin suit, which partially compensated for the bad time and is permanently burnt into my memory. I guess it depends on which parties you go to and your luck...and probably a little bit on your personality if you want anything sustainable (but who cares about that in college? ;)).</p>
<p>Wait...Spanks, you're a girl right? Send me a picture of what you look like. Or do you have any pics on MySpace?</p>