^ *to investigate college students’ perceptions and use of illegal Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) stimulants during spring and summer 2006.
From fall 2005 through fall 2006, the authors studied 1,811 undergraduates at a large, public, southeastern research university in the United States.*
@iwannabe_brown Here is more detail on the study. If you happen to be part of the fraternity/sorority upperclassmen subpopulation at U Kentucky, the numbers get pretty high…
These days, it is also used as a weight control drug…
http://tufts.uloop.com/news/view.php/60402/Adderall-The-Academic-Steroid
@iwannabe_Brown There is a plethora of better data on the subject. Try Google Scholar. As I said, this isn’t a topic about drug use so I don’t want to get into a debate, feel free to browse the data yourself. The school poll you posted is just comical. It’s very east to overlook if you so choose.
42%?! That’s a little concerning
Exactly what do you imagine “pleases the crowd here”? From what you’ve written so far, I’m skeptical about your judgement of your fellow human beings, but go ahead, share with us your wisdom, including how alike you apparently believe we are (probably without knowing a single one of us in person).
Add me to the list of people who felt accepted for who I was for the first time in my life when I got to my Ivy. I could be myself and everyone took it at face value. I called my dad from school and he remarked that I sounded like a fish that fell back in the water. Tons of pressure, yes – the place vibrates. I loved it.
I don’t understand students in Ivy league schools who complain about prestige snobs and pressures. They are top schools in the United States with many talented people(who, may be understandably arrogant) who have managed through very low acceptance rate. Competition is only a natural thing for such schools.
Other ivies seem to be a bit lower, perhaps due to Harvard’s survey including peer groups and off campus services. For example, Brown reports 30% have used services and ~8% have used often. In Brown’s survey 96% reported the overall experience was good or excellent, with 95% saying they’d choose the college again. I’d be very surprised if the general consensus was “sucks” at any ivy or similar college.
As someone who was rejected from most of the colleges that I applied to, I have to say that this article was very reassuring. No, now I don’t hate every top college out there and I definitely don’t think that every student’s experience at these colleges is the same.
It’s just nice to hear from someone with first-hand experience talk about it in not a very positive light. It really has helped me overcome the sadness of not being accepted.
Yes, the article is a little bitter, but everything in it is true. There are indeed horrible people accepted to top colleges every year. They do look amazing on paper, but once you have a conversation with them or simply check their social media profiles, you realize that they are far from being the enlightened individuals that their applications made them look to be. I know people who post homophobic, insensitive, sexist jokes on a regular basis and guess what, they’re going to Ivies next year.
Yes, because there are great people everywhere and jerks everywhere. There’s no assemblage of humans for which this isn’t true.
While those percentages of students seeking counseling seem high, I wonder if one reason they are so high is that much of the stigma for seeking counseling has been removed.
Just wanted to mention…my daughter finished her first year at Columbia last week. She loved it, and thrived there. Yes, it was stressful at times and she spent a lot of time in the library studying. But she also made amazing friends (found her “people”), joined several clubs/activities and already made connections with professors in her field. She can’t wait to go back in the fall and my younger daughter will be joining her there as well.
Obviously, the ivies aren’t for everyone. But they won’t “suck” for everyone either. You will find wonderful, engaging students at all schools and jerks as well. It’s something to weed through as you go.
This article says more about the student’s situation than it does about Columbia University. The student is perhaps representative of a group of children from ambitious families who see admission to an Ivy League as a type of Holy Grail. College is a beginning, not an end. There is a reason why high school graduation is called Commencement. In the United States, there are so many routes to success. I know that in many countries, there is one elite school or set of schools, and if you are not admitted to one of these, you are doomed. In the United States that is not the case. What the author is experiencing at Columbia exists at all colleges. You are the person you are regardless of where you go to college. It is more about what you do with your opportunities. It seems as though many students who are bound for elite colleges get so focused on admission and build up the significance of admission so much in their minds that they are destined to be disappointed.
@epiphany, your comment suggesting I “rushed to judgment” strikes me as (sadly? humorously?) ironic. We’re now at 15+ pages of this 20ish year old kid being judged, almost entirely negatively, and saddled with all manner of negative adjectives and psychiatric suggestions. And as far as I know no one here knows him either. My impression about how the majority posting in the thread view his extracurriculars is based entirely on the data in the thread to date. I’d be happy to hear about how any of your views/reactions have been mischaracterized.
My kid had a disappointing first year at Penn. It was 8 years ago now, so I won’t go into the whole thing again, although I posted about it at the time. He actually tried to leave in February of freshman year, but I got him headed back. He was used to being on his own, so it wasn’t that. He had gone to boarding school and spent a summer living by himself and training for his sport in the mountains. He found almost everything about Penn to be disappointing. And, yes, there was a huge amount of Adderall abuse and every single kid on his freshman dorm floor had a fake ID (including him). My son is very social (too much) and also a good student and was a recruited athlete for a lesser sport. He picked Penn over some other really good schools. He looked at transferring, and got into UChicago for a 2nd time. He ultimately decided to stay at Penn, changed some things for himself including living situation and class selection, and was very happy with his last 3 years. I think a lot of students (and parents) have expectations about what a school is going to be like when they enter, and those expectations might not be at all met. It might not be any fault of the school or even the other students. There are a lot of variables and just landing in a certain dorm or classroom can greatly sway your impression of the place.
If anything, I think we can all agree that this certainly points to the importance of fit, regardless of whether or not you think this piece speaks more to the author or the school.
“While those percentages of students seeking counseling seem high, I wonder if one reason they are so high is that much of the stigma for seeking counseling has been removed.”
I think it’s great that students feel they can seek mental help, and that colleges at least have some resources for it (or can point students elsewhere). In “our day”? Did that happen? Not on your life. Unless someone was actively suicidal. Elite colleges have gotten BETTER on this dimension over the years, not worse. There’s at least acknowledgment.
My H and S were both RA’s. My S received extensive training on how to help students who exhibited or expressed signs that they weren’t coping … here’s a whole support system we can tap into for you. When my H was being trained to be an RA? It was … just keep the noise level to a dull roar and be discreet about the booze and you’re done.
Eh, I don’t think this is about fit. This kid probably fits in fine at Columbia. It’s about portraying oneself as the cynical outsider, the critic–something he’d probably be doing if he were at some other kind of college–and a different set of people would be saying that he’s off-base.
What evidence is this based on?
Hunt: THAT. The cynical outsider, whether of not he aimed for any accuracy. And at his age, some kids mistake cynicism for astute observations.
Whether or not I continue posting, I liked post 204 by @matachines. All this fuss.
Prosaic, did you read the link to his interview?