“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.”
We agree! Yes!
And sometimes kids his age have to go through cynical to get to astute.
MomofWildChild, I think that it can be a fine line between fitting in well at just about any school and being miserable. I went to 3 top ranked schools (undergraduate and graduate) and loved 2 of them, and was miserable at the 3rd. All were high powered, intense, and competitive. All had some wonderful classmates and teachers, along with others that I didn’t like so much. I was pretty much the same at all 3 schools in terms of my personality and approach. So it may have been partly a matter of “fit”, partly a matter of subtle differences in the environment and structures between equally prestigious and high powered schools, or just luck of the draw in terms of the people I encountered and the experiences I had.
I think that generalizing too much and making this an “Ivy vs non-Ivy” discussion is mis-leading. But I think there are a lot of provocative things in the article which are worth thinking about when choosing a college environment, and in terms of one’s expectations going in.
The older I get the more I also think people read different situations differently. I am quite sure that I could find two kids who took the same organic chemistry class, for example - one saw their classmates as competitors, got overly stressed, felt alone - and another saw their classmates as compatriots and they studied together, etc. And both can be right from their point of view. I know that there are situations in general where I “read” something one way and someone else reads something completely different, and it’s hard to say who is right and who is right. One person’s no-nonsense instructor is another person’s uncaring instructor. One person’s instructor-who-patiently-repeats-explanations is another person’s oh-god-just-get-ON-with-it-bud instructor. And so forth.
My girls went to the same tough college. Overlapping years, many same friends, same primary EC, two entirely different views. However, neither would have written such an article. Ha.
I’m thinking About applying to Cornell for their meteorology program. I don’t know if I should change my mind and don’t apply there. Penn State is my dream school and I think it will be better to go to penn state than going to Cornell.
@NASA2014
Apply and if admitted, visit and research the school. One of my daughter’s close friend at Cornell is in that program.
@2018dad since I read this threat about ZACH SCHWARTZ experience, I don’t know if I should apply to Cornell 
It’s based my observation that ducks quack.
Sorry, but that’s crazy! Apply to Cornell AND Penn State (and hopefully a few other good meterology programs that are easier to get admitted to AND affordable) and consider your options. You can’t let one student’s miserable experience (valid or not) have that much influence on your choices. It’s ONE kid’s opinion. Also Cornell and Columbia, aside from being in the same state and being in the Ivy League, are quite different schools.
If this kid, instead of writing a report on his perceived evils of Columbia, had written a glowing report of the school’s environment, would he have been blown off as a lone nut or someone with elation problems? Or would that generally be accepted as the common experience, since it was positive? Would Cousin Bob’s bad experience at Columbia negate it? All the evidence here, in both the article and the replies, is highly anecdotal. I say we go to US News and World for a report on the happiest colleges. That should settle it once and for all. :)) :-/ =))
Any account which is presented as anecdotal should be rightfully read as such.
The problem, and discord, comes when someone recasts their individual experience into an overall pronouncement. Like an essay titled: “going to an Ivy League school sucks” rather than “MY experience at an Ivy League sucked.”
Hear the difference?
Very well then. If the title of the article had been “Going to an Ivy League school is a positive, rewarding experience” would he still be downgraded for making a generalization from a personal perspective, with posters saying that it isn’t all sunshine and roses, just how they are saying it’s not all doom and gloom?
In fairness, probably nobody would pay much attention to a positive article. Still, people are always posting here on CC about how elite colleges are nothing special.
NASA, you would forego Cornell because one kid reported something in Vice? About a different college in a different environment? Think.
Or were you kidding us? Maybe you were.
@Hunt True. Probably that would have just dissolved into another argument of Ivy vs Big State U giving rewarding experiences.
@lookingforward @NASA2014 Goodness knows what would happen if a top choice was mocked on the Onion.
Exactly–either way, big generalizations based on personal experience are going to provoke pushback.
Did somebody already post this in this thread? http://yaledailynews.com/crosscampus/2012/05/27/keegan-the-opposite-of-loneliness/
This love letter to the Yale experience got an unusual amount of attention, because the writer died in a car accident shortly after writing it (and after graduating).
Lookingforward-- Big 10 schools are much better in my opinion.
Fine, then apply to Big 10 schools. Whatever.
I’m not saying iys are great, their super expensive and plus I totally agree with Zach now.