<p>Quote:</p>
<p>"And, for what it's worth, like so many kids, he's now persuaded that his school is exactly the right place for him,.."</p>
<p>Hopefully most kids fall into that category. Sometimes it's even ok to admit that on CC ! Beware,however, that you may be accused of being a troll by defending his choice. :)</p>
<p>Well, let me forestall that by saying that I urged him to go to Williams, so he could play d3 sports!</p>
<p>Hey Idler:</p>
<p>I also urged S to go to Williams!!</p>
<p>We visited three times and I couldn't even get him to apply. (He just couldn't get over the Purple Cow mascot.) We went in the pouring rain the first time, and couldn't find a good place to eat (that was open) the second time. The third time was in the summer, and the place was completely dead. Needless to say, the application never went in.</p>
<p>His best friend from high school goes there too....</p>
<p>I share the sentiments expressed by the prior poster. Fortunately, almost every kid ends up being happy with his school. Kids are adaptable in this way, which is why I have always thought the idea of "fit" (as determined by a 3-hour visit to a campus) is overdone.</p>
<p>Likewise, I am a big fan of Stanford, and always have been. Indeed, you will have to look long and hard for any substantive criticism I have ever made of ANY college (with the possible exceptions of Reed and Deep Springs.)</p>
<p>I needle Stanford about the money it spends on athletic scholarships, and I needle Yale about New Haven, but that's about it.</p>
<p>Harvard, by virtue of its eminence, is a target for many, who believe they must take it down a peg in order to make other schools look relatively better. I recognize this. But having done so doesn't mean I'm not entitled to defend Harvard against such criticisms, which are, I often feel, mean-spirited, exaggerated or baseless. I also recognize that Harvard will, of course, survive, with or without my defensive efforts!</p>
<p>Well then, sokkermom, I'll admit to going to Duke, "when Duke wasn't cool." (actually, it was).</p>
<p>I think in today's world, it is better for a school to be "HOT" than cool.</p>
<p>In any case, most of our kids probably picked the schools to which they have matriculated or will matriculate. We didn't. We can just hope it works out ok in the end.</p>
<p>I love this quote from Byerly, with my editorial comment.. </p>
<p>"( Any top school) by virtue of its eminence, is a target for many, who believe they must take it down a peg in order to make other schools look relatively better. I recognize this. But having done so doesn't mean I'm not entitled to defend (any school) against such criticisms, which are, I often feel, mean-spirited, exaggerated or baseless. I also recognize that (any top school) will, of course, survive, with or without my defensive efforts!"</p>
<p>You will admit (I hope) that Harvard gets more than its share of sniping.</p>
<p>Oh, there is a certain school "down south" that get its share on this board too. I still have not figured out why it is so overrated. No one has really answered that one, but it just is. :) :) :)</p>
<p>I suspect that a good deal of this year's sniping at Duke can be attributed to Tom Wolfe's I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS, which is widely believed to be a not very flattering depiction of that school.</p>
<p>Are you referring to WUStL? I never thought of St. Louis as a southern city, but I guess Missouri is sometimes seen as a "border state."</p>
<p>As for Charlotte Simmons, the Stanford Daily is convinced that Stanford was the model. </p>
<p>On his book tour, the author coyly encouraged students at many schools to see their campus reflected in its "steamy" pages.</p>
<p>Well, you have to take the bad with the good, guys. Personally, I prefer to snipe at the New York Yankees.</p>
<p>idler, another thing we have in common.......</p>
<p>ivyqueen, you may be right.</p>
<p>By this time we all know that research on the effect of where one goes to undergrad school shows little is contributed by the individual school, and that where one applies is more predictive or "career success" than where one is admitted. So armed with this info we visited Harvard, Stanford, etc. My S found he did not like the campuses of either Harvard or Stanford (though I am somewhat a fan of Stanford, and I like Harvard Square). He liked Berkeley, but not enough to apply. For him, he was more concerned about the rigor of the curriculum and what the core courses required than the "name brand." He eventually settled on a top two, one an LAC the other a University and was admitted to both. He finally chose the University after a careful comparison of curricula and opportunities provided at each. There was no putting down of any of the colleges. I asked him if there was a nonacademic reason that contributed to his decision, he said that of all the campuses he visited he detected and appreciated the sense of humor he found at his ultimate choice. He has friends who were admitted to Stanford, Duke, Yale, UWashington, Knox, UMichigan, Reed, CMU, Harvard, etc. All are happy for the others and all are linked through the face book and other sites, and no one has criticized anyone else's college (though there was a little disappointment when friends who were accepted to some of the other Ivy or Ivy-like like schools were not accepted to S's, ruling out beginning the adventure together). The point is, my S and most of his friends applied on the basis of their needs, likes and dislikes, and name branding appears to have had little to do with their ultimate decisions (e.g., UW Honors beat out several Ivy admits). Perhaps we can learn from our children.</p>
<p>"I suspect that a good deal of this year's sniping at Duke can be attributed to Tom Wolfe's I AM CHARLOTTE SIMMONS, which is widely believed to be a not very flattering depiction of that school."</p>
<p>Stanford and a few others were the model... but Tom Wolfe no doubt took some things from his early years in Virginia and Washington & Lee as well.</p>
<p>I know that Wolfe did research at Stanford and elsewhere, and has publicly denied the connection to Duke (from which his daughter graduated a few years ago), but in an op-ed piece in the Durham Herald detailing the parallels, a Duke professor attributed those denials to Southern politeness: <a href="http://www.duke.edu/%7Estuart/tomwolfe.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.duke.edu/~stuart/tomwolfe.html</a>. Similarly, an article in the Duke Chronicle ( <a href="http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/11/41935e0fc2152%5B/url%5D">http://www.chronicle.duke.edu/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/11/11/41935e0fc2152</a>) suggested that the similarities between Duke and Wolfes fictitious Dupont University are rather hard to ignore. </p>
<p>The New York Times thought so too: Charlotte Simmons arrives at Duke, I mean Dupont University ( <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E2DC103FF93BA15752C1A9629C8B63&n=Top%2fFeatures%2fBooks%2fBook%20Reviews%5B/url%5D">http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A05E2DC103FF93BA15752C1A9629C8B63&n=Top%2fFeatures%2fBooks%2fBook%20Reviews</a>).</p>
<p>"Tom Wolfes latest novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons, released earlier this month, was partly inspired by his research at Stanford, he said at a promotional event in Menlo Park on Saturday.</p>
<p>The hefty, 688-page book traces the eventful and often traumatic freshman year of its eponymous heroine, an innocent girl from the three stoplight town of Sparta, North Carolina, who is shocked by the binge drinking, casual sex and social elitism running rampant at the fictional Dupont University, which is loosely modeled on Stanford."</p>
<hr>
<p>And Stanford even gets support from Middle Tennessee State!</p>
<p>"I Am Charlotte Simmons is set at the fictional Dupont College (which is loosely based on Stanford) and follows the inexperienced, naïve protagonist Charlotte Simmons, who hails from rural Sparta, N.C."</p>
<p>I have not read the book. However, my understanding is that it talks (in "detail") about things that we as parents don't necessarily want our kids exposed to. (Drinking, casual sex, etc.)</p>
<p>Maybe to a 17 or 18 year old, these things sound very exciting. So, maybe we should credit Wolfe with helping to increase the applications at most of the schools that he may or may not have used for the basis of his book! </p>
<p>I think all the schools he cited in various interviews had extremely high numbers of applications this year. The admissions offices should be thanking old Tom. Even if the book is fiction, one never knows until they actually attend the ficticious school and see for themselves what really goes on!</p>
<p>I wonder if Charlotte Simmons will see an uptick in sales this Spring!</p>
<p>That was a very sly example of bumping a thread, Byerly. ;) I agree with you that it is hard for one school to be the acknowledged champion, but the champion's reputation thrives with or without active defenders.</p>
<p>I thought it was interesting to imagine that some of the schools competing to be recognized as the "model" for "Charlotte Simmons" a year ago might be less interested in the competition today ;)</p>