<p>Last Sunday I saw an interesting interview on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS where Gladwell, the author, argued that going to an ivy school, highly competitive environment , would inhibit a student's chance to excel. A lower GPA could reduce one's chance of getting into the graduate program. On the other hand, excelling at a state school would build confidence and propel the student to achieve higher goals. Consider the high cost of ivy education, do u agree?</p>
<p>I don’t know anyone who has regretted having had kid at HPY. Some parents have told me that their kids were miserable at Cornell, Columbia nd UPenn. Don’t know enough parents with kids at Brown and Dartmouth to say anything. </p>
<p>My one acquaintance has a DD who spent 4 years at UPenn as an Anthro major, who did everything with gust and zest and took advantage of every program and opportunity, did so well and was so encouraged by her profs. Internships, trips, everything went beaufifully, but couldn’t find a job that paid a livng wage in her field. After years of basically supporting their daughter’s passion and living expenses, they pulled the financial plug, and she went back to school, and is now an Optometrist. The mother feels that the ivy aura gave them all unrealistic expectations, and there is a lot of baggage with this. As far as I’m concerned it could have happened with any school, but they are very unhappy about the this outcome. </p>
<p>Also a number of kids who had emotional, mental issues at these school feel that the schools were clearly not a good fit, but the rep of the school made it difficult to leave. Still these schools have very good graduation rates as compared to most colleges.</p>
<p>He is making the assumption that the student would pull a higher GPA at a state school which imo isn’t always going to be true.</p>
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<p>To me, it is all about fit. But people who don’t think this way–those who are “Ivy or nothing”–aren’t going to admit it if their school ends up being a bad fit because the prestige more than makes up for it in their eyes.</p>
<p>A family member graduated from UPenn with a 3.2 GPA and was unable to get into medical school. He strongly believed that he would have had an easier time and higher GPA at a state flagship school.</p>
<p>It’s a sad story but one of my friend’s has a son with mental issues that became apparent when he was at UPenn. Maybe he would have fallen apart anywhere but I believe the rigor of UPenn was not a good environment for him.</p>
<p>No personal experience but have had a couple friends who regretted their kids at Ivy’s. One’s son went to Harvard but had a mental breakdown due to stress. Another has a child at Brown in her second year and is struggling with the very liberal environment and connecting with peers.</p>
<p>In both cases, the kids chose schools that just weren’t good fits. The first knew he didn’t handle stress well… knew there were some mental health concerns. The second knew how liberal Brown is and how staunchly conservative her own upbringing had been.</p>
<p>There will always be people who choose elite schools for the wrong reasons.</p>
<p>No regrets here. My youngest son is a freshman at Harvard now and is happily thriving there. My other son graduated from Brown a couple of years ago and is working at a start up company in Boston as a software engineer. Brown was a good fit for him although the curriculum is a little loose and unstructured there. He’s not the most organized kid and sometimes that was a problem for him. My daughter graduated from Dartmouth in 2009 and is employed at Google. She loved Dartmouth.</p>
<p>My kids all did well in a very middle class high school. They all received ample amounts of financial aid. If we were paying full freight they wouldn’t have attended these schools.</p>
<p>D is at H; she loves it and is doing well and we are happy for that. Why H? Because she got in and we could pay. It’s a great and interesting experience, but at the end of the day what matters more is what you did and not where you did it. More than halfway through I don’t think we will regret it, but that’s mostly because we didn’t think it would make much of a difference in the first place.</p>
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<p>This. Average GPAs are higher at most Ivies than at most public universities, and it’s an error to assume that a B student at an Ivy would be an A student at the state flagship, especially in highly competitive pre-med courses and other STEM courses where many public university professors grade to a very demanding curve. The average grade at Brown in 2007 was 3.61, roughly an A-. The average grade at Penn State in 2006 was 3.06, a solid B, and probably much lower than that in the big pre-med “weed-out” courses. Undoubtedly many Brown students could match or exceed their Brown GPAs if they were at Penn State, but it’s by no means guaranteed, and sometimes it’s actually harder to pull a top grade at a public flagship because the curve is so much more demanding.</p>
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<p>I know several Ivy grads who were very upset that their first job had them working alongside new hire (gasp) public school grads making the same money.</p>
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<p>Not always, some privates have very generous need based FA. One of the schools in this athletic league was the LEAST expensive option for D2, including our IS public with their largest merit award. And we would not be considered a low income family.</p>
<p>for premed, one needs to think long and hard about attending a highly competitive school since GPA is so important. (GPA is important to law school, as well, but there are plenty of “easy” majors in every college, so it’s just a matter of quickly gravitating towards them.)</p>
<p>OTOH, the Ivies have so much money, that research and other EC opportunities are very easy to come by-- not so at many instate publics. And for most grad programs – not professional schools – undergrad research is a de facto requirement, not to mention strong recs. (And if the rec is from a national expert at highly selective school like an Ivy…)</p>
<p>And yes, financial aid is wonderful. My kid attended an Ivy for less than the cost of our instate public flagship.</p>
<p>My DS is loving his experience. We approached the college process in a focus on program and fit. HYP wasn’t even in his focus until end of Junior year when he received something in the mail from one that sparked his interest. He explored it, then asked to visit. Once he was accepted I told him to throw out the brand name of his acceptances and look for the best fit. He chose the Ivy and has never looked back. He picked the school for all the right reasons, and did not pick the school because it was an Ivy. He only applied to the one ivy and he has thrived there.</p>
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<p>There are also plenty of Ivy grads who are not bothered by this at all.</p>
<p>Friends of mine wondered if their daughter had been ill-served by the hands-off approach to advising at Harvard. She had some bumps her freshman year. But by the time she graduated, I think neither they nor she had any regrets. </p>
<p>My parents regretted sending my sister to Yale, but that was so long ago that it has no relevance.</p>
<p>I think some kids rise to the level of competition and may actually make better grades when surrounded by smarter students - whether it’s an Ivy or not.</p>
<p>I’ve got an Ivy student on medical leave; couldn’t handle the stress, with his/her perfectionism. He/she absolutely won’t consider not returning, as the Ivy pedigree means so much. I’ve given him/her the Gladwell material, but resists. Like Pea said, I don’t think it benefits the student to struggle so hard at a top school, wind up with a low GPA, and a bruised ego.</p>
<p>No regrets here for my son, junior at Yale. Fit, opportunities, FA, atmosphere, all working for him. Grateful and happy.</p>
<p>Boy-oh-Boy I wish I d seen this tread a year ago. D is at top LAC. She wants out. She basically took what the Top-school said about class-size, advising, interships, study abroad at face vaule. When compared to the mid tier LACs (which we investigated heavily by seeking out dept heads/current seniors/allumns) her top tier school just doesn’t measure up to the serives provided by the schools she rejected. She doing fine in her classes. Three A and One B on midterms. Has made friends. But just doesn’t feel any love from the school. her words, “i was conned”. I’m left wondering, is this preception or is the school just resting on reputation…</p>
<p>I know nada about Ivies, But I’d say the rep thing is over-rated.</p>