<p>Yes, I know that title contains a dangling preposition, forgive me.</p>
<p>I'm a parent and fairly active poster on the Prep School sub forum and a recent thread sparked a question for me that I've been brooding on for some time now.</p>
<p>When kids (mostly 8th graders) who are applying to boarding school (and their parents) over on that forum write that they want to go to a "prestigious" (quote intentional) boarding school because they think it will lead to admission to "prestigious" colleges like Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT (HYPSM)...i wonder, how do 13 year olds even know what a "good" college is and why HYPSM are more desirable than say non HYP Ivies or a ultra selective LACs like Williams?</p>
<p>I guess my question is this: I'm genuinely interested in how YOUR perception of what constitutes a "desirable" college is shaped...is it your peers, your parents, your guidance counselor, pop culture, yourself, or all of the above?</p>
<p>I read a lot of posts here, on College Board’s website, and reviews on College p-r-owler (I think it’s called niche now). I also look up lists for best LACs, or best schools for ____ major, etc. Once I see an interesting school, I do a lot of research, looking up reviews and write-ups on every aspect of the school. I’m not sure if that’s what everybody else does, but I think it’s a good method.</p>
<p>I started thinking about college when I was a sophomore. Before that I didn’t know much about college at all and I thought I might just go to the local community college or something. After I discovered this website and my potential for getting high test scores, I started looking at prestige and US News rankings to get an idea of whether I would want to go to a school. It was mostly just a path-of-least-resistance bandwagon thing…I wanted to go to a school that other people would respect (at least a little) without me having to defend it. I looked at undergrad rankings and graduate rankings in my intended major. Top 50-60 or so was high enough for me…in the end I only bothered with one top 20 school, and the deferral didn’t hurt much. </p>
<p>I looked at LACs for a few months. They appealed to me because I love class discussions and I liked the idea of being part of a community where people cared about learning in addition to their future career. But I ultimately decided I didn’t want to miss out on the resources a university would have. I started taking dual-enrollment classes full time at a local university, and it made me forget about “fit” because I realized I can be happy in almost any environment as long as I can take the classes I want. I mean, I was happy at my high school, and I only went there because of my ZIP code.</p>
<p>I’m a senior now, and I know where I’m going next year. I chose my school because it’s a top 50 school, I’ll be able to commute, and they gave me a lot of money.</p>
<p>College wasn’t made realistic for me until sophomore year. From there it was a lot of looking at lists, researching, and compiling. Then the financial aspect hit and many of my schools changed last year. I wish I knew a fraction of what I know now about colleges before I started high school.</p>
<p>Thanks for chiming in everyone. I think what heather and alex suggest, that they weren’t too familiar with colleges before sophomore year is what my experience with my own daughter (now a junior) has been…so when I see these 8th graders talking about their plans to go to Harvard, I’m like “What? Where did that come from?”</p>
<p>Brand consciousness – other than their state university and possible another college or two right around their city/town, most people on the street in the US can probably just name HYPSM. It is just like jeans, phones, etc. And about as relevant to making a good purchase, as heather’s comments show.</p>
<p>Step 1: realize your potential
Step 2: realize your ambition
Step 3: Realize the definition of holistic admissions
Step 4: realize who what and where you love
Step 5: really, if you’re not down to at least ten colleges by this step you’re doing it wrong.</p>
<p>I don’t know that they mean it literally…they’re ambitious and they haven’t really started researching colleges yet, so maybe they just use Harvard as a generic term for all prestigious colleges.</p>
<p>I have dreams of attending Yale for the same reason I started looking into Exeter back in the sixth grade: Legacy and reputation. Exeter and Yale are names that I’ve grown up with. I’m an eighth grader and I can honestly say that most kids my age just name the first Ivy that pops into their head when asked about college. For me it’s definitely the legacy and rep, though.</p>
<p>@exeterbunny: But where do you get the feeling for “reputation”? From your legacy status (family members having attended)? Your friends? The media?</p>
<p>FWIW, I don’t think my kids could name an Ivy besides Princeton, and that’s because we live in NJ. Oh, and Penn, but only because I went there many years ago.</p>
<p>Sorry for the late response! Legacy plays a huge part in it for me. I also think that media/society tends to instill in kids’ heads that Ivies are the only option if you want to be successful. Growing up, if somebody asked me to name all the colleges I knew, I would have said “Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Duke, Stanford, UVM” (Not all Ivies, but that was what I knew. I think that Ivy League is glamorized and marketed as the best place for everybody.</p>
<p>I seriously began searching for colleges early into my Junior year. I compiled two lists of schools; one list which consisted of schools that were ranked by admission selectivity from super reach to super safety; the second list consisted of schools that were ranked by financial generosity.</p>
<p>Prestige was never a factor. I never sought to wow a commuter on I-95 with a nice bumper sticker. I just want to go to a reputable, not-for-profit 4 year college and be able to afford it. </p>
<p>I believe most of those sixth/eighth graders of whom you speak are merely entranced by the “concept” of going to a top Ivy like HYP. It’s either that reason, or that they simply like the idea of being surrounded by other smart people. Personally, I have always aspired to get into Harvard or Yale, and more so in the recent past after visiting their campuses for ECs such as YMUN and HMMT. But I’m not the ignorant kid I once was, and it’s depressing how difficult it truly is to even start qualifying for those colleges, and even then, recognizing the fact that only 1/10th of those who qualify actually end up getting accepted.
I won’t speak for everyone, but I will voice my own experience here: However much “good” you think you are, it still won’t be enough for HYP. </p>
<p>I like your thing about Williams, @SevenDad, because since I appeared on this board I’ve been saying I’d choose it over an Ivy.</p>
<p>I think many of the kids who say they want to go to Harvard or Yale want the name, and I think this is the same reason they want boarding school. </p>
<p>At my school, we take a computerized standardized test (let’s call it GLOBE). The test has questions ranging from third grade level to twelfth. The highest GLOBE score one can get is 280, and once someone did, kids were saying, “He’s so smart! He’s definitely going to Harvard.” This was in seventh grade. (We are not too far from Harvard, I’m pretty sure they’d think UPenn is a state school, if they even know what a state school is.) Anyway, because they hear the name a lot and wear sweatshirts advertising Harvard, they think it’s the best. Do they realize that GLOBE scores and SAT scores (another test this kid took) are not the only things Harvard looks at? No. But they should in a few years.</p>
<p>I have nothing against Harvard. Last summer I participated in a four-week program aimed at low-income kids, and one of the volunteers is now a junior at Harvard. Nice, funny, smart, relatable, she is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We played a game (I forget what it’s called) where the goal is to name as many things in a specific category. The last round was just me against her, and I chose colleges and universities for the category. I won. :D</p>
<p>“how do 13 year olds even know what a “good” college is” They don’t but they’ve only heard of a handful of them. “and why HYPSM are more desirable than say non HYP Ivies”. My daughter is not fixated on those particular schools, but to her it is very important to attend a college which attracts top students. We didn’t discuss specific colleges until she was much older than that, but it was clear even at that age that she would prefer a school like that. A 13 year old who is sick and tired of being bored to tears for 8 years in school may really be expressing this sentiment. The small colleges are, well, small, and generally not as well known to the general public. They are much less often in the news. There are far fewer alums around. </p>