<p>Harvard.
When someone finds out you went to an Ivy league school, they feel entitled to make certain assumptions about you. Those assumptions cause a lot of people to pursue name recognition as a major aspect of college choice. Every employer you'll ever encounter in your life will have heard of Harvard and can proceed to judge you accordingly. Is a candidate less likely to be granted admission to a school if his primary motive is the pursuit of prestige? I would love to hear your thoughts.</p>
<p>I’m sure many people have chosen to apply to Harvard over the ages because of the prestige but I would never suggest putting that on one’s application. Like any other application process, it is always better to bend the truth than to say something honest yet negative.</p>
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I think what you’re getting at is by far the most common mistake many students across the country especially parents make in the college admission process. Why Harvard and not a state college? Uh because I can feel better about myself that I got into a distinguished university and that Harvard will take care of me now for the rest of my life? Many students who have these thoughts probably did not get accepted and they’re not to blame because parents are at fault for implanting these false assumptions early in grade school. It is so common that I wonder why people are still doing it and then I realize that brand names matter so much more to people in America than they do elsewhere. If everyone has heard of Harvard but no one glances at State College of Nowhere then students are making logically sound choices when applying. However, employers are way more interested in your skills and experience say in China or India and would not hire the equivalence of a Harvard grad overseas if they are less skilled than someone else w/o this distinction. But this is the big difference in America where elitism is sought by everyone and so few ever get it right in the end.</p>
<p>Pretty much no one admitted to H is dumb enough to let on name dropping rights is all they want.</p>
<p>Also realize in the course of life probably as many will hold an ivy against you as favor you because of one.</p>
<p>Agree with Axtlan</p>
<p>There are many reasons in choosing a college and name recognition should just be one of the considerations.</p>
<p>The number one reason my son chose his college is he feels happy there.</p>
<p>Having worked in management for many year. I am skeptical when I see a resume with a college that I never heard of since by now I heard of many. But college recognition is only a first step. Having a marketable degree, relevant work experience, good people skills (including interviewing) count for more after the initial step.</p>
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<p>no, you’d be surprised, and I don’t mean to single out Harvard, but there is a sizable number who are desperately concerned about what others think of their college affiliation at many top schools and not only ivy schools. Several insecure high schoolers are also highly qualified and need their college brand name to prop them up in a conversation. You see it even with college grads. </p>
<p>Most incoming and current student and grads at top colleges tend to be relatively modest as they should be, but it’s pretty clear when someone is name dropping to try to get your attention or praise or earn credibility. </p>
<p>A good brand name is valuable on a resume, but not really in conversation, it can create high expectations that you fail to meet. </p>
<p>Finally there’s also a real difference between name recognition and prestige. Prestige has its advantages (like on a resume), mere name recognition leads to nothing more than an ego boost. Ole Miss vs. Williams College.</p>
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<p>That’s not the primary reason that students aspire to top universities. The “Why Harvard?” question is all about the college peer group which when all is said and done, has a greater influence on a student’s goals and aspirations than any other factor.</p>
<p>If you’re intellectually gifted you may have opportunities to join college communities in which there are many similarly-gifted students or some in which there are (for the most part, but not entirely) less-gifted peers. Imagine if your gift was not in academics but in tennis, and you were deciding to go to a live-in tennis academy to develop that talent. You could go to the Bollettieri Tennis Academy where you’d play with and against the top emerging talent, who would in the coming years be the stars of the pro tennis world. Or perhaps you could go to another tennis academy where the students weren’t so motivated by tennis, but had attended primarily because others told them they should. At the lesser academy, you might play against your fellow classmates and find that no one could return your serves. You’d hit average ground strokes and your opponents would whiff instead of returning competent shots. You might find that you were underchallenged, and accordingly, weren’t getting any better. You might show up for practice and find that your opponent was a no-show, having blown off class for the day. You might be thrilled to learn that Roger Federer or Serena Williams was coming to campus to speak to students and then find that other students weren’t interested in seeing them and weren’t interested in talking with you about the visit that you attended. A really talented tennis player either wouldn’t be satisfied in that kind of environment or may eventually dull down his or her passion and goals to match those of the classmates.</p>
<p>The same dynamic works with academically-talented students. And it’s not just about compiling a resume in order to land a job. It’s about developing yourself to the fullest in order to enjoy your life to the maximum. That’s the main benefit of a top-level college.</p>