this is probably true…but I would’ve guessed the humanities/arts would be more challenging at top schools, and science/engineering would be more equal from college to college. my brother goes to princeton, and we’re both taking biochemistry this semester - the material’s no different, the biggest difference is that the students at princeton are smarter so his class will probably be more competitive, and maybe it won’t be curved. Engineering is also better at many State U’s than at top colleges.</p>
<p>humanities/arts are more subjective than science, so I would guess the quality of the college makes a bigger difference. A student who’s a great writer might excel at her average college full of average writers, but the grading would be worse at a top LAC where the quality of students writing is higher.</p>
<p>Alright, from two Stanford students who recently found this website, you need to chill out. You need to realize that once you go here, something amazing happens: Stanford stops being “Stanford, the enigma” and becomes “Stanford, the classes you have, the friends you make, the all-nighters you pull, the stupid stuff you do on the weekend, and ultimately your home”. I have not been on CC enough to know what kind of stuff people are saying, but don’t pay attention to it. Sure, maybe I take some classes with some famous professors, so what. In the end all that matters is how hard I work. Kick butt in what you are doing and have fun.</p>
<p>Now that we have that out of the way, Senator Noodles, I can reassure you Stanford students are studying/partying too hard to be worried about “oxbridge” possibly being better than us. Look at out god damn football team, we are kicking ass. And by the way, since when did it become fact that Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, and MIT are inferior to Oxford and Cambridge?</p>
<p>Now, it is important to realize that all the above statements would be retracted if you went Berkley. CAL SUCKS!!!
(ps we are in an especially cal hating mood right now because the big game is coming up)</p>
<p>I had that revelation a long time ago and I find it surprising that you think that my unhappiness is related to money.</p>
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<p>A degree from an elite school would take me places, but that’s not the main reason I want it. I want it because I want prestige, because I want to belong to the exclusive group of people with a degree from a top notch university.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that the College you attend is the end all of all possibilities and realities.</p>
<p>You can go to an average University and still get a great education provided you have the discipline to educate yourself.</p>
<p>Most people don’t want to educate themselves. They want to go to College, major in the easiest curriculum possible and treat higher education as a five year vacation(With wild parties, alcohol abuse, unprotected sex, and other endeavors).</p>
<p>But surely, a dedicated student at a state U can go through books on his own, learn those things that were watered down, and ask their prof. for help if they don’t understand. My point is this: maybe there are slight advantages at HYPSM, but its not like a equally-motivated student at a state U. can’t learn just as much, if not more than, the kid at HYPSM. And at the end of the day, the student at the state U. can achieve whatever his/her goals are just as the student at HYPSM can achieve his/her goals. The U doesn’t matter; the motivation of the student does.</p>
<p>If you attend SW Central Tech of Flyover State, then work hard and go to a great grad school as other have mentioned. That should fill any need you have for status or whatever drives this feeling.</p>
<p>This is blunt but true advice. Just like everyone else has mentioned, the school you attend is not what matters. What matters is WHAT you do at the school. Smart, hardworking, motivated individuals will succeed no matter where they attend school. Remember, it’s the students that make Harvard the school it is.</p>
<p>That sounds like a great idea, but if I was unable to get accepted to a better undergrad when I was younger, happier and more motivated, what makes you think I have what it takes to get accepted to a top-notch grad school at this point in my life? Getting into grad school is a lot more difficult than getting into undergrad in case you didn’t know.</p>
<p>It is up to you now to earn your way into a better school. I assumed your attendance for undergrad at a school you find unworthy of yourself was due to lack of effort in high school. Undergrad is your chance to shine and then earn a place at a better school. </p>
<p>If you are at your current school because that is the best you can ever do, then forget anyone’s statement about going to a better school for grad work. You can’t hack it. If you were at a better school, you’d be overwhelmed. Sorry to be harsh, but that is what it boils down to.</p>
<p>Does anyone ever stop to realize, that the people who most closely adhere to the rules, play the game to the fullest within the system, attempt to do everything exactly as it has been in the past (I need X GPA, X GRE/MCAT/LSAT, X recommendations, X extracuricculars) – the people who have the greatest numerical “stats” and are in the cookie cutter “honor society” and “med society” and “law society” clubs, are in the right “major” and do all the expected things–</p>
<p>– many of the kids that are in the top univerisites, that get into the top law school or what have you----</p>
<p>are the LEAST likely to break the mold, to blaze a new trail, to create innovative ideas, to lead and take charge?</p>
<p>They are always FOLLOWING the rules, and doing what is EXPECTED AND WANTED, — they look up what is needed, what is “best” according to the common wisdom, and do that – no risk or adventurousness.</p>
<p>They will be cogs. Cogs in the machine. Unnoteworthy lives. But, they will probably make a lot of money. There’s always that, right?</p>
<p>Of course, a doctor/lawyer/engineer/consultant/investment banker will never make as much as a successful entrepreneur. That is, if you care about money or things like that.</p>