<p>I don’t think the school I go to is unworthy of myself, just not the type of school I would have liked to go to.</p>
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<p>Had I given high school all my effort and had I had a different attitude perhaps I would have been accepted to a better school. Obviously not Harvard, but a school better than the one I go to.</p>
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<p>That’s hard to tell. If my school is ranked number 50 and I transfer to school number 49, are you saying that I wouldn’t be able to hack it? What if I transferred to school number 20 and I am able to hack it, but with a lot more effort and less rewards? You don’t have to apologize for being harsh, I just think that you need to be more careful with your arguments.</p>
<p>No one ever said the “higher ranked” universities were more difficult to get through. They are just more difficult to get IN to.</p>
<p>The top 20 universities actually give out more A’s then the lower universities - a lot more actually (I go to one of the top and have gotten into a few in the top 10). They also have a lot higher graduation rates. Yeah, yeah - they have “smarter” students. But I actually highly doubt that is the reason. First of all, SATs and GPA in high school (mine were both extremely high - I’m not bitter here) are more a function of being a work-mule and bookworm than a function of IQ. And those are the primary metrics for getting into the “great” universities.</p>
<p>Second, consider all the athletes and legacies in the top schools, and that they’re graduation rates and grade inflation is still ridiculously high?</p>
<p>Don’t kid yourself. In the top university I go to, over half the kids in every class get an A, for most classes. The rest are Bs with maybe a sprinkle of a C. This is not the case in state schools. In fact, I know a couple state university profs that came here, and they grade harder than anyone else (they are new and don’t inflate like everyone else).</p>
<p>Everyone at the elite universities has a huge ego about their academic prowess, so I wouldn’t tell them that the emeperor is not wearing any clothes, but the top 20 univerisites are hardly trials by fire or “test your meddle.”</p>
<p>Of course, the common man and ipso facto the common employer is an idiot and thusly most of them believe our university system is a true meritocracy.</p>
i don’t get what your point is to the OP - that he shouldn’t care about money or going to a top school, or that he should try to make a lot of money anyway? Entrepreneurs make the most money, but is running some start-up company that will make someone another rich businessguy selling crap gonna make him happy in the long run? Well, maybe, idk. but personally i consider an engineer creating new technology or the doc saving lives or the novelist writing books or the scientist discovering stuff a lot more noteworthy or innovative anyday</p>
<p>Bronson seems to be convinced that Top College = Lots of money = Success! and that’s kind of sad. i’ve never met anyone in real life who cares about college selectivity like this, including people at “top schools” or whatever.
dude, no one cares. there is no difference between being ranked 50 or 42 or whatever. my college is ranked in the top 50 somewhere, i have no clue where, and i know my employer isn’t going to give a rat’s ass, neither are my friends or family. the only people who care about college rankings are those whose school is ranked really high, because no one else has any reason to care.</p>
<p>and if you’re really miserable at your college, transfer out. instead of thinking about transferring to a college ranked #36 or something, think like this: What makes you unhappy at your college? Is it too small? Not diverse? Boring? etc…then go from there.</p>
<p>Well… you have it all wrong. A good/prestigious college does not make you happy. On the contrary, many people are unhappy in colleges with such a egocentric student body, but they refuse to leave because they don’t want to “demote” themselves to a lesser ranked school. Like peter_parker said, those schools are only to get IN. Do you honestly believe that just because you were to be accepted to these schools you’d be happier? No, I can swear on that. People are only happy in a school where they thrive. Not just academically but socially. A school where you “fit in,” not all schools will be a perfect match for you and that certainly no exception with top ranked schools. Believe me, if I was accepted to Harvard but didn’t see myself being happy, alone, etc… I would transfer out of their if I could. Yes, it is HARVARD! But it’s my life and I want to make the most of it… I’m not going to spend years in a hell hole just because of prestige. You live life once and only once. Don’t dwell in a place where you’re unhappy. </p>
<p>Not everything in life is based on what’s better than something else. If you can connect somewhere you’ll be happy. There are a lot of smart/intelligent people in this country and the world for that matter that don’t put their brilliance to its full potential, but they don’t do so because they’re happy with the life they have. I’ve seen kids with godly stats choose to not even apply to highly ranked schools because they already found their prefect match somewhere else and that somewhere else could have been a state school or even an unknown school. Please stop caring about what others may think of you and start caring for what makes you happy. And don’t lie to yourself saying that “I’m unhappy because I don’t go to a top 10 school and I’ll only be happy if I go to one. Now that I’m in a lesser ranked school, I’ll be miserable for the rest of my life.” Just stop.</p>
<p>I had quite a dispute over this Peter Parker guy in the “Hi, I am a Virgin” thread before.</p>
<p>Although in this sort of reasoning I do believe Peter is correct.</p>
<p>People don’t accomplish great things by following the rules of others. They make things up and set new boundaries. They do not turn into zombies.</p>
Yeah I know, almost seems like it would be a travesty to know all the students attening the nations most notable schools golden years after undergraduate while yours may be set much lower ( bronze). But in reality just keep your ambitions and aim for them and likely everything will be perfect. Also if you want to offset your not so elite school just attend graduate school and even more doors will open. Though even a student at a unelite school have so many opportunities.</p>