<p>Is it me or does it feel like EVERYONE on this forum and site are taking pride in their IVY LEAGUE or Flagship college while I'm in a stinkin 4th tier regional school?</p>
<p>I hear you. This is a site for students and their parents, but it tends to also be a site for people who have an obsessive fascination with colleges and college life (I'm guilty as charged). We get especially excited about schools which have an aura of glamour, so it starts to seem like the norm here. By the same token, I'd bet a site for people who love to talk cars would get a lot more talk about imports and expensive sports cars than it would about the Dodge Intrepid that I drive.</p>
<p>But don't get drawn so far into our mania that you feel your experiences and goals must not have value. I fear that we've overdone it sometimes when I hear students post about their "terrible" SAT scores that turn out to be above the 80th percentile nationally.</p>
<p>College is college. I'm sure you'll have just as great of an experience as everyone else. :)</p>
<p>(By the way - I'm not going to a top 25 school either...and I have no desire to.)</p>
<p>Yeah seriously, a lot of these people are the weird kids and super controlling parents who are driven only by the hopes of going the an ivy league. But don't worry sometimes you'll find a normal person... like me!
At least I think so, I don't have straight A's. Actually I don't think I've ever gotten an A in any of my academic classes.</p>
<p>I hear what you're saying, but the fact that the top schools are the only schools talked about makes sense. For the vast majority of students, going to an in-state public school is the best option. Furthermore, choosing between in-state publics is usually pretty easy because there's an established hierarchy. There's the U of _____<strong><em>, the _</em></strong>_ State University, regional schools like U of Central _________, and so on.</p>
<p>Yeah. Choosing between schools within your state would be easy (unless you live in like CA or something). </p>
<p>But it would be nice to see more people choosing between two 2nd-tier schools. I think CC presents a strained version of reality...it corrupts people to think that everyone who cares about their education must go to a top school, and that just isn't the case.</p>
<p>^^</p>
<p>Be honest though. The differences in the lower tiers when searching is more about "fit" quality than academic. They aren't all crud but choosing between CSUs-for example-is probably more about location than which is "better".</p>