<p>Hey, I need some advice from people who have made this decision and have experience in this issue...</p>
<p>I'm a junior and I've come across this dilemma ...</p>
<p>I pretty much have my heart set on Pepperdine but I do want to apply to a vast array of colleges just in case I don't get in there .. </p>
<p>Say I apply to Pepperdine and a reach school like Harvard. What if I get into both. Here lies my problem.. Has anyone chosen a school based on its prestige rather than a less prestigious school even if the lesser of the two is where you really wanted to go? I know it seems obvious like if you WANT to go somewhere you do. Yet I don't know if I could pass Harvard up if I got into it. The same goes for vice versa, if someone has chosen a less prestigious school .. </p>
<p>I guess my argument here is I think I would always have some regret if I went to Pepperdine passing up a top school like Harvard. Yet I could also see myself regretting not going to Pepperdine because that is where I really wanted to go.</p>
<p>I don't really want comments on the schools per say, just what your recommendations would be on a dilemma like this ... sorry for my wordiness!</p>
<p>I can't really say that I had this dilemma. Berkeley is a prestigious school, and I desperately wanted to attend in high school. It just so happened that I was lucky enough to be admitted and attend the school. The obvious answer to your question would be to attend the school that makes you happiest. There are a lot of factors you need to consider when deciding between colleges. It really depends on what you prioritize that makes the decision for you. You're not going to be happy and perform well academically if you go to a school you don't like but has a great reputation. You're going to succeed in an environment which you favor. Names of colleges can only carry you so far. It depends on your satisfaction and willingness to work at whatever college that determines how you'll do in the future.</p>
<p>When I was in the 6th grade and my family was moving to a new city, my parents made me apply to a bunch of private schools. There were a couple I really didn't like the looks of, but I was told to apply anyway and if I got in and still didn't want to go there I wouldn't have to. I applied, I got in, I said I didn't want to go to my mother's first choice, I got sent there anyway, and I spent the next 6 years of my life in hell.</p>
<p>When I was in the 12th grade, I got a lot of pressure to apply to the Ivy League as possibles and some other prestigious schools as virtual certainties, and then some slightly less prestigious school as a safety. My school sent about a third of each graduating class to the Ivies, and <em>everybody</em> to schools with good reputations. Almost everyone went to schools that are well known across the nation.</p>
<p>I wanted to go to a state school back in the state I came from. Which was in the South. And not only was there a real bias against state schools (with a few exceptions), but there was a huge bias against the South. I also loathed my classmates and since 30% of them were going Ivy I figured I'd loathe a lot of people at those schools. I knew I could get into the state school, because I met a set of criteria that got you guaranteed acceptance. My parents said I had to apply to the Ivies and if I got in and didn't want to go, I wouldn't have to.</p>
<p>I applied to the state school, Harvard, and Yale, and I deliberately tanked my applications to Harvard and Yale. I'm not saying I would have gotten in if I'd tried, but I made sure I didn't get in. I went to the state school. I got an amazing education and got to know some great people. It was the best decision of my entire life. Maybe if I'd seriously applied to Harvard or Yale, gotten in, and gone, I'd be happy with that decision too (in retrospect, years later, I do see a lot of the advantages of those schools). I don't know. But I've regretted an awful lot in my life and a lot of educational decisions since then, so I think it's significant that I'm still so happy with that first choice.</p>
<p>YMMV, of course, but that's my experience.</p>
<p>it depends. I sort of wish I went to BU instead of NYU for film sometimes. but I think that's also because I'm not liking film as much.</p>
<p>The solution here is fairly simple. Don't apply to a school that you're not interested in attending, particularly if your motivation is prestige. There will be other schools out there that you'll love...why throw away $50 on one you don't?</p>
<p>I got talked into doing two major reach applications. One, my guidance counselor convinced me to do, saying that I was just the sort of student the school liked; the other, my extended family pressured me into. If I'd gotten into either school, I know I wouldn't have been able to turn down the opportunity to attend. Knowing myself as I do now, I know that getting rejected in both cases was wonderful luck. At one of the schools, I would've been fine, but nowhere near as happy as I was at the school I did attend; at the other school, I would have been absolutely miserable. I still ended up choosing a school that was less widely recognized/respected than others to which I was accepted, but the difference was less drastic. After four years, no regrets (and I'm going back to one of the bigger name schools for grad study). </p>
<p>Your dilemma is an understandable one, but pretty easily avoided. Don't apply to a school "just to see," or just because someone tells you to, without being able to imagine yourself attending. And if you feel like Pepperdine is somehow academically below you, and that's why you're curious about applying somewhere more prestigious, then I'd urge you to do more research...there should be a middle ground.</p>
<p>Good luck in your search.</p>
<p>thank you guys so much!!</p>
<p>I considered the thought of applying to reach schools that I wasn't really interested in just so I could say "I got into harvard," or whatever the school was.
I decided not to do that because I knew it would be really hard to pass up the prestigious name for an unknown school. I only applied to schools I actually liked, and ended up quite happy.</p>
<p>The only reasonable thing to do is to only apply to schools you want to go to. If you wouldn't go there, don't spent $60 applying.</p>
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I got talked into doing two major reach applications.
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<p>I should finish that statement, although maybe it was implied: "...to schools I wouldn't have applied to if not for the urging of others."</p>
<p>It happens all the time. One of, if not the, most important factors in selecting a college is fit. You won't succeed at a school where you aren't enjoying yourself.</p>
<p>I sort of chose a school based on prestige. Strangely though, it was not the most prestigious one I got into. But still, I chose it because of the prestige and the supposed opportunities. (Basically, I was deciding between two fairly prestigious schools, and couldn't bring myself to pass up both of them.)</p>
<p>Yeah, that was a big mistake, but I don't think there was any way around it at the time.</p>
<p>But anyway, now I'm trying to transfer back to my safety. (Even though that would be a huge waste of time, effort, and money if I go through with it. Oops.)</p>