<p>I know so many kids at my high school who do things just for the sake of it having it "look good on the application". What happened to doing things because we wanted to? It's a bit silly, if you ask me.</p>
<p>I say that it's time that we finally smarten ourselves up and stop the panic. If you used white-out on your application, then don't worry. Any college that does throw away your application because of that is no college you would want to go to, anyway. And kid-that-is-freaking-out-because-they-got-a-B-plus-and-now-will-never-get-into-Harvard? There is a common misconception that there are only three schools that exist in the nation: Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. There are other good, if not better, schools out there. And let's not forget about you, kid-who-wants-to-know-if-sending--their-interviewer-a-fruit-basket-is-a-good-idea; nobody likes a brown noser.</p>
<p>I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way?</p>
<p>Thanks...for telling us what we already know? The college admissions forum might be a better place for this. More of those "Will a B+ ruin my chances at the local community college? |-|4XX0R5!!!!111!!!!!11" people there.</p>
<p>I feel the same way. I never understood the Ivy-league craze. I can get the same (if not better) education for much less at one of California's awesome CSUs. I'm so stoked to go to SFSU next year (I've already gotten in, so if I don't get into Sonoma that's where I'm going).</p>
<p>Thank you for this thread, about time someone posted this. :)</p>
<p>It doesn't matter where you post it, I guess, as long as it isn't in the College Computers forum or something.</p>
<p>Anyway, you're not the only one who feels that way. The whole state of Michigan is with you. For us (except me), there's only one good university: University of Michigan.</p>
<p>I never understood we we're such a prestige-oriented society.</p>
<p>I think we're prestige-oriented society for a very simple reason: capitalism. It's a very "you have to be on top" way of thinking (we've discussed it in my Econ class).</p>
<p>If you think about it, every society is prestige-oriented. Promoting your position in power is a sure way of ensuring your survival..."survival of the fittest!"</p>
<p>In this case, people see H/P/Y as a way to ensure their survival.</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure Tibet isn't very prestige oriented.</p>
<p>Americans, I suppose, have always believed in social mobility, so I guess we believe that whoever is at the top deserves to be at the top.</p>
<p>Anyway, instead of saying Ivies (a sports conference), you should say Top 25 on USNWR. You would be able to put more hypocritical CCers to shame. It would be mildly entertaining.</p>
<p>What's the big deal about a bad grade in high school anyway? You can always do make up work, or re take tests. In college once you get an F, it's stuck there.</p>
<p>Well, my point is that nobody wants to be at the bottom of the food chain.</p>
<p>It was mentioned that Capitalism is the reason for this want of prestige. It makes me wonder what things would be like if this were a Communist country? My parents went to college in Russia, and at that time they didn't have to go through all the crazy applications or whatever. They went to the University and took an exam there; if they passed, then they would go to that University. If they failed, then they might be picked up by another University, or they (well, the men at least) would be sent to the army.</p>
<p>The problem with Communism is that it looks great on paper...the perfect society! No rich class, no poor class, everyone is equal-true democracy at last!</p>
<p>But the problem is that wanting to be on top is human nature. People always want more, and once put into place, Communism never works, sadly.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
You can always do make up work, or re take tests.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Ha. I wish.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
a Communist country
[/QUOTE]
Russia was about as Communist as the DPRK is a Democratic People's Republic.
It's the same way in India, the world's largest "democracy".</p>
<p>But yeah, in countries like China, they take a test (more like a 9-hour marathon of testing) to determine this. If you do really well, you can go to whatever college you darn well please. Some people commit suicide because they fail. I would hate that system.</p>
<p>By the way, I'm kind of biased. I'm not quite Communist or Socialist, but I'm pretty far to the left.</p>
<p>Not to mention all the furious people that would burst out of the US tried to become Communist. XD</p>
<p>I like the current system. The colleges get to pick the type of students that they want, and thus get the atmosphere that they want. It's the same thing with my high school-there are certain SLCs that hand pick their students and thus achieve what they stand for better than others that just get the other "cast-off" students.</p>
<p>True, but I think that the system is going a little too far when people begin to join Honors Society just for the sake of it looking good on the application (<em>cough</em>I SO do not do this...<em>cough</em>)</p>
<p>In reply to proletariet, doesn't the fact that the Soviet Union's inability to uphold true Communism show that capitalism is in human nature?</p>
<p>We have discussed multiple times in Econ that the reason Capitalism works so well is because it appeals to basic human nature: work hard and you can be on top.</p>
<p>I like the current system too. It's part holistic, part objective.</p>
<p>It seems to me that certain societies (Native Americans in the northeast, early Puritan society, Tibet) capitalism never really gained ground because of certain belief systems they had. I guess the Puritans are a poor example, though, because they were quick to justify it using religious principles within 50 years.</p>
<p>I don't care at all now. The harsh realities of high school life has dashed away all my former dreams of high achievement and prestige. The thing is that I don't know how people still think that way after 3 or 4 years of high school.</p>
<p>I don't do anything because of college applications, so I don't know why I'm even here. I absolutely detest the University of Michigan, and it's true that everyone here thinks it's the only good college. If you're not good enough for U of M, then you can go to Michigan State. I think that's why I first came to this website. My mom told me that if I'm reeaallllyy smart then maybe I could even get to go to Michigan State, and I was like, "Kill me now." She doesn't really have high expectations for me.</p>