<p>A high school senior, I'm witnessing a recent phenomenon's emergence. </p>
<p>When asking people where they will attend/are planning to attend college, I often get a quirky response: very intelligent kids are afraid to say that they are applying to HPY! It's always something along the lines of "Michigan, State, Northwestern, and some other stuff." When I do ask specifically, they shrug the issue off as if it otherwise hurts their image. </p>
<p>C'mon guys! I've seen so many disparagements of the "elite schools," so many calls for their mediocrity and their attraction "because of a mere title." Yet the reverse repercussions, I fear, are even worse now. Why be afraid of telling others your ambitions? Why feel the pressure to conform to state universities when, albeit nothing to kill yourself over, Ivies are clearly the better choice to go? Whatever happened to the reaching for the stars or being in it to win it cliches? Whatever happened to:</p>
<p>Maybe they are not admitting to HYP so as to avoid having to later tell everybody about it over and over if and when they end up in the 90% who don’t get in.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s that we (seniors) “feel the pressure to conform to state universities,” but the fact that admissions is getting increasingly “random” (even if it isn’t truly random, one thing for sure is that highly qualified applicants are turned down each year increasingly). So I personally don’t feel confident in saying that I “will attend/am planning to attend” HYP because who the heck knows if I’ll get in or not? I’d rather reveal my matches/safeties instead of risking to look like an arrogant applicant/reject come April. But in the end, it’s up to the individuals’ choice =) besides, I think college list’s are personal … and people shouldn’t feel obligated to share their lists to other people</p>
<p>I personally am not attending an Ivy because I don’t like the atmosphere and the fact that most of the teachers are usually off doing research on their subject while TAs are left to conduct class. Maybe students are realizing that the title of Ivy does NOT necessarily mean good school. And personally I am probably attending Michigan, what’s wrong with that? And what proof do you have that the actual Ivies are better?</p>
<p>Please don’t be offended. I will be the first one to tell you that Harvard does not equal later success.
I too am looking to attend Michigan (who knows we might meet) and I only mean “when” not definitively that Ivies are the better choice (though I’m sure no one would disregard those colleges’ supremacy in at least some areas). </p>
<p>I realize the college process is very personal and very daunting, yet isn’t it distressing to know that while one will openly give out the “smaller brand” schools he will outrightly reject telling someone that he is looking towards HYP? Isn’t that caused by a social perception of the snobbery, naiveness, and dogma of Ivy applicants that is equally unfounded?</p>
<p>1.) Do you understand how difficult it is to be accepted to HYP? The chances are VERY good that your friends will not be accepted. If they told you where they had applied, they’d later be forced into saying that they were rejected. Not fun! </p>
<p>2.) Northwestern is not a state school. It’s an elite private (a.k.a. a very good brand name) and has stiff admissions requirements. The chances are good that some of your friends will be receiving rejections from them as well. </p>
<p>3.) What’s wrong with attending a state school? Sometimes, it may be a better choice than attending an Ivy (cost, scholarships, honors, etc.). Also, don’t forget that in graduate school admissions, the school you attend isn’t as important as the grades you receive as an undergrad. (Graduate school admissions officers won’t look at you if you earned only C’s and D’s in your classses at Princeton.)</p>
<p>in defense of the OP, I don’t think he meant to disparage any state school or Northwestern. He was merely using them as examples of schools some students list in lieu of HYP. Also, he never says that HYP is easy to get into; in fact, he says that it’s comparable to reaching for the stars.</p>
<p>I think, in some senses, the OP is correct in observing a new trend where people really are intimidated of revealing their top choices because it’s so darn hard to get into them. Maybe it is lamentable that applicants can no longer reveal these (it definitely speaks to the pressure), who knows.</p>
<p>TheF: I think you’ve gotten some good replies here. I attended a very competitive HS that regularly sent a seventh of our class to UM, a seventh to MSU and a seventh to WSU. We generally had 100% college attendance from our graduating class (it was an awesome HS). The few of us near the top of the heap considered schools outside the heavy-Michigan traditional schools (Ivies, NWU, some LACs, traditional Black schools, etc.).</p>
<p>While I didn’t hide the fact that I had applied to Ivies, I didn’t flaunt it because it would have been perceived as haughty and that I had no idea of my chances for acceptance. Four people from my graduating class ended up attending Ivies (Yale 1, UPenn 3) and a handful of other LACs (Williams, Holyoke, Kalamazoo, etc). But it would have been gauche to be so forthright about our intentions – at least in the social context of our HS. We weren’t being secretive but just valued the camraderie we knew would end fairly quickly.</p>
<p>“I personally am not attending an Ivy because I don’t like the atmosphere and the fact that most of the teachers are usually off doing research on their subject while TAs are left to conduct class.”</p>
<p>This is incorrect. At Harvard all classes are taught by professors, with the exception of certain foreign language classes which must be taught by native speakers and certain writing classes which must be taught by published authors. For the rest, the prof teaches the class – often assisted by a TF who leads the small study section. It’s much the same at other Ivy schools as well as at many other state schools and other colleges.</p>
<p>This is not to say that you should attend an Ivy League school. They are not for everyone, and you are free to reject them. But at least your disdain should be based on fact.</p>
<p>People look at you in a different way when they know they’re applying to the same ultraselective school as you. They place more expectations on you, will start having a more competitive attitude, and will harass you with questions about it throughout the school year. It’s annoying. </p>
<p>Plus, keeping mum doesn’t mean one is not “reaching for the stars”. They can still do both.</p>
<p>When people ask me what I’m applying to I tell them “University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, Northwestern, and some other stuff” with the other stuff being Princeton, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and MIT.</p>
<p>I do this because I realize I have little chance of getting in, so why mention what gives me little chance?</p>
Depending on the person they’d either be like “Duhhh you’re soooo smart” or say “oh, cool” and the go behind your back and talk about how they don’t think you are [Ivy] material, etc.
The whole when/if you’re rejected thing</p>
<p>I know I prob won’t get in, but I’ll prob want to try for Brown or Yale cuz I really love them.</p>