<p>I know there was a thread about this topic, but I'm too lazy to look... but, is there anyone out there who wished he didn't choose to attend an Ivy League school over a non-Ivy League school? Why? I've heard so many good things about these schools, but I would love to hear the "dark side...." (corny, "scary" laughter in the background)...</p>
<p>There are different reasons for regretting to attend an Ivy.
1. they do not give merit aid and a student might not get as much finaid as s/he would at a different institution (see the story of Evil Robot who eventually chose Vandy over Yale because of Vandy's far more generous aid package and thus bought himself peace of mind; he's very happy at Vandy).
2. Not all Ivies are the same. Some may not be as good as some non-Ivycolleges in certain areas.
3. Their location varies and may not suit everybody. Not everybody enjoys the weather in the NE.
4. Many students would be better off at a LAC. My H's boss actually turned down an Ivy to study at Amherst and did spectacularly well there. He's now very successful.</p>
<p>My good friend's daughter is (was?) a highly paid fashion model. She was accepted at Harvard and deferred her enrollment a year to finish up a big contract with a cosmetics firm. After that year, she enrolled at Harvard, spent a year and hated it. She transferred to NYU and is very happy there. She felt Harvard wasn't "balanced" enough. (I just remember her mom telling me that and looking so confused.)</p>
<p>Any school, anywhere, is going to have students who, for one reason or another, aren't happy there. This includes the Ivy's, large state schools, LAC's, even those schools who have a reputation for changing lives. If you want to see the dark side of a school, check out the school profiles at <a href="http://www.studentsreview.com%5B/url%5D">www.studentsreview.com</a> and filter the comments so that only negative ones come up. Interesting reading, but these are the opinions of those who are clealy disaffected and wish they had gone somewhere else.</p>
<p>I suspect some of the kids who regret picking an Ivy were kids who took the "pick an Ivy, any Ivy" approach and did not realize that each Ivy has a distinct personality and campus culture. I see CC kids with schizophrenic lists that include several Ivies which have virtually nothing in common.</p>
<p>I have a relative ho graduated from a top Ivy not long ago. He loved it while he was there, and took what he considered an intensive curriculum. It was only afterward, when in a postgraduate professional school did he begin to doubt the value. He found himself to be no better educated or prepared than his state U friends, who had not spent the same amount of money. And since his state U friends where in the same top professional school, he saw no advantage there as well. He now counsels many to forego the expensive Ivy route.</p>
<p>Of course, the percentage of state school grads vs. Ivy grads at that top professional school may have been very different. Coming out of a state school, maybe only the top 1-2% got in and from the Ivy the top 25%? Who knows. Just because state school people got admitted is no reason to assume his education was suspect. And just because he was no better prepared is likewise no reason suspect the educational quality. Maybe he just didn't put out the effort? </p>
<p>I think the bottom line that we have seen over and over is that kids can be happy and productive in many different environments.</p>
<p>Anyone who expects to be better educated from "an Ivy" than a state school is setting up for disappointment. Besides the huge differences in the Ivies noted above, most of getting a good education at the college level comes from the person, not the school. There are many top students coming out of state universities, and many top grad schools, including Ivy grad schools, snap these people up. The advantages are more in the overall experience, the student body, the facilities, and, for a small number of scholarly undergrads, the near uniformly high quality of the faculty. But you can get an excellent education at good old State U.</p>
<p>The majority of students were from state schools, but the point was, "given his skills and talents" (his academic resume is second to none, having graduated at or near the top of his class), he felt the state U would have been just fine. That seems to square with the data that show if one can get accepted (actually rejected is an even better predictor of success) at an Ivy, then it makes little difference where one attends. And as noted, one can be happy, productive, and successful in many environments, ...including less expensive ones.</p>
<p>It's actually very common, but may not tell you very much. There is a question, I believe, on the COHFE survey, but none of the schools are talkin', except Williams, which reports that 57% of students asked said, if they had to choose again, they would definitely or probably make the same choice (which means that 43% did not say that.) The numbers may be higher or lower at any other school, but assuming a best case scenario, it would seem likely that at least 1 in 5 students at any of the Ivies might make a different choice.</p>
<p>Of course, they might choose another Ivy. Or not. And I imagine that, in the world generally speaking, there is a substantial number of people who are unhappy wherever they are! (and they might like their alternate choice even less....)</p>
<p>The student satisfaction surveys would say a lot more, but other than H., no COFHE survey school has been willing to release theirs.</p>
<p>I can only offer my personal experience in this area, but I think it's poignant.</p>
<p>Coming from a great prep school, I did have some great choices when it came to matriculating to college. I elected to attend the university of Delaware and loved my experience 110%. I think that making that choice and being very conscious about the decision is really important. For myself, the undergraduate admissions cycle was fairly straight-forward as I knew that I had a few great choices and schools in the ivy league for an undergraduate education only briefly touched my list during the initial search process and were later ruled out because most did not offer what I wanted: A great figure skating program and an undergraduate program in Teacher Education. Sure, I looked around and investigated Dartmouth & Cornell as they were closer to home but they were not for me.</p>
<p>At the end of college, I ended up graduating near the top 5% of my class and was accepted to 4 graduate schools: Penn, Columbia, Stanford and Harvard and elected to matriculate to UPenn for graduate study. </p>
<p>I think graduate study, as others have mentioned, is great at a place like Penn, but it would have been a poor fit FOR ME as an undergraduate. I think that students should make a list of things that they want and then see what schools fit them best. </p>
<p>Given the chance, I would do the same thing over again. Over, and over.</p>
<p>SBMom is so right. The Ivies are each quite distinct. I now regularly visit Boston and have taken the opportunity to visit the campus museums at Harvard. I am so glad that I selected my Ivy alma mater and not Harvard. In fact, I only applied to a single Ivy and not because it was an Ivy. I think I can say that the admissions director that I met back then was honest in his appraisal of his school (where I utlimately enrolled). It wasn't always bliss, but I really I enjoyed the professors, the campus, and the area.</p>
<p>Too many students have the "any Ivy, and at any cost" mentality. I won't deny that the name of my alma mater opened a door or two for me when it came time to apply to graduate school. As as someone else said, the person and his/her ethics and accomplishments count for something too.</p>
<p>Now the time for my child to apply to college is not that far away, and I am absolutely intending to point the kid in the direction of non-Ivy League instutions. Yes, I'd be proud if the kid attended my alma mater, but there are too many fine alternatives that should not be summarily dismissed. And quite frankly, my counsel is to pay less at an outstanding undergrad non-Ivy and save $$ for graduate school, since the kid has shown great interest and ability in the sciences.</p>