<p>Lucky! I want a free iPad haha.
I’m such a cheapskate. I would NEVER get an iPad unless someone just gave it to me for free. I’m all about cheap stuff. I buy the 3 dollar earphones at TJ MAXX and Ross, I buy the cheapest computer for sale at best buy (after researching online to compare prices-my logic is that why buy an expensive computer now, when that same expensive computer will be 500 dollars cheaper in a year? my parents once bought a computer for 2000 dollars and now it’s worth trash because of the several technological advancements), I bought my alto sax on ebay for 190 (vs the 1000+ dollars that it was going for at my local instrument store, yuck–this sax works just fine), and I reuse all of my binders/school utensils/materials year after year so that I can save hundreds of dollars on school supplies.</p>
<p>FTW.
Way to be economically thrifty. x3</p>
<p>^ LOLZ I reuse some of my old school stuff too~ I still have a binder that I used since the eight grade :P</p>
<p>SAME. Right now I have a binder that I’ve been using since I was in 5th grade and it’s all torn up and beaten down. Sometimes I even reuse half-used notebooks. XD</p>
<p>And pens that are from who knows when.</p>
<p>My family is infamous for being so messy. We almost never clean, my sister doesn’t shower for a month at a time when she isn’t in swimming (okay I admit that’s disgusting but anyways), you can’t see my brother’s floor, my dad always loses his glasses in the morning, the book case isn’t lined up right (instead there is everything from food to shoes to socks to books stacked up in random ways and shoved in to fit ROFL), and in the refrigerator yesterday, I found cranberry juice that expired in 2006. XDDD</p>
<p>AND THEN WHENEVER MY MOM GOES SHOPPING, SHE ALWAYS ASKS FOR DISCOUNTS LOL. She searches through magazines and articles and newspapers for discounts (she never reads the paper though roflrofl-that might be a reason why I don’t know anything about current events I MUST HAVE INHERITED IT FROM HER), and then only goes shopping for clothes when there are 70% off clearance sales at her favorite stores LOL. When we go buy stuff and she already haggled the price down by 30% she tries to go down more and she’s like “Pleaaaseeeee just give me 50% off? :3”</p>
<p>I think you are missing the point. Academic rigor is not the reason why the Ivies stand out as the best institutions in the country/world. They stand out because they consistently attract the most talented and brilliant young people from all around the world (as a result of their established status, no doubt). </p>
<p>The real benefit of attending ivies is not because of their “academic rigor” (in practice, actually lack thereof) or their ability to challenge you in the classroom. They stand out because they put students in an environment of brilliance. Surrounded by constant innovation and pressure to succeed, students at HPYS achieve so much more than they would if they were scattered across the nation at other schools that are supposedly “academically rigorous”. So really its the environment, resources, generous financial aid, and branding that I believe makes the ivies so desirable. The quality of the in-classroom education isn’t any better than you will find at other higher-tier universities IMO.</p>
<p>There are also other non-ivy universities that offer similar environments in terms of brilliance, success, innovation, resources, etc. People who go to ivies are not the only ones who end up successful in life. Saying that one wants to go to an ivy because of its brilliant alumni, innovation, and success isn’t a valid argument, because there are several other schools that offer the same, but are given less recognition than the ivies.</p>
<p>Saying that graduation from an ivy correlates with success is absolutely erroneous. I think that’s the biggest problem… some people feel like failures at life if they don’t get admitted at an ivy league school… and I wonder how many people realize that the Ivy League is actually an athletic conference, not a network of elitist universities that offer the top education in the world because they are deemed “ivies”… XD</p>
<p>By the way I’m not anti-Ivy. I just think that people should realize that ivies are amazing, yes, but there are several other options that are just as good as going to an ivy, or maybe even better. I know a kid who got into every single school out of HYPSM, but he rejected them all, got a full merit scholarship to Rice and went there instead.</p>
<p>One of my friends hates everything to do with ivies though, which I think is just as ignorant as obsessing over nothing but the ivy leagues. He seems to think that everyone who goes to an ivy is a smart-alack and snobby work addict. o____O</p>
<p>Also, I don’t mean that you’re a failure if you go to an ivy (at the correlate with success… erroneous part). I just mean that you don’t have to go to an ivy to be successful in life.</p>
<p>@gomdorri</p>
<p>Agreed.
Many well-qualified applicants are turned away. </p>
<p>Getting in is awesome, but going to, say, Notre Dame or Duke is just as awesome! C:</p>