No thanks, Harvard

<p>A friend of mine turned down JHU for a full-ride to a college with an average incoming freshman SAT of ~900 (old). (His family's rich though!!! And he got a 1490 on his SAT (old)!!! What the heck?)</p>

<p>I know someone who turned down Harvard because he got a full ride somewhere else. Sure, it happens.</p>

<p>um, i know this may sound like w.e., but be aware that i mean the best and do not want to put down a realllllly excellent liberal arts school. A girl in my school got into Columbia, Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Chicago, and a few others, u know where she is going--Swarthmore. She is definetely not a prestige whore.</p>

<p>"Columbia, Duke, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Chicago, and a few others, u know where she is going--Swarthmore."</p>

<p>I would have thought Swarthmore to be quite prestigious and on par with the others.</p>

<p>And you would be more than correct, Fountain.</p>

<p>Swarthmore is a sweet school, with plenty of big name recognition as well...it was definetely one of the colleges I was excited about (along with the other LAC's)</p>

<p>I'll be heading down there next week, for the Admissions 101. I have no idea what to expect.</p>

<p>i never said it wasn't a good school, but as prestigious as those other schools, NO. In my mind, prestige means having that "awe" and instant respect factor that comes when you mention you are a student there. I don't mean like going to Arizona or University of Texas b/c they are well known for sports but I mean like to the average person. To put things in perspective, my science teacher who is very very educated (B.S., M.S. Physics) from an ivy league school knew nothing about northwestern, i mean nothing. He was str8 up, he was like i haven't heard much about it. U of Chicago, was a different story, he was like that is a fabulous place. IDK what to think. To the average person, Swarthmore, Amherst, and Williams could be the names of community colleges. I am not trying to offend anyone but I view prestige as a different facet than other people do. You want an acectdoal story, when I was on vacation, i was speaking w. this kid about colleges. He got accepted to PRINCETON, sigh i know, he's just amazing at life :), but decided to go to Davidson for a full ride. I have done extensive research on colleges, and i seriously never heard of it. When he saw my expression of confusion, he was like it is ranked as the #7 liberal arts school in the country. I mean, i think that points to my central issue on how we all value prestige in different ways.</p>

<p>I think it points to the issue that some of us didn't do their research before applying to college.</p>

<p>Average people are irrelevant. Grad school and employer interpretation is final in determining reputation. At least it is for me. With that said, Williams, Swarthmore, and Amherst are probabaly MORE prestigious than most of the schools aforementioned.</p>

<p>The valedictorian this year turned down Harvard and Dartmouth for Colorado College (full ride).</p>

<p>alrite, thats very extreme!!!! I mean, someone who can get into Harvard, aren't those the ppl that can get mad money from places like Duke, Wash U, Rice, etc..</p>

<p>no, only 50 kids a year get "mad money" at duke atleast</p>

<p>I had a scholarship to Washington U, and I know a few other people who had similar scholarships there, who didn't get into harvard and still got scholarships. And I know two people (the only two I know who got into Harvard) that weren't considered for scholarships at Duke (they both applied there, and are both going to harvard). The only person I know who applied to both Pton and Duke was a semi-finalist for a scholarship but didn't get it (is going to Pton).</p>

<p>alrite sorry, but Rice and WUSTL for sure give out a lot of merit money, and this is a fact.</p>

<p>My friend turned down Cornell for Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She was afraid of leaving home at the time and WSU gave her a full ride.</p>

<p>My older sister turned down Harvard and Yale and decided to go to Sarah Lawrence College. She ended up in Harvard though for Grad school in the end...</p>

<p>Three kids at my school are going to PSU Schreyers Honors College, and I think their other first choice would have been Cornell, Carnegie-Melon, and William and Mary. </p>

<p>But Schreyers has a really good name around here</p>

<p>My friend turned down Duke for UGA honors. And he could afford Duke easily.</p>

<p>Duke's mostly a need based financial aid. So if they don't give it to your for your need, you most likely won't get one of the 50 or so merit scholarships.</p>

<p>my friend turned down harvard, stanford for USC because USC offered her a full ride</p>