Ok, seriously, what the hell?

<p>If you do go to Tufts, or any of the other 3 near ivies you got accepted to, please work on your attitude for your own sake. If your parents think you let them down, they need therapy. Going to Tufts with the expressed desire to transfer out, before you’ve even registered for a single class, before you’ve met your eventual classmates (classmates I may add who are pretty much indistinguishable from their counterparts at Penn or Cornell or Chicago) with whom you’ll likely form the tightest bonds- life long friendships- is toxic, a recipe for guaranteed unhappiness. I’d love to hear from you in a year. Please be receptive to the notion that you may actually like, even love, one of these academic biggies.</p>

<p>^^^I agree that the OP’s current attitude is a prescription for major unhappiness. For starters, no one wants to spend time with fellow students who whine that they are stuck attending an “inferior” school, since the implication is that fellow students are also “inferior”. </p>

<p>The reason I find this thread, and so many like it on this web site, extremely irritating is what it says about the naivete, ignorance, or just plain dimwittedness of so many students, parents and high school counselors. Can all of these people really believe that in the entire United States of America there are fewer than 10 institutions of higher learning worth attending? In the age of the internet, can it be so hard to understand that in the real world wildly successful and happy people get their undergraduate educations from a wide variety of schools?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>It matters because they might only be recruiting for support positions. If OP intends to get a non-support position at one of these firms, then OP’s situation will be difficult.</p>

<p>The only people who ■■■■■ these schools are hs seniors who don’t know much of anything and whose opinions are shaped merely by hearsay. All of those schools are excellent. You have terrific choices.</p>

<p>"Can all of these people really believe that in the entire United States of America there are fewer than 10 institutions of higher learning worth attending? "</p>

<p>Yes. They really do. Which is why you get stupid advice like “go to Tufts and plan to transfer out” a few posts above. </p>

<p>What’s really amusing is that the people who chase prestige really never wind up doing anything all that much. They never blaze their own trails in life BC they are too busy checking to see what others think.</p>

<p>All the schools you got into are fine. I understand wanting to go to Chicago (I’d like to go there too) but I think you will still have a great time if you go to any the schools you were accepted into. I know for a fact there are a ton of hardworking and very smart students at Vandy, and there’s great weather there too.</p>

<p>OP said: “My dad expected me to get into Princeton, Brown, or Duke…mom wanted Chicago, Penn, or Columbia.”</p>

<p>Your parents’ expectations are/were irrational.</p>

<p>Those schools are reaches for almost everybody, and those schools routinely say “no” to highly qualified students like you.</p>

<p>Example: does you Dad know that Brown rejects ~80% of the valedictorians that apply there? Or that they reject ~70% of applicants who score a perfect 36 on the ACT? These Ivies and similars reject a lot kids that have better stats than you. </p>

<p>It might be too late for them to get real, but it’s not too late for you; ignore your counselors’ gossip and concentrate on selecting one fo the 4 wonderful schools that you’ve been accepted to. It is YOUR life, not your parents’.</p>

<p>What kind of school do you go to where the counselors are telling you this?</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>Don’t worry - the schools at which you are accepted are not beneath you. They are not beneath anybody. Enroll in any one of them and you will find plenty of kids who are scary smart - smarter than many kids at the schools that rejected you.</p>

<p>There is huge overlap smarts-wise between the students at the top schools and the next tier down. Even at 3rd and 4th tier schools there are still plenty of very intelligent students.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>True, but the entire graduating class in the United States (and abroad) is very different from the typical cohort that finds its way to College Confidential. Year after year, NACAC publishes statistics that show that the overwhleming majority of students apply to few schools and attend their first or second choice. </p>

<p>For various reasons, there is a small but increasing number of students who focus on the top 10 or top XX schools. For some, issues of social climbing are paramount; for others it is part of a culture that conflates academic success with prestige. </p>

<p>The most unfortunate part is that it will not abate anytime soon, as the harder it becomes to “get in” in those bastions of higher learning that (should) equate to instant riches, the more valued the prize appears. Mixing asinine parental expectations and misguided notions of entitlement makes for one lethal cocktail. </p>

<p>On the other hand, all this craziness is balanced by millions of teenagers who cannot wait for May or June to start the summer of fun that separates them from one to four more years of … fun at one of their local institutions of higher learning. </p>

<p>It is what it is!</p>

<p>Just remember that at the end of the day, it will be your life and not your parents’. You’re going to be on your own some day. So why don’t you go where YOU want?</p>

<p>Xiggi has the truth of it. An increasing number of people are obsessing over college prestige, be they students, parents, or counselors. It really is unfortunate, and it seems to squander some of what college should be about. It shouldn’t be a competition to get the most well known name on your piece of paper, it should be a time of educational fulfillment and personal development.</p>

<p>^No. </p>

<p>I honestly would be highly depressed if such competition didn’t exist. Have you taken a look at India? IIT’s admit rate is less than 2%. Hundreds of thousands of people compete with each other for seats at IIT. It’s incredible. And this is why India is rising. </p>

<p>I don’t even have to explain what happens in China. </p>

<p>People who go around claiming “it should be a time of educational fullfillment blah blah” are unrealistic losers. It “should” not have to be anything at all. Like xiggi said, it is what it is.
A winner will rise by accepting that this is a competition and put up his best fight. </p>

<p>

Really? Then what category does RML fall into? ;)</p>

<p>The positions these firms recruit at Tufts is NOT something like “operations.” </p>

<p>For example, Goldman Sachs recruits for Investment Banking. And this is for their New York office.</p>

<p>Tufts is also a target school for DE Shaw:</p>

<p>[The</a> D.<em>E.</em>Shaw group | On-Campus Recruiting](<a href=“http://www.deshaw.com/OnCampus.html]The”>http://www.deshaw.com/OnCampus.html)</p>

<p>See the lists of schools? Pretty small. And Tufts is one of them. But they also, obviously, recruit heavily on campus.</p>

<p>And obviously JP Morgan recruits because their CEO, Jamie Dimon, is a Tufts alum.</p>

<p>These firms, among the others I listed, are PAYING to come to Tufts to recruit there. And it’s for some of their elite positions in their elite offices.</p>

<p>“Like xiggi said, it is what it is.”</p>

<p>I always wondered who coined that tautological gem.</p>

<p>

You won’t feel this way at WUSTL. The “caliber of students” at WUSTL (based on class rank, test scores, etc.) is higher than several of the schools you deem more "prestigious.” You should be proud to have such excellent choices.</p>

<p>2 Yale
3 Harvard
5 Princeton
6 Columbia
7 WUSTL
9 Penn
11 Stanford
13 Brown
15 Duke
20 Cornell
25 Chicago</p>

<p>(<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/687793-selectivity-ranking-national-us-lacs-combined-usnews-method.html&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Maybe the low admit rate to IIT is due to the fact that so many of the other colleges in India graduate incompetents?</p>

<p>[India</a> Graduates Millions, but Too Few Are Fit to Hire - WSJ.com](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826.html]India”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703515504576142092863219826.html)</p>

<p>“I’m terribly unhappy with my results this year. I got into WUSTL, Vanderbilt, Emory, and Tufts.”</p>

<p>“I had this problem too.”</p>

<p>WOW! Another typical case of the “brats” . This is ridiculous. I appreciate Slithey Tove’s “nice” approach, but to say that WUSTL, Emory, Vandy and Tufts make you “UNHAPPY” is just a joke. You have some tremendous choices, but if you can’t see those for yourself that is really unfortunate.</p>

<p>Also, there is not a lot of rhyme or reason to admissions, I know students were rejected at their flagship state U and got into places like Chicago, Northwestern, Brown - etc.</p>

<p>Perhaps a good lesson in being grateful for what you have would be in order here.</p>

<p>"How do I change the way I feel? "</p>

<p>Spend a day at a community college and then a homeless shelter.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>That’s fine. But IIT graduates, who worked their butt off to compete and get in, are HIGHLY competent in what they do. If we want America to be the top, then is it wrong to have a huge IIT-like competition spread among the elite universities of America?</p>

<p>This is why America is still at the top. To rob that competition will not bode well. Sure the competition breaks hearts. Sure you feel you self-esteem crushing. Whatever. But it’s necessary for the betterment of this country.
OP, you received admission to WUSTL, ranked in the top 15 by USNWR. Officially it is ranked higher than 2 Ivy Leagues. Be glad you are technically successful in this competition. Very few are admitted to one of the top 15 USNWR universities. The top 15 are the elite of the elites.</p>