<p>Hello everyone, I'm 15-years-old and have just started high school.
I've always been a straight A student that has put forth the extra effort into my studies and over the summer I have been wondering whether or not I should put enough effort into school to where I might have a shot at getting into a top school. I will of course make excellent grades regardless of whether I do this or not, but here are some questions I would like to be answered to make my mind up.</p>
<p>1) What is the difference between an education from a school such as Harvard and LSU? I mean, the answer to 2+2 will be the same at both schools, right?
2) What makes an Ivy school so special that I need to give up double, if not triple, the amount of time dedicated to studying and committing to clubs, organizations, etc. when I could be out with friends enjoying the best years of my life while still receiving a nice education?
3) Why should I pay so much for tuition at an Ivy and be in debt out the wazoo when I could receive an education from a state university for much less?</p>
<p>You need a good mix of academic rigor and EC’s. Don’t choose one over the other. As far as cost goes, many people are asking the same thing right now. Some of the decisions are based on your major, some are based on family tradition, and some financial. You need to look at the advantage that those schools would give to YOU when you are ready to apply and decide if the cost is worthwhile. In the mean time, do the best you can in classes, take high level classes, and get involved in something that really interests you.</p>
<h1>1) Academic excellence and EC achievements can help with scholarship money. This will help with elite school sand with state schools.</h1>
<h1>2) If you go to a state school but achieve enough to get into an ivy, it is likely you will get more out of the state school. You will be better prepared, better at time management (because you practiced this in high school,) and you may be in a special honors program which will fastrack you to some nice opportunities. For the best achievers, it’s almost like they are going to an ivy inside the state school.</h1>
<h1>3) Doing well in high school is good preparation for board exams, which you will eventually have to take if you become a doctor or lawyer (or get an MBA). If you try in high school, you will be prepared to ace the MCAT, for instance.</h1>
<h1>4) Placing out of classes through AP exams requires that you study hard in these classes. This can save you a year of tuition at a state school.</h1>
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<p>The short answer is yes, putting time into your studies in high school does pay off. You don’t actually have to go to an ivy. There is a well-known study that shows that people who get into an ivy do well whether or not they actually go. The key is that you are the same quality academically and otherwise compared to ivy league students.</p>
<p>I think that the key phrasing here is that you “give up” time. The most competitive schools including MIT admit on the basis of match, and one of the ways in which that match manifests itself is that most successful students do not see this time as given up. Heck, I really wished that I had more time to pour into clubs and organisations while I was in high school and then I repeated that at MIT getting hugely involved in life on campus. There was not a choice between participating in arts or clubs or hanging out with my friends, most of my friends were found in those same clubs, theater troupes, and committees. If you see this as a choice, then you are doing it wrong. As to studying, I personally always gave up what my course-load demanded and not a minute more, in order to have more time to pour into clubs and social groups. But obviously your mileage may vary. But if you see this time as given up, then that should be telling you something.</p>
<p>
The top schools all base their aid on financial need, and guarantee to meet an accepted student’s financial need for all four years. MIT offers no merit-based aid whatsoever, and indeed merit-based aid (including athletics scholarships) simply represent a schools attempt to purchase a “better” student body in some form. This takes money away from those who would need it in order to attend. A majority of MIT undergraduates graduate with no debt whatsoever. That is simply not true of most second-tier universities. They just cannot afford that. This is not an MIT only thing. Full need is guaranteed by Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst, Dartmouth, etc.</p>
The main differences are the academic quality of your peers and the quality of the opportunities available to you. Top schools have tremendous resources (financial and human) that you can utilize to improve the quality of your education. For example, when I was a sophomore at MIT, I emailed a few professors and got a paid research job working on a project that was eventually published in a good journal. My friends back home at Ohio State were volunteering in labs to wash glassware.</p>
<p>
If you’re not interested in running the academic rat race, you don’t have to. As Mikalye says, some people are, and for those people, the work is fun. My favorite memories of high school are of times when I was tired and overextended and working too hard – enjoying the some of the best years of my life with my friends.</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, remember that ingrained patterns of behavior are tough to break. If you don’t want to work hard in high school, will you really want to hit the books and work in college? Will you want to jump through the hoops you need to jump through to end up at a great grad program or a great job? If the answer is no, that’s fine – just be aware that your attitudes toward hard work now can shape more about your future than you expect.</p>
<p>Ivies and top schools offer the most important resources through connections made with friends and professors. I chose MIT because friends were getting harvard med professors as advisors. I can do more research and get hooked up to prestigious internships. A state school offers you very little prestigious opportunties because there are so many people and fewer connection. Companies recruit first at schools like Mit. Most importantly, you say paying the tuition is too much. But if you consider the future and career options, your job out of such schools like MIT will pay out over the long run 10x or more than state schools. Although its expensive, its an investment into golden opportunities. (hp, bose, google engineers, top ceos usually attended prestigious schools). I highly recommend if you can get into a top school, go there even though you pay more because its simply worth it</p>