<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>A lot of people like the ivy environment and just the school i general. However, if you like a state school over an ivy, go to the state school, especially if you get a lot of money. Once you get your first job, your college GPA and where you went to college does not matter really.<br>
The ivies are some of the best schools but it is really your choice on where you go to college. Go wherever you are happy.</p>
<p>You’re paying for reputation. What you say is mostly true (however you may find some better professors/classes/research at ivy league), but a degree from Harvard carries much more weight with employees than an equivalent one from xyz state university.</p>
<p>The reason I’m somewhat considering the effort is because I would love to become a physicist and have my ideas and theories taken seriously. I also have been thinking about military academies because tuition is free and they seem to emphasize scientific research (especially USAFA).</p>
<p>If you want to go to grad school where you go to undergrad matters. The reason is you need professor recommendations as well, and the more well known the professor, the more weight that recommendation carries. It depends what you want to do. Also you can balance your social life with academics and extracirculars, just get really passionate about a few things, don’t just join 20 clubs for the sake of the application. Admissions officers see right through that. The Ivies are also not the only option, there are alot of good public schools, small liberal arts schools, etc… However, Ivies do have significant financial aid packages, due to their massive endowment. Finally, the best times of your life are not in highschool, trust me, it beats middle school, but college is much better than highschool. It is good that you are thinking about this so early, not enough people do. Just really get involved with something you are passionate about, work hard in highschool, and even research colleges to see what the best fit is.</p>
<p>Do you have any idea what I could possibly do during the summer from now on? I think I might ask my mother if I could try and earn some credits so I could possibly spend less time at school during later years and have more time to study and committ to EC’s. Also, I’ve been told many times to try out for gifted classes (I’m currently in all honors) because it supposedly looks more impressive on applications than all honors. Any ideas on that?</p>
<p>Well if you want to go into physics heres a few ideas. Try and take the Physics AP tests, all three of them. You can study on your own if your high school doesn’t offer those courses. Also take calc B/C AP as well. Ideally if you do well enough on these then you can exempt yourself from taking those intro courses in college, which is really nice. Of course you need a 4 or a 5 on the test. This isnt imperative of course, but something to think about. Being in highschool is hard to actually do research. Look into summer academic programs or maybe try and intern with a company or lab if you can. I am not sure what opportunities exist in that field but definitely search for them. Also yes, do all honors courses, it does look impressive. Also you can always do extracirculars that have nothing to do with physics, colleges like diverse applicants.</p>
<p>It’s largely about the college peer group which when all is said and done, has a greater influence on a student’s goals and aspirations than any other factor. The Ivies get applications from the very top prospective students throughout the U.S. and the world, then only have room to take 6 - 15% of them. That’s a very special peer group. </p>
<p>If you’re intellectually gifted you may have opportunities to join college communities in which there are many similarly-gifted students or some in which there are (for the most part, but not entirely) less-gifted peers. Imagine if your gift was not in academics but in tennis, and you were deciding to go to a live-in tennis academy to develop that talent. You could go to the Bollettieri Tennis Academy where you’d play with and against the top emerging talent, who would in the coming years be the stars of the pro tennis world. Or perhaps you could go to another tennis academy where the students weren’t so motivated by tennis, but had attended primarily because others told them they should. At the lesser academy, you might play against your fellow classmates and find that no one could return your serves. You’d hit average ground strokes and your opponents would whiff instead of returning competent shots. You might find that you were underchallenged, and accordingly, weren’t getting any better. You might show up for practice and find that your opponent was a no-show, having blown off class for the day. You might be thrilled to learn that Roger Federer or Serena Williams was coming to campus to speak to students and then find that other students weren’t interested in seeing them and weren’t interested in talking with you about the visit that you attended. A really talented tennis player either wouldn’t be satisfied in that kind of environment or may eventually dull down his or her passion and goals to match those of the classmates.</p>
<p>The same dynamic works with academically-talented students. And it’s not just about compiling a resume in order to land a job. It’s about developing yourself to the fullest in order to enjoy your life to the maximum. To me, that’s the main benefit of a top-level college.</p>
<p>I see what you are trying to say and I think you have a valid perspective on my issue. Most of my classmates have very little interest in academics and just knowledge in general (probably why I’m often called a nerd, haha). I would honestly love nothing more than to be occupied in an enviroment full of students who crave knowledge, especially that of physics and the such. On another note, I took an ACT test that was not official but was scored the same as an official test and made a 32. Any idea how I could improve my score to possibly near perfect for when I take the real thing later this school year or the next?</p>
<p>There are a lot of differences between Harvard and state universities, though whether or not “reputation” matters depends somewhat on what you end up doing…brand name matters a lot to Wall Street but doesn’t matter as much to law schools, for example. Though no matter what kind of path you take, going to a top school gives you a totally different peer group. At Harvard you would meet other students with amazing talents and interests, and with that comes a lot of resources for you to follow your own. Of course there are amazing, inspired students at every school! But at Harvard you don’t have to search around for them.</p>
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<p>You shouldn’t do clubs if you don’t want to do them. If you’re just doing them to get into a top school, the admissions committees will (probably) see right through you. Most students at Harvard enjoy doing their ECs for their own sake and don’t stop when they get to college (after which ECs matter substantially less). </p>
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<p>Depends on your financial situation. Harvard’s financial aid policy is among the best nationally. If your parents make under 60k a year, you go for free. From 60k to 120k (I think? someone back me up) you pay 10%ish of your income. If you fall into that range, 12k a year is a pretty cheap price as you must know.</p>
<p>If your family is wealthier than that, you (and your parents!) should indeed consider whether a private school is a good monetary investment depending on what you think you want to do in 4 years. </p>
<p>I only plan on joining and doing EC’s that I enjoy doing. If I did too many and dreaded every second of them, what if I were rejected? I would’ve wasted all that time doing EC’s that I didn’t even enjoy for nothing. As for tuition, I’d go for free. I’ve been raised all of my life by my mom who makes much less than 60k a year and my dad has never even paid child support.</p>
<p>Well, I think I’ve just about decided what to do. One last question though! What Ivy League school has the best physics program? I can imagine that every school is nice but, which school has the best reputation for it?</p>
<p>Harvard, Princeton and Cornell are all top 10 physics programs followed closely by Columbia. Other top programs include MIT, CalTech, Stanford, and U of Chicago.</p>