<p>So I'm a pretty good student, 4.0 without a rigorous courseload (school doesn't offer AP or Honor as a part of its philosophy). I have a 2100 ACT SAT, am ranked 14/230, and a few ECs (varsity basketball, school newspaper, class secretary (lol)) but no community service (oh well). I'm a pretty normal lower-middle-class guy other than my academics. </p>
<p>Lately, I've been thinking: I absolutely hate school. Maybe its because my school is insanely easy. Maybe I'm just lazy. Whatever the reason, I just don't want to work that hard in college (no more than 3 hours of work a day on average and keep a 3.0+). I want to party. I want to root on my school's DI football team. I want the typical rah-rah college experience...but I want to go to a reasonably reputable college. Any suggestions for schools? Financial aid is important. A friend told me that I was burned out and should consider taking a year off first. Should I do that?</p>
<p>I'm seriously considering just attending Budweiser U on a full-ride and getting on with my life, but I might actually give a damn about education in the future and want the chance to attend a top graduate or professional program if I do.</p>
<p>Can I butt in here as a parent? I despised high school because it was so boring and there were few course offerings. College was a different universe. You get to choose your field of study, with a lot of leeway on course selection. If you go somewhere reasonable--and that generally does include flagship publics--you can find enough challenging classes to keep you very busy, and interested.</p>
<p>If you give it a try and hate it, then I would recommend taking a break from college until you are ready.</p>
<p>Try Indiana--they would give you a lot of merit money, the academics are strong but not killer and it's a Big 10 school with a lot of rah-rah spirit</p>
<p>What the hell is a "public ivy" i hate that term. There are 8 schools in the Ivy League, which is an athletic conference. They are all private. Therefore there is no such thing as a "public ivy." Why do we even say Ivy when its not like the 8 Ivies are the 8 best schools in the country. Whats wrong with Michigan as it is, why does it need to be compared to ivies? I think its just fine being in the Big Ten (11). Just my rant on people who constanty say public ivy. Also, this is a really pathetic thread.</p>
<p>Prestige w/o hard work--that'd be Brown. But if you don't like school, Brown might not be it for you, because it's very academic, not to mention the competition of getting in.</p>
<p>^ brown has no requirements, so one could take easy courses if they preferred to -- however, as with other top schools, there is always the opportunity to challenge oneself (PLME!)</p>
<p>CKMETS, there is "Ivy" with a capital "I" which would be the 8-school conference. There is also "ivy" (lower case) which refers to schools that have a tradition of academic excellence, usually with a traditional curriculum and a rather traditional atmosphere: places like Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Colgate, Bucknell (but not Oberlin or Hampshire). Publics would include William and Mary, UVa, maybe Michigan, but probably not Berkeley. A few decades ago, every barber shop had a poster depicting several types of haircuts. One available style was always "ivy league" which meant a haircut not restricted to the 8 colleges of the Ivy League, but of that general type of youthful intellectual/social elite, even if they happened to go to Lehigh or Notre Dame.</p>
<p>Ivy League<br>
n. An association of eight universities and colleges in the northeast United States, comprising Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale. </p>
<p>adj. Of or resembling the traditions of the Ivy League. <------------This one is the lower case one.</p>