<p>Look, Duh, you know why I /care/ what you post? Because I think it's a shame someone who is obviously so advantaged and has some capabilities has shown increasing ignorance as to how the world works in all of his posts. I don't know everything, but allow me to clarify a few things:</p>
<p>"i'm sure i'll get into a top five, ten or fifteen professional school if that's what i decide i want. i do attend swarthmore afterall"</p>
<p>I hope this statement was a joke. Or else, you need to learn a whole lot more about applying to professional schools if that is truly where you aim yourself.</p>
<p>Your response to my statement that many top students go to state schools where you said how top students from everywhere go to ivies? The first 10 years of my education I attended school in one of the poorest and lowest performing districts of IL. My hometown sends a kid to an ivy league school maybe every few years or so. My home hs doesn't offer APs, so the schools really don't do a good job of preparing kids for college, no matter how smart they are. Lots of students deal with the same disadvantage. Lots of excellent students go to state schools simply b/c they've never heard of other schools, don't realize scholarships are available, want to stay close to home, etc.</p>
<p>Sure, being a minority like Native American may offer a certain advantage in the admissions game. But if it was nearly easy enough to get ahead that way as you indicated in some of your posts, do you really think Native Americans would remain as socioeconomically screwed as they are today? The only reason it offers some advantage in admissions, is because a majority of Native American people have poor resources to begin with, and would have more to overcome before they'd begin applying to a school like Swat. I could write a post paralleling yours above beginning with: "How to get into Swarthmore: be a rich, white boy born in a good school district with supportive parents and a silver spoon in your mouth..." I think you could learn a great deal from listening to others at Swat and beyond, and not being so focused on bashing so-called "PC". One-quarter of women your age have been sexually abused. A majority of minorities your age have experienced overt and covert racism in their lives. You think that doesn't **** with how someone competes in school, no matter how smart they may actually be, and no matter what supplemental opportunities they may be afforded? I do not like the way you reduce these realities to a game in your posts. Unless you've walked a mile in someone's shoes, please do not pass judgment on what someone's class rank or SATs mean about their capabilities or work ethic (that goes for you and your daughter too, ID). I could go on about some very personal experience too, but I do have a life, and a couple more points to get in...</p>
<p>"i also won't play that "oh bowdoin is such a great school..." game, it may be, but it still feeds on swarthmore's leftovers."</p>
<p>I have no interest in debating overall superiority of one school to another such as Swarthmore to Bowdoin. Simply put, I think there's no such thing, it's subjective. As a fairly good critical thinker, it's counter-intuitive. Schools are composed of individuals with a variety of talents who will go their separate ways after graduation. I agree that Swarthmore's academics may be somewhat more challenging, and that Swarthmore has a slightly higher % of students who are capable of competing at top professional schools -I never said otherwise. However, some students who are independent thinkers as opposed to major tools, realize that doing well enough at a variety of good schools affords them the same opportunities afterwards. Therefore, if a less competitive school might better meet the needs of a given student, it makes sense to go there. This explains girls I knew who chose Smith over Williams and Brown, and students who chose Bowdoin over Princeton and Swarthmore. I chose Bowdoin for myself because of a superior Environmental Studies faculty -I am not bothered that you don't have the same priorities for your education as I myself do.</p>
<p>Finally, I'm pretty damn sure you misinterpreted banana's post. I do not think banana was just "taking the safe road", but rather being frank.</p>
<p>I just hate what this whole "College Rankings" obsessive-mentality has done to the lives and stress levels of a lot of gifted youth. It gives the false impression that college is way more important as an overall measure of accomplishment, personal growth, and a future success indicator than it actually is. Plus it occasionally creates annoying adults who don't feel a need to justify aspects of themselves to anyone b/c they went to "such-and-such college" and must be brilliant.</p>