<p>Shouldn’t your happiness at college matter a bit more than a degree from some over-hyped (haha, pun) institution.
I can’t decided whether these boards horrify or amuse me…probably both…</p>
<p>“I can’t decided whether these boards horrify or amuse me…probably both…”</p>
<p>…which is why this has all been great fodder for the musical I’m writing: “CC – the musical”</p>
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<p>Getting into Berkeley, arguably the most selective public university (and probably one of the top 15 or so most selective schools in the country), would make any sane person proud. From what I’ve seen, HYPS are largely about bragging rights – they have become a badge of credibility, of accomplishment – or, more accurately, of ego. Saying you’re a Yale Man (or woman) elicits the "wow"s and such, but when it comes down to actual quality, schools like Berkeley, UCLA, etc. are easily on par.</p>
<p>If your Mom went to Berkeley and your Dad went to MIT, why are you stressing so much over your application to Stanford?</p>
<p>LOL…</p>
<p>Chymps.</p>
<p>It’s CHYMPS!</p>
<p>God.</p>
1 Like
<p>Damn dirty apes!</p>
<p>=p</p>
<p>HYPSMC sounds like you’re trying to rank them by prestigious.</p>
<p>In an anti-prestigous-monger-toned thread, this would seem contradictory.</p>
<p>Thus,</p>
<p>CHYMPS.</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>What is a failure? Is your mom a failure? Is the janitor at your school a failure? I don’t understand you kids and your notion of success and failure. You are worried about going to Berkeley??? What is WRONG with you? You know HOW many people would want to be in YOUR position right now? </p>
<p>Do you really want to go to an EXPENSIVE liberal arts school in which no one will care you are going there because they all go there too? Besides state schools are a lot more fun and probably a lot harder with so many students. If I were you, I would thank god I live in the state of CA and can get a top notch education for such a low price! Anyone here from Michigan, Texas, or California are pretty lucky for teh bif state schools they house!! And as for connections, I think state schools have MORE alums and therefore are more well connected. Ultimately it’s up to you how you shape your college experience. It is what you make of it!</p>
<p>even if you don’t, can’t u apply to those schools for graduate school?
And once you are at that stage, the school u went to for graduate school is all that matters.</p>
<p>Well, you only get one shot at life so why not go for the most challenging thing you could do?</p>
<p>Everyone has pretty much covered it, but let me add my voice. First off, if you want to be a high-power rich businessperson, then CHYMPS will be an advantage, but not a huge one, especially if you plan on going to grad school.</p>
<p>But consider whether that’s really what you want your life to be about. You may find that another college is better for your personality and your goals. Personally, I’ll probably apply to Stanford, but even if I get in I might not go, and I’m not even applying to the rest of them.</p>
<p>Oh my god, here’s some pep talk: Education is everywhere.</p>
<p>Yay another LAC basher.</p>
<p>Nobody cares if we go there? Oh MANY people do, and more than you probably can even imagine, dork. Idiots running their mouth on what they don’t know, or what they want to believe.</p>
<p>As for the topic, everyone has said what needs to be said. This doesn’t mean it makes it any easier for the OP to deal with such…parents. Your parents seriously need to get out of this asinine mindset. </p>
<p>Show them what Berkeley has achieved, and continues to achieve, and make a case for how Berkeley fits you. Maybe find a few friends who are at Harvard and are miserable or something (extremist in nature, but well, when you’re dealing with biases that are 40+ years old, you gotta bring out the artillery). Find grad placement ranks. Find studies detailing how not going to HYPSMC will NOT ruin ANYTHING. Or try starting with the argument that “yes, mum, I agree with you that I need to go to a fantastic school. However, that school does not exclusively come from the confines of the hallowed, almighty HYPSMC” and then proceed in making a case for why a person from a top 30 will still have connections, quality education, and well-rounded life - attributes that make a monetary, emotionally, ethically, physically successful person.</p>
<p>Berkeley is easier to get into than most other schools for the OP. The OP is Asian.</p>
<p>But when it comes to the actual rigour of the curriculum, Berkeley is great.</p>
<p>dude you don’t even have to go to college to be successful. it doesn’t really matter if you go or not to me.
50 cent didn’t go and he’s making loads.</p>
<p>don’t worry about HYPSMC man that’s my advice</p>
<p>dude, the posters to this thread are probably no longer CC users. Lookit the original post’s date – even the date of the last reply.</p>
<p>Some people invest their entire sense of self-worth into the acceptance letter. The whole process can be intoxicating. People have months to magnify the importance of it all; the whole universe hangs in the balance, etc. Is it worth it?</p>
<p>“In the long run we’re all dead.” Keynes</p>
<p>If you got into UC Berkley I would assume you could answer this question easily, also including that all your friends got into these 6 Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>HYPSMC ( and other universities) can give you a boost globaly in most job fields.</p>
<p>Didnt hurt Bob Gates, Secretary of Defense. Christine Rohmer, Chair- Council of Economic Advisers. Jon Stewart- The Daily Show. Glenn Close- best actress of her generation. Mike Tomlin- Youngest winning coach of Super Bowl, Pittsburgh Steelers. All proud graduates of William & Mary.</p>
<p>This story is repeated at Duke, Amherst, Chicago and ,yes, Cal. There are about 50 elite schools in this country and one will be the right one for you. Dont be afraid to be a free thinker and do what is best for you.</p>
<p>Good luck. You will be fine.</p>
<p>The Harvard, Yale and Princeton undergraduate experiences are all quite different from one another and not all that comparable. It wouldn’t matter, though, if they were the same, because taken separately or together, their numbers are extremely small. There are many people who feel they should apply and have no real chance and many who might successfully apply who do not. For that matter, many who apply and get in do not take full advantage of the experience. In some fields, direct obervation of the work you do is the only way to tell if you are going to be a person of accomplishment. If a professor is going to give you a gilt edge recommendation that will cut fifteen years off the time it takes to reach the top, they have to have seen you in action. And that recommendation has to mean something to the person who receives it to have that effect. There few places where this kind of reference can have maximum effect, but when they are correctly bestowed , you wouldn’t be believe what they can do, believe me. So, this HYP business is really a tempest in a teapot, but to say that it doesn’t matter just obscures the reality of benefit that will - I say will, not might, be life altering for some.</p>