<p>I feel like I'm living in an isolated box in the middle of nowhere. I've never heard of anyone saying things like that. I go to a really poor/ill-equipped high school where everyone goes to state schools. If someone from my school got into Northwestern (or hoped to go there) people (if they could appreciate the school) would be bowing down at that person's feet.</p>
<p>Hehe :)</p>
<p>In a way, I'm slightly happy to live without such pressure around me! I'm sorry that anyone would say that to you!</p>
<p>I told my counselor that, next year, I want to apply to places like Amherst, Swarthmore, or Mount Holyoke. She gave me a look and said basically, "Don't you want to apply to some better schools than that? Ivy Leagues?" as if these LACs were all sub-par. I don't think she's heard of any of them.</p>
<p>And one of the girls on my debate team apparently said the other day, "I'm not applying to Dartmouth; it just can't compare to Harvard or Yale."</p>
<p>
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Let's face it, most people you meet on the street or at the mall can't even list the Ivies, let alone the other amazing schools that exist. I'm sure parents have a pressure to boast about their child, but, when you receive your acceptance letter, you'll be the one snickering. A Brown friend of mine worked at a certain fast food restaraunt for years, while most of the customers treated him as if he were well..... stupid. I'm sure he had the last laugh when he got his acceptance letter to an Ivy League school.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Ha. I work at a Dunkin' Donuts and the same thing happens to me all the time, some customers seem to think I have selected fast food service as my permanent career choice and have a condescending air about them. I like to think I'm a decently competitive applicant to college, so when I get my letter(s) I'll have the last (silent) laugh.</p>
<p>^ lol. i remember i went to a convenience store(WaWa) and wasn't sure how to use my gift card there. i asked the cashier "excuse me, but do i just swipe this like a credit card?" and she says yes. the next guy in line, who's wearing a sweatshirt from a construction job, says to the cashier "wow, they're just getting brighter and brighter, aren't they?" with a laugh.</p>
<p>and this was 2 days after I figured out that I got a 2370 on the SAT.</p>
<p>edit: not meant to be elitism. but still, it's not right to call people stupid.</p>
<p>"I get that from my parents 24/7. Imagine how frustrating that is.
I remember one time I told my (Asian) dad that I wanted to apply to Wake Forest, and he exploded and answered, "I don't even know what that is. There's not even a name for it in Chinese. How will I tell your grandparents if you go there--that you went to the worst school possible?" It made me so depressed because Wake isn't even like a safety for me; it's probably a reach and I really want to go there. My parents just have this Asian, unrealistic expectation of me that makes no sense. They think like Harvard and Yale are the only good schools."</p>
<p>My mom's the exact opposite. I live fairly close to an ivy league and yet she's never heard of it. She has her heart set on me going to our state flagship and even told me that it should have been the only school I applied too. She doesn't understand that I'm not as much in love with my flagship as I am with other schools. It's frustrating because I know I'll get into at least a few of my other schools but I probably won't be able to attend unless the FA is amazing. I'm sure I'll like my state university, it'll just take a little bit to get used to.</p>
<p>It does get annoying how people assume about college.
at thanksgiving i got drilled again about college, like usual. . . but then i got into a unwelcomed conversation with some distant relative who is pushing to get his kid into an ivy--i feel so bad for the kid. He has okay grades, like mostly A's and B's but 2 C's. His dad is hoping he'll get in on sports and doesn't seem to think anything but ivy is good enough.
But I learned the hard way about sharing college knews, I just got accepted into my back up backup school (the backup school to my backup--don't ask) with a $13,000 scholarship per year. I mentioned it offhand cuz i'm never going there. No biggie, but my friend looked at me with this pained look on her face and told me the school was her first choice but all they would give her was $2,000. I felt horrible. I find its best now to just chat on CC to get it out of my system.</p>
<p>"I get that from my parents 24/7. Imagine how frustrating that is.
I remember one time I told my (Asian) dad that I wanted to apply to Wake Forest, and he exploded and answered, "I don't even know what that is. There's not even a name for it in Chinese. How will I tell your grandparents if you go there--that you went to the worst school possible?" It made me so depressed because Wake isn't even like a safety for me; it's probably a reach and I really want to go there. My parents just have this Asian, unrealistic expectation of me that makes no sense. They think like Harvard and Yale are the only good schools."</p>
<p>Welcome to my life. And I'm not even Asian.</p>
<p>I have this problem a lot where I love, despite how kids go to so many top schools. For instance, I say that I am applying to Holy Cross, and then they think I want to become a priest or something, when I am agnostic. When I talk about BC/Carnegie Mellon, I am looked down on as if they are bad schools. The thing I hate the most is when I say one of my top choices is UVA, and people wonder why I am applying to a state school. I always respond, "Hey, it's better than any school you are going."</p>
<p>This thread makes me glad I live where I do; here, people are just "aware" enough to know vaguely what most of the big colleges are (unless they're off in some crazy foreign country like California), but nowhere near vain enough to think of deriding them (most people here go to local state schools). Our Asian population is pretty much nonexistent - I'm just saying.</p>
<p>Ha I go to the hippiest high school in hippietown (and love it). Anyone there can rattle off every LAC in the midwest. It annoys my mom that I applied to Northwestern because it's too "big name".</p>
<p>Wow, I couldn't imagine applying for most of these schools. I've never had anyone chastise me for my choices, mainly because they're all the top schools in my state, plus a few safeties. </p>
<p>I don't think I even know of anyone in my class, or school for that matter, that's thinking of applying to an Ivy or anything close. But this is my small poor rural high school, so I guess that's to be expected. =P</p>
<p>I agree it's rather ignorant to make uneducated comments on other people's choices, though. People have a right to apply to the schools they think will fit them best, regardless of "notoriety" or "prestige".</p>
<p>The one question I hate the most: "So, where do you want to go?" I prefer the "Where did you apply" question over that one. Duh, I want to go to my first choice, but just because I want to go there doesn't mean that I will get accepted by that school. </p>
<p>But yes, I cringe and want to mentally "slap" those who ask me such questions. I mean, really... not even my parents ask their children where they applied and about their dream school. If people do ask me about my "first choice," I just reply, "Oh, just a private school out there." Then, they want to pry the information out of me. I only look at them, smile, and laugh... and walk away.</p>
<p>RULE #1: Don't ask seniors about their selection of colleges unless they are willing to do so. Doing so irks them to the max.</p>
<p>yummymango, I know exactly what you mean. It gets me uncomfortable when people go after my first choice like they are detectives. They would say "so where do you want to go" and I would reply by, like you, a few colleges that I applied to, and then they'd be like "but what's your first choice" and I would say something like "I will see" (because even though I definitely have my Lucky U set in my heart, I really think this is a question that's kind of private that you don't tell to just random people that you don't even really know; and plus I don't understand people who show off about how they have a good college being their first choice anyway) and they'd be like "but where do you REALLY want to go?"</p>
<p>I mean, I'm generally known as a tolerating person who just about never gets mad if people don't say real mean stuff, and asking me once or twice is okay, but if everyone asks me these same questions everyday with the same persistence sometimes just gets a little too intense. Maybe my high school fellows are just a little too concerned with colleges, I don't know. Yesterday, for example, I was in the library in the middle of making up a test and a junior that I've seen only once or twice came up to me and asked these random questions, and I almost ran out of time trying to finish my test.</p>
<p>I personally didn't apply to Brown because of its chemical engineering rankings. I felt that, for the cost, it wasn't worth it considering I could attend Penn State (which is ranked higher) for a lower price.</p>
<p>well let the elitist snobs think what they will-i go to a public high school that spends the least amt. of money per student annually in PA and we can name on one hand (maybe last year it moved to two hands) the number of graduates in 50 years that have gone to an Ivy League</p>
<p>BUT...I'm going to MSU on a full ride (or close to a full ride, it's a whole bunch of diff. scholarshps) and get to participate in research (and therefore get published) as a freshman, so who wins now? just let everyone know how amazing you are</p>