The Dumbing Down of the Ivy League?

[GradDadalso]

<p>I think GShine<em>1989 and day</em>tripper87 were best able to understand and articulate the point I was trying to make. I am not saying that the Ivies are going in the toilet tomorrow but I think we are seeing a neutralizing of their prestige. As this huge bubble of incredibly talented (and in many cases well rounded as well) graduates choose the first tier non-ivy and even the top second tier schools, either by choice or necessity, these schools may (and probably will) surpass the Ivies on an academic rating. Some rank better than say Cornell already. If the Ivies continue to accept these “well rounded” kids (which in many cases do in fact have lower academic standings) we will see a gradual reversal in the rankings. </p>

<p>

@GShine_1989

“Is anyone even taking into account the fact that many (most?) of these well-rounded Ivy admits did all those things that make them well-rounded for the purpose of getting into a good college and not because they wanted to do all those things? Let's admit it: today's best applications are precision-engineered to look good to the colleges. For example, many college applications have something like "9 years of violin" under extracurricular activities. Did the child have some tremendous love for the musical arts back when he was in 3rd grade? No, he would rather be playing outside. The parents were planning the child's future when they enrolled him in music classes back then. It was the same when they were coaxed him into joining that soccer club and the middle school newspaper.”

Meanwhile thousands high school students are being molding into “well rounded” citizens by their parents and counselors in an attempt to clone the perfect student for college admission into the Ivies. You only get to be a kid once, there is no going back. If you love the flute, play the flute. The same should be true for sports or any thing else. Getting good grades should still be the focus because education stays with you through life.</p>

<p>

@day_tripper87

“Nevertheless, with the ridiculously low acceptance rates at these Ivies, I believe that all the rejected people will help bring what US News seems to view as second-tier schools up higher. Tufts, for instance, was accepting about 44% of applicants about ten years ago, I believe. And this year, it was around 26%. There are so many great institutions out there, and I think they will be getting some long overdue recognition in the coming years.”

This has not impacted our lives personally, but there are thousands of kids this year not getting into the Ivies while less academically qualified kids are getting in. Those grads are going to go to these first tier non-ivy schools and graduate at the top of their class. They are going to be leaders in business and government and they are going to help recruit for their schools.</p>

<p>It is unfortunate that pilebay uses a somewhat racist approach to blame less than stellar education performance on immigrants.</p>

<p>

@pilebay

“Finally I resent all of the people on this site that are mentioning how bad the U.S. academic system is. The main reason that it is ranked below countries such as Finland is because of the immigration problem.”

This country was founded by, built by, and made great by immigrants. Who in this country is not a descendant of an immigrant?</p>

<p>The fact that the citizens of the US are bred from immigrant stock is what makes our country great. Only the bravest, most daring, most courageous people had the guts to set out for the US to start a new life. It is no different than the selective breeding of lab rats. We are a driven nation because we were bred from selected stock that was itself driven. We are the bravest country because our ancestors, those immigrants, were brave.</p>

<p>Immigrants are great, the issue should only be the legality of the way they got here.</p>