Honestly this ivy league stuff is a bunch of crap, some of you spend all your time of cc just searching up “Harvard Results” and things like that. Why do you do that, to try and see what you have to do to get into a school like that. Half of you take ap courses in subjects that you don’t even like and don’t plan on even touching on later in life just so you could get those extra gpa boosts. I learned this early thank god, I was going to go into computer science just for that “ap” credit but then thought to myself why and I doing this so I am applying to withdraw(the school year didn’t start) and join journalism something I actually love. I recommend all of you take this advice to heart because wasting you childhood just to get in a so called prestige college is a waste of your life. Ask any employer and they definitely wont just hire just because you went to Harvard is not just about what college you go to. And if you are looking for a graduate degree or heading to med school and worrying about this, then your dumb. A graduate degree is what employers look at if you got one, so if you got your bachelors in chemistry from a college like VT than got your graduate degree at a great CHEMISTRY PROGRAM than they only look at where you got your grad degree(as if that matters too). And if your going to med school and your stressing about college…I would not trust you with a scalpel.
Good for you, PhysicsGuy. Let’s say others have their Ivy dreams. and it’s not wrong, really.
One possible reason is because some careers such as investment banking recruit heavily from the ivy league schools, and therefore having a degree from one of these prestigious universities helps you land your potential dream job. In most cases i agree with you that people are too overhyped about the ivy leagues and what it really means.
I don’t think everyone is seeking outside validation, i.e. the judgment of a potential employer based on prestige. Many students seek the specific resources and experiences available at the specific schools. You are right, if all one is seeking is a brand name and validation from others, it is a real waste.
There is only ONE Kelly Writers House, and it is at UPenn, which happens to participate in the Ivy League. So if you really want that experience in writing, you would be applying to an Ivy League school. Probably the students with the best fits look at the school and its programs first, then at the name of the school.
“Hey everyone! My preferences make sense and yours are unreasonable!”
Rant much? This wouldn’t even make a good editorial letter in a HS Student newspaper.
The Wall Street Journal had an article yesterday about computers replacing human analysts on Wall Street. First computer algorithms did away with many trading jobs, now they are doing away research and reporting jobs typically done by analysts. The article predicts jobs for analysts will continue to shrink, especially in large firms. I read and wondered how this will affect all these people clamoring to get into the Ivies to major in art history just so they can land a finance job on Wall Street. Now their dream jobs are being done away with by CS majors from Baruch/Rutgers, how sad. Geeks shall inherit the earth!
To be clear, @cmsjmt, that article is largely speculative–it’s extrapolating that a very limited current trend will continue at its current pace. There’s no certainty that such an outcome will transpire.
I disagree with your premise that undergrad schools don’t matter for job prospects and grad school admissions. But by all means do what you think is best for you.
I agree that a lot of people look at schools in the ivy league simply for the name, and that is kind of sad. But on the other hand, many many people want to go to Harvard, UPenn, or the others because they are amazing schools with great opportunities afterwards.
It is very unfair of you to make the sweeping statement that kids who apply themselves in high school and set goals to go to their dream school are just doing it for the name. I have worked really hard in high school, and I want to go to a great school. My childhood is not ‘ruined,’ I just want to challenge myself as much as I can.
If you hate ivy league schools (I’m guessing you hate all of them, since you seem to make a lot of broad generalizations) that’s fine, even though your reasons are questionable. But that’s no reason for you to rant on a website full of hard-workers, and it certainly doesn’t give you the right to say that there is only one reason students apply to certain schools. Your opinion is not a fact.
You also recently posted a thread asking about your chances at Princeton. I think that makes you a hypocrite?
Lots of people do lots of things for reasons lots of other people disagree with. Best to just get over it. Nobody likes a sanctimonious blowhard.
@marvin100 so you can respond to OP but I’m not allowed to without being called a “sanctimonious blowhard”? Glad that’s cleared up, thanks! I’ll make sure I don’t make that mistake again!
@CDOESenior2k16–I was responding to the OP, not to you.
Haha sorry I guess I’m a little oversensitive! 
@marvin100
No worries, @CDOESenior2k16
@CDOESenior2k16 If you actually read the post it wasn’t a chance post it was about my highschool and the history of it I just listed Princeton as an example
@ItsJustSchool Most kids don’t even know crap about the school when they apply only some fun facts they looked up for their interview
Oh. Good to know. Thanks for educating me. I see you fully understand how all this works. Carry on.
@ThatPhysicsGuy I don’t know what people you are talking to but I would say that most people applying to highly competitive schools know more than “some fun facts.” I am sure that there are people out there like that, but that doesn’t mean that all 37,000+ harvard applicants this year were like that! I think that most students accepted to top schools worked hard to get there, and it’s not fair for you to say that people who go to ivy league schools go there just for the name
Wow–you really must get around! How could you possibly have gotten to know “most kids” well enough to discover this knowledge?