<p>^that was sneaky ;). </p>
<p>People have their own beliefs. I chose Pton for the undergraduate experience. I can actually talk to my professors!</p>
<p>I hope you have a good experience there, iCalculus. I think you might want to consider the following, based on comments youāve made about the perceived social value of mingling with students from higher socioeconomic strata: (1) the student body demographics at all the top schools have changed pretty radically during the past 20 years or so. With about half of the students now on need-based financial aid at each school, you arenow just as likely to be making contact with kids from backgrounds similar to your own. (2) If someone is, say, insecure, arrogant and passive-aggressive, he will not suddenly become charismatic, charming and socially successful by making contact with students who may have those qualities. Those changes must occur from within and they require effort; they donāt happen by osmosis. If those changes do occur, then maybe that person will benefit from his social contacts with āconnectedā people he meets, but if they donāt, thereās essentially no chance of it happening.</p>
<p>I would just like to reiterate this
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<p>Aw, darn. Someone should have told me this a few months ago. :(</p>
<p>^That statement is not true. Harvard undergrads CHOOSE to spend more time on extracurriculars. THis is because itās Harvard. There is not really a need to prove yourself academically. No one in the world will doubt your academic aptitude as a Harvard grad. Everyone at Harvard knows this, and as the result, Harvard has the most active extracurriculars for a college. Other colleges simply cannot devote as much attention to extracurriculars because everyone is trying to prove themselves academically, as their alma mater name will not carry as much POW WOW as Harvardās. </p>
<p>And Harvardās undergraduate teaching is spectacular. People try to put it down, for silly/bitter reasons. Harvard provides a real education. As in many other schools, Harvard is esteemed for its grad schools. As an undergraduate living in Harvard Yard, the only thing you will complain about is that your peers are overly-competitive, and overly-driven, and as the result, you may feel āaloneā and without the attention that you were accustomed to receiving.</p>
<p>Generally speaking, the people who get into Harvard lack a little in their āsocial development.ā Sure, they have friends, but they are not as socially mature compared to the general college population. This is another reason why extracurriculars and camaraderie are important for elite colleges. Harvard students seek to break out of the ābubbleā that they were put in during high school, which consisted of mostly of studying, and little of partying crazily on the weekends. Iām not promoting partying with booze, however. Iām observing that the former ānerdsā want to be ācool.ā This desire is perfectly fine, and is normal to human growth. Thus, Harvard students would prefer to experience something in addition to studying. They go party. They join cool clubs. They see what college is about. They grow personally.</p>
<p>Plenty of colleges have as much prestige as Harvard. Even if there is some difference, its way too small for your opinion that Harvard students choose to participate in more ECās than Stanford students to be true.</p>
<p>Also, weāre really off topic.</p>
<p>Stanford is the opposite of Harvard. While people edge away from Harvard because it is overly-intellectual and overly-competitive, people edge toward Stanford because it is laid back and less competitive. I feel that I would prefer the former environment to the latter because there is more need to prove yourself academically in the latter, based on how the school is perceived.</p>
<p>Itās like, when you go to Stanford, people almost expect that you participated in sports or something. When you go to Harvard, people expect youāre this brain mass of intellect. Everyone seeks to defy stereotypes.</p>
<p>iCalculus, I think your perceptions are very much out of date. Stanford gets a very large share of the brainiac population, especially of the STEM variety. And I am afraid it is true that Harvard is not (consistently) very focused on its undergrad academics. (There are exceptions, of course, which prove the rule, and recent efforts have been made to improve undergrad advising and other aspects of Harvardās undergrad experience.)</p>
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<p>Oh, what a relief! :)</p>
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<p>Erm. While this may be true for me, I doubt it holds for most.</p>
<p>*However, I realize that I am responding to iCalculusās extremely crude generalizations, which are vaguely accurate at best.</p>
<p>Because I know about these colleges, I do perceive Stanford as a place with a lot of brainiacs. But for other people, when you mention Stanford, they most commonly associate it with athletics, and California. Even on cc, people praise Stanford for its athletics, and its weather. You donāt hear people urging you to choose Stanford because it is superior with respect to academics, and a learning environment. Stanford has great academics, but it is almost overshadowed sometimes by its other aspects.</p>
<p>^That might be your all-time most ridiculous statement, and thatās saying something. Of course people extol Stanfordās academics and learning environment. The reason people also talk up the weather and location is to distinguish it from the Ivies with which it mainly competes for students.</p>
<p>I speak truth. Are you stating that Stanford is perceived as highly intellectual? It IS intellectual, and DOES have its place when it comes to colleges. Stanford attracts people who are sick of the elitism, intellectualism, and competitiveness at eastern colleges. It is in the wild west, people like it because it is different. And it has great sports.</p>
<p>Bored by elitism (of the old-money variety), yes. Turned off by excessive competitiveness (for the sake of competitiveness, or endless āstrivingā due to lack of work-life balance), perhaps. But sick of intellectualism, no. Everyone Iāve met at Stanford is very excited by ideas and their potential implementation.</p>
<p>In my opinion, people stress the other aspects of Stanford because the intellectualism, academics, and quality of education are considered a given. Since it is a school of the highest academic standard, like HYP, many people simply do not feel the need to stress the academics. Also, in my opinion, the other 3 continue to stress academics more simply because they dont have the other attractive aspects. HYP canāt boast that they have a very social and laid-back atmosphere. They canāt say that their students are comfortable enough with their abilities that they donāt feel the need to be so competitive. But Stanford can, so they do.</p>
<p>An interesting question to ask yourself is this:
If you could graduate as valedictorian from either Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, or MIT, which one would you choose? Personally, I would choose MIT. Your choice tells you how you perceive the colleges in terms of quality and rigor, and the degree of accomplishment you would feel from having completed its program.</p>
<p>But thereās a catch. I didnāt choose MIT because there is no way in hell I would graduate as valedictorian there. Iāll admit, I shied away from it because I thought it would be too stressful of an environment. Many people choose colleges in this way.</p>
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<p>This question reeks. In so many ways.</p>
<p>Well, seeing as you havenāt said anything intelligent in response to my posts, I will disregard your post #177</p>
<p>^Idiocy does not merit cogent responses, dear.</p>
<p>And I stand by my assertion in post #177. Certain hypothetical situations ought not to be concocted if they do not reside within the realms of any possible reality.</p>
<p>Just wondering, ksarmand and iCalculus, who are you guys - high schools students, college students, or adults?</p>