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Yeah...all these schools are competitive. The posters here have very valid reasons for why they want to go there, its just that a lot of you don't realize that you can find all these things in a number of the other 2000+ universities in America. It seems like you fall in love with a prestigious school, and then try to pick out all the great qualities about it and rationalize why you like it by saying that it is great because so and so, and not the reason you liked it in the first place which was the prestige. But then again, prestige plays a huge role in selecting a college, because it has a lot of advantages in the work force/real world.
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<p>and then there are those of us who don't give a rat's butt about prestige. i've loved UNC my whole life---the sports, the campus, and more recently the academics. my mom still has the "mini-autobiography" my class wrote in 2nd grade (very basic, obviously) and in the 2nd paragraph it states, "I want too go too North Carrolyna because they are baby blue. Baby blue is my favorite color. I like baby blue."
I didn't know that 81% of their accepted students are from instate until I was a junior. I didnt know that my OOS app would be lucky to be accepted until my junior year. I didn't know that they had a great b-school or that it was better known than colleges X, Y, or Z.
I worked hard in high school and I never once said to myself "wow this class will look better than that one"...I took Agriculture classes because I love being involved with FFA. I took French because I've always been fascinated by their language and culture. I took THREE AP courses...my school offers probably over 15.
I still love UNC. Thinking about going there for grad school, not because it's prestigious or uber-competitive, but because I like the atmosphere. I've talked with professors and like that they're down to earth and were willing to discuss questions about their academics with a lost and confused junior on spring break wondering where to start when it came to applying to colleges.</p>
<p>For every prestige-driven kid on CC, there are probably 50 of us who would list prestige as a factor at the bottom of the list.</p>
<p>To be honest, obaig89, I personally hadn't known that Berkeley was prestigious when I found out about it. I had heard of it vaguely. I became interested in it because of a band (lead singer went there). Everything I read about it from the Wikipedia entry made me love it more. I had then given up on dreams of Stanford, etc. This was a few years ago, and it wasn't till later that I found out how prestigious the school actually is. So, there's my rationalization. =)</p>
<p>My D's dream school is Yale which I think is due to too much Gilmore Girls.</p>
<p>My dream school was MIT but I was never in the race to even consider it. I would love to see my D take a shot at it, as she at least is qualified to have a legit shot. But kids are kids and have their own passions so Yale is the name for now.</p>
<p>I think some people might be missing the point here. The way I see it is, if every college were equally prestigious, where would you go? </p>
<p>That being the question, I would go to the University of South Florida. I personally am a fan of public universities. I find the majority of the people are slightly more down to earth in comparison to a private school. Additionally, I am from Pittsburgh and simply hate the weather here. Though the heat might be a bit much, I would love those South Florida winters. The girls there have to be amazing as well. Not only that, but being close to an incredible city like Miami would be awesome. Unfortunately I find prestige to be more important than all of that, hence, I do not attend, nor do I have any interest in that school lol.</p>
<p>Well, I can't find many other colleges that offer great academics, classes in fashion design and textiles, are in or near a major city, and on the east coast. </p>
<p>It couldn't be an art school because I only want to take the design courses for passion, but not for a major. </p>
<p>SUNY schools are all upstate</p>
<p>The one other school I have found so far that offers this is Cornell---it's completely perfect except for the location. I don't think I could ever live in Ithaca. It's just not for me. </p>
<p>Stanford is my perfect school. Amazing in whatever subject I want, great weather, cool students, amazing.</p>
<p>And my 'secret' dream schools would be New College of Florida and either of the St. John's Colleges. My problem is more with size than prestige though. I would go crazy.</p>
<p>Also UPitt, they have a ton of cool things that I love there, but with my overall plans and hopes for a little bit of intellectualism, it's out.</p>
<p>UCLA is .. my ultimate, superduper extra perfect school.</p>
<p>social scene + food (IT'S SO GOOD!) + westwood + los angeles (i currently live in LA and it'd be awesome living in westwood) + parties + balance between studying & partying + school pride + sports + awesome gym + the people + etcetc EVERYTHING!! </p>
<p>there's no other college that would ever beat UCLA on my list. not even harvard or MIT, haha. </p>
<p>so.. yeah. now the problem is getting in! :(</p>
<p>Vanderbilt all the way :D
I'm still a freshman in HS though... so things might change, but I know I love the campus seeing as I lived there for 4 years of my life.</p>
<p>Workaholic children working together into strange hours, mathandscience mathandscience all the way (especially math, physics and engineering), the type of parties I'd totally throw, the housing system, the gorgeous campus, Ditch Day? I loved it like I love ice cream.</p>
<p>i agree with another poster. prestige aside, i would LOVE to go to st. john's. to just sit around, read, and discuss philosophy all day long. AMAZING.</p>
<p>birk - Glad I'm not the only one who thinks that. I just think I would go insane there(less than 1/2 my HS's size). And getting a job, how many connections do you really have?</p>
<p>But if I could do a semester there? That'd be AWESOME.</p>
<p>Workaholic children working together into strange hours, mathandscience mathandscience all the way (especially math, physics and engineering), the type of parties I'd totally throw, the housing system, the gorgeous campus, Ditch Day? I loved it like I love ice cream.
<p>MIT...I visited it...and it was just awesome...Everything, even humanities are supposedly taught with a math and science tint :D Sports are a secondary to academics! A group of like minded people none of who I would consider idiots...Not as many preps. :D, I don't think cliques exist anyway. Also the MIT Hacks are just awesome, if I get in, I'm contributing to one :D. Oddly, the weather...I'm tired of the heat and humidity of Florida...The crisp cool breezes were awesome...Now..I wonder what the snow is like. The town it was in is great, Cambridge and Boston house so many colleges...Also, everything was walking distance :O, A surprised I didn't expect since I lived in suburbia.</p>
<p>Yet another vote for St. John's, shoving prestige and practicality aside. The idea of debating philosophy and learning straight from the 'classics' is very appealing. The drawback: size. But I do think my 'secret dream job' would be leading seminars there :)</p>