<p>^^^ hmmm…I think you missed the literary allusion…</p>
<p>“Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks
Had I from old and young !
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.”</p>
<p>^^ hahaha that I did. embarassing too because I actually read that this year. would’ve never made the connection though</p>
<p>also, I found this in another post and thought it was pretty interesting</p>
<p>These rankings put the universities in order based on how their individual programs (i.e. Engineering, English, Math, etc.) are ranked according to USNWR.
</p>
<p>I think the stats proved what I was looking to prove…</p>
<p>The truth is it doesn’t matter what the name of the school on your diploma is, it’s what you take out of it. and the department rankings showed that you can take just as much out of Michigan as you can out of Columbia, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell and Penn, if not more. Therefore, based on the fact that this public institution, as well as some others CAN provide the same, if not superior academic opportunity, the notion of a Public Ivy is not an absurdity. </p>
<p>I understand and Identify with thealbatross who is willing to sacrifice the name value of his school for a social life and potentially, depending on his field, a better education. </p>
<p>I sure as hell couldn’t get into an ivy, and in all likelihood wouldn’t be able to get into UMich, but if granted the opportunity, I’d probably take UMich. The same is true of Cal, of Texas (both of which I am applying to and anticipating rejection), of UNC, of UCLA and yes even of my top choice Wisconsin. To say I would be sacrificing my education would be an insult to my discipline as much as it is the institution. </p>
<p>In truth it comes down to what you’re majoring in. The best advice is to look at your major, social climate , location, cost, and EC’s you care about and make your decision based on that.</p>
<p>thealbatross, I think you forgot to add a very special word to the title of your tables…let me help you…it is in bold underlined below</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>albatross, are you kiddin me again?</p>
<p>how can you possibly say that a kid with a 4.0 GPA and 800’s SAT’s can’t also be captain of the football team and class Presdent?</p>
<p>Of course they exist and you will find these at HYP and other top schools</p>
<p>just because none of your close friends are at this “well rounded” level does not make it non-existent.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>thealbatross, listen to yourself, are you really telling us that HYP and other top schools don’t have these “well rounded” students that get good grades, party hard and love to play and watch sports?</p>
<p>Is there something wrong with you?</p>
<p>do you really think that only michigan has students that party hard?</p>
<p>from your description of how you didn’t get along with the high school students that are now attending the top colleges in the U.S., it appears that it is YOU yourself that is not well rounded.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>thealbatross, are you again kidding?</p>
<p>you know a couple of students that went to the Ivies and your uncle went to Stanford, yet you have NEVER visited Princeton or experienced student life at Princeton and now you are claiming that HYPSM and other top colleges don’t have well rounded students because they don’t party and don’t go to the beach?</p>
<p>Do you have any idea how incredible the social life for members of the Princeton Eating Clubs is? They account for about 75% of upperclassmen. If anything, they have been accused of partying too much.</p>
<p>and you are comparing them to UMichigan and UC Berkeley, which you claim have nothing but well rounded bright kids. Do you have any idea what the top 25% of UC Berkeley SAT students are like? Do you know how well rounded and social the Asian science and enginering geniuses at UC Berkeley are like?..well that is the bulk of the UC Berkeley students that you claim are more well rounded and party harder than HYPSM and other top school students.</p>
<p>are you kidding?</p>
<p>this ridiculous post of yours is self-explanatory:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>thealbatross, listen - the school that you are going to attend this fall is a great and tremendous school - one of the best in the country. But don’t go around making false statements about HYPSM in order to justify your attendance at Michigan.</p>
<p>thealbatross, my son is one of those nonexistent students - class rank #1 with a weighted GPA of 4.73 (4.0 uw), National AP Scholar (13 AP tests, eleven 5’s and two 4’s), nationally ranked athlete, 4 year letterman, 2 time co-captain with too many athletic awards to list, CSF, NHS, Mu Alpha Theta, 34 ACT, 2 SAT subject tests over 750 (770, 780), etc. etc. etc. I assure you he does exist and there are many more like him. Oh, he is going to Cal in the fall…</p>
<p>I think both camps (thealbatross on one side and momfirst and JohnAdams on the other) are correct, but have very different standards. In high school, I was ranked among the top students of my class (5 As on my A Level and 8 5s on APs). I had a 1500+ on the SAT (out of 1600) and an 750+ on SAT II Math 2, Physics and French. For my ECs, I was captain of the school’s tennis team (regional champions both years I captained it) and played soccer at a competitive level. I also was activelly involved in the school’s drama club. As JohnAdams and momfirst stated above, many such students exist. </p>
<p>When I got to college, I quickly realized that I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. I was not good enough to make the tennis team or the soccer team, not gifted enough to join any of the drama clubs on campus and no amount of studying could lift me near the top of my class. I believe this is what albatross was referring to, and I must agree. There are very students anywhere, whether at an Ivy League or at some other elite university, that can truly be masters at all they do. Being the best at several things in one’s high school is one thing. Being truly exceptional at everything and distinguishing oneself at the college level is an entirely different thing.</p>
<p>Good point, although my son was good enough to play in college (recruited athlete) but decided not to. He’s going to focus on his academics, play his sport for fun, and have time for something other than his sport and studying! That will be a change… He knows how tough it is going to be in college and is looking forward to the challenge.</p>
<p>“He’s going to focus on his academics, play his sport for fun, and have time for something other than his sport and studying! That will be a change… He knows how tough it is going to be in college and is looking forward to the challenge.”</p>
<p>I am happy to hear that. I notice that people who pursue external activities (academics, sports, arts etc…) exclusively never develop a strong internal balance and/or core. It is always good to slow down and look around.</p>
<p>^^^ Oh yeah, totally! He spent all of high school saying “I can’t. I have a tournament. or I can’t. I have to study.” He loved his sport and deciding not to play in college was very difficult for him, but he was ready to move on and experience more of what life has to offer. He’ ll play for the club team (national champions at Cal this year) but he will have time to go to a football game, hang out with friends, and pursue his other interests. I’m excited for him and I think he made the right decision. Glad to hear you agree. :-)</p>
<p>haha Although I was just being facetious earlier when I said you can fit everything you need to say in one post, you really can. You REALLY don’t have to spread out your posts to 5 different ones, it just makes you look stupid. But you already take care of that in the content of your posts so I guess it doesn’t really matter. </p>
<p>
Once again, no I didn’t forget to add anything. I’m well aware that those two rankings are for PhD and Masters programs. I merely said that I found them interesting. But if you want to take a look at the rankings Alexandre posted earlier, I’m sure you’d find a strikingly similar table. I think it’s just a case of you reading what you want to read and immediately jumping to conclusions. Settle down.</p>
<p>
I didn’t say anywhere that those (above) don’t exist. In fact, it’s pretty common. I was on ASB, co-captain of Cross Country, 4.68 GPA while I was applying to college, 34 ACT, 2250 SAT and officer in Science Club while holding a job. It’s not a big deal at all, and I don’t claim to be exceptional. However, being a world-class musician, or very extremely highly ranked athlete while holding stats like that is way more rare, and that’s exactly what I was referring to (they don’t exist aside from anomalies that are one in a million, and sorry to burst your bubble but HYPSM isn’t filled with them; they’re the exception). And I have quite a few friends with 4.0 GPAs, 800 SATs and presidents of clubs/teams, thanks, but actually I would say a majority of them aren’t that well rounded (by my definition of the word).</p>
<p>
Yes, actually, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say. Out of the kids I know that were accepted to the schools you’re talking about, none of them partied at all, and few, if any of them enjoyed sports (I recall one liking golf, that was the extent of it). Maybe there are a few things wrong with me, maybe my priorities aren’t straight, I don’t claim to be perfect, I’m just telling it how I see it. I never ONCE claimed that Michigan is the only school that has students that party hard. But Michigan students do party more than the ones at HYPSM, from what I’ve experienced/been told. And this goes for all public universities, not just Michigan. Once again, it’s you being completely ignorant and jumping to conclusions, reading what YOU want to read.</p>
<p>Also, I didn’t say I didn’t get along with the kids – it was actually quite the opposite – but rather I hated them, and how they focused on things that don’t matter too much to me (i.e. academics and extra-currics that are only there to get into college). I don’t mean to sound arrogant but I was pretty well known at my school, Homecoming King runner-up (I know, still second best) and voted Best personality in the yearbook so I mean I’m not a kid who hides in his closet playing DnD all day. But I would say that I’m pretty well-rounded since I can balance partying on the weekends while being top 3 in a class of 545 and holding a job. Maybe not well-rounded in your sense of the world (sorry I haven’t cured cancer yet, it’s on my to-do list), but good enough for me.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>God damn you really are ■■■■■■■■. I openly admitted I’ve never visited Princeton, and I based all of my claims on ASSUMPTIONS THAT I CLEARLY STATED WERE ASSUMPTIONS, based on the students I know that attended Princeton and other Ivies. Obviously my knowledge is pretty limited, but once you take HYPSM’s nuts out of your mouth, you’ll realize what I’m trying to say. I’m saying that the students there don’t know how to party like students at places like ASU or SDSU or UCSB for example. They don’t have the kind of kids I would like to party with, plain and simple.</p>
<p>Cool for the Princeton Eating Club. I love getting smashed off of fine wine and eating crumpets with other pompous fgts. That truly is my idea of fun. /sarcasm</p>
<p>I never once claimed UMichigan and Berkeley students were only well-rounded, bright kids. A lot of them are, but a lot of them aren’t. But on the whole, they’re a hell of a lot more well-rounded than the students at the Ivies and I would much rather spend time with them. And actually I do know what a lot of the students at Berkeley are like. My sister goes there as does two of my cousins, as well as around 40 or so of my friends. I’ve visited the campus quite a few times (as a matter of fact I’m going up there this weekend) and I’ve partied up there as well. They do party harder. You can’t dispute it. There’s a reason why the Ivies don’t have Greek Life and are rated C- for parties/social life on college ranking websites. It’s not as much of a priority as it is to students at other schools, and that’s why they go there.</p>
<p>Also I bolded part of your quote to prove to you that the students at Berkeley are, in fact, quite intelligent, even more-so than a lot of the kids at the Ivies.</p>
<p>
Hahahahhaa I’m not trying to justify my attendance at all - I got into Harvard and chose Michigan instead because it’s where I wanted to go. I had the opportunity to go to arguably the best school in the world, but I simply chose not to. It wasn’t because of money; it was simply where I wanted to spend the next 4 years of my life, and if anything, attending orientation this past week fully justified attending Michigan, and I didn’t even have to do anything besides show up!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I stand corrected - they do exist! Haha congratulations to your son, that is truly something to be proud of. In my limited scope of knowledge, I haven’t once encountered anyone like that, so that speaks volumes of his accomplishments. I’d hedge a bet, though, that he’s about one in 100,000 in terms of students applying to college, so that says something.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks. I just wanted you to know they are out there. They are definitely few and far between, but they do exist! I have to say, he did have his share of choices for college but he only applied to 7 and he wasn’t interested in the Ivy League at all. I thought that was pretty funny. You are correct though. Kids like him are rare and I am proud of him. He’s done an amazing job so far and I can’t wait to see what his future holds for him. I have a feeling he will do okay. :-)</p>
<p>“I’m excited for him and I think he made the right decision. Glad to hear you agree. :-)”</p>
<p>I also agree with his choice of college. Cal is awesome!</p>
<p>thealbatross, of course Alexander’s rankings are similiar to those you posted, they are both for Graduate school and not for undergraduate and we are current talking about undergraduate students</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>thealbatross, how in the world can you possibly claim that the HYPSM and other top school students don’t party on weekends?</p>
<p>how can you possibly say this?</p>
<p>geeshh</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>but albatross, that is not what you said did you?</p>
<p>you only stated Michigan and Berkeley</p>
<p>only now have you added ASU, UCSB and SDSU.</p>
<p>so now you are saying that a student should attend ASU, UCSB and SDSU instead of HYPSM because they party more and this means that they are well rounded, even though those schools, particularly ASU are a completely different academic level than HYPSM?</p>
<p>So now that you have admitted to never having seen the social life at Princeton and admitted to having very limited knowledge about Princeton, you are now continuing to claim that students at Princeton don’t party much on weekends?</p>
<p>do you realize how absurd you sound here?</p>
<p>and what is with the personal insults and attacks here?</p>
<p>
</p>