<p>At Oberlin, I knew several classmates who turned down admission to higher ranked schools. One dormmate turned down admission to an HYP solely for social fit reasons after going to their admitted students day and feeling that if the undergrads/fellow admitted students is a preview of the next 4 years…no thanks. </p>
<p>Then again, considering she fits the neo-hippie vibe of most Oberlin students pretty well at the time I attended…I wasn’t surprised and figured she only applied to Yale due to family pressure and her desire to see if they’d admit her.</p>
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<p>Among most hardcore CS techies at my HS…CMU is much more highly regarded than Harvard. </p>
<p>In fact…the jerky contingent among the MIT/Caltech/CMU admits at my HS would sometimes pick on the HYP admits for being “lower intellects”* than themselves. </p>
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<li>Intellect here being equated with hardcore STEM/CS coding/hacking skills.<br></li>
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<p>True. However, MIT has Harvard beat when it comes to good Boston area undergrad parties and IME…CMU kids on average have Harvard kids beat when it comes to serious partying.</p>