<p>Coming in late to this conversation, but have to affirm everything Pizzagirl says about how flagship state Us in the Big Ten (and other non-east coast schools) are perceived. I know lots and lots of very bright, EDUCATED kids who would easily qualify for admission to the Ivies, whose own parents would fully support that choice, but choose to remain in the midwest. When D1 was at Syracuse, she told us that since NY doesn’t have a big state U like many other states, Syracuse was often considered the surrogate state school when it came to athletics and school spirit. I understand that not everyone holds the same values when it comes to the significance of athletics, but I know many wealthy people who do enjoy the camaraderie and social networking that large U athletic programs bring. If you don’t believe this, go spend a season observing human behavior at the University of Texas football games (or insert your favorite non east coast flagship state U - and yes their are exceptions to this such as UConn basketball games). Do you all have any idea what some of these people pay for tickets to be in the first five rows? They are either very wealthy alumni or sports fans who have an allegiance to a team; it’s about school spirit, which is valued at different schools in different ways… no one way is right or wrong.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And that’s in the wealthy 'burbs. Out here in rural America, we’re all <em>impressed</em> when one of our graduates gets into the state flagship. At our hometown school, the val and sal will typically go to Illinois State, Northern Illinois, Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois, one of the SIU campuses, occasionally to an Illinois Wesleyan, Augustana, or Knox. Some years, the val has gone to the local CC. In the last 9 years, we’ve had 1 kid go directly into UIUC, 1 to Purdue, and I think 1 more to one of the other Big 10 schools (forget which one).</p>
<p>Lest you think we’re all hopeless ignoramuses, we have had a number of kids go to CC and then transfer to UIUC.</p>
<p>cross posted with PG; she can now edit her post to reflect 6 posters ;)</p>
<p>POIH, it’s not a mark of sophistication to be slavishly bound by the USNWR rankings. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. The elite of any circle don’t need to prove anything to anybody. It’s the strivers who are so anxious to punch the right ticket.</p>
<p>My double-Ivy degreed spouse had no problem with his children not attending Ivies. I will admit he winced a little when S1 turned down MIT and when S2 turned down Chicago…but the kids had compelling, well-reasoned decisions for the schools they did choose, and we were proud of how seriously they approached the entire applications and selection process. </p>
<p>BTW, Google and the big CS companies don’t differentiate between UMD and MIT graduates in terms of starting salary…</p>
<p>Following up on where your Val and Sal might go. I think it’s rather relevant to this thread that both our Val and Sal turned down MIT this year. Our Val is going to UVa. Our Sal is headed to GMU. They both had great offers on the table at several elite schools. No one batted an eye. They were encouraged to pick the schools that best helped them reach their goals. Neither of these young people will be fetching a grande latte unless they choose to. If they do, I’m sure it will be the best latte you’ve every had!! ;)</p>
<p>^^^^^^^Apparently your children are very bright, and i’ll bet good money they aren’t at secondary type state school…</p>
<p>Meant for Counting down post</p>
<p>Where val and sal go alos is determined by how much money they have,or will get from a school…so just saying where they went proves nothing about true choice…i’ll bet if ecerythig was equal money wise,they’d have chosen differently, becuase why would they have applied there to begin with???</p>
<p>Apologize for spelling,typing on IPAD is difficult. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Many kids apply to school in the fall of their senior year, and six months later, circumstances or goals have changed. We did visits at the end of D’s junior year, and although she applied to schools she liked then, as March of her senior year rolled around, she was less certain about some of these schools, some of it having to do with location. I know plenty of kids who apply to schools very far from home (500+ miles) as a rising senior, but when faced with the reality of what moving that far away will entail come March, they change their minds. Nothing wrong with that. Better to recognize their limitations then, than a semester into the school year.</p>
<p>This is a very interesting thread.</p>
<p>Gwen Fairfax’s comment on page 3 was so true:
</p>
<p>I have a follow-up comment as a result of having been among people of all income levels in the course of my life:</p>
<p>Those who complain about the wealth and perceived snobbiness of others (the “accusers”), or who automatically correlate wealth and snobbiness, are setting themselves up to perceive wealthier people as always being snobby. People who have more money, particularly those (such as college students) who have it through no fault of their own, don’t like to be insulted because of it, and as a result will tend to avoid the accusers, or at least not seek them out as friends.</p>
<p>Oh for crying out loud qdogpa, both these young people had the choice to go to MIT and turned them down. Is that so hard to believe? Yes, it was financially possible.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As the owner of a business, and the holder of two business degrees, if either of my kids wanted to follow in my footsteps (neither does, and that’s fine with me), I’d urge them not to get degrees in business. I can teach them everything they need to know about the mechanics of running a business in 6 months of OJT. What I can’t teach them myself are the kind of critical thinking skills they will get by going through a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, majoring in whatever.</p>
<p>So they applied to what could be their so- called dream school,COULD afford to go there, and decided against it??? Seems very strange…and by afford,i don’t necessarily care where the money is coming from,ie,school parents,etc… Why would u spend the $$$ to even apply there? Clearly it wasn’t a safety …</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I completely agree with this. It’s not my value, but it’s hard for me to deny that there are plenty of well-to-do, educated, successful people who would rather their kid go to a good state school and make plenty of social contacts and enjoy that kind of scene than to a “grind” kind of school.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>qdogpa, you are soundinglike you could be Mrs. POIH.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I am going on vacation (yay!!) for 3 weeks, and have asked a former employee of my company, who now does consulting, to stand in for me in my absence. She went to one of the aforementioned directional state schools (Northern Illinois in this case). She’s also brilliant in her / our field and I have no doubt that she will manage my clients expertly in my absence and add value. To listen to some of you, you would think that she’d drool all over them and be incapable of adding 2+2 and getting 4. </p>
<p>I love elite schools and I can be a total elite school snob, but come ON now. There are smart, successful people everywhere; there is no monopoly.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose D got accepted to her dream school. At mom’s insistence, she went to accepted student weekend before mailing in her deposit. Changed her mind, went to one of her safeties instead, and is very happy there.</p>
<p>No, seriously, why bother to apply to dream schools,if all ings being equal, you don’t accept admittance??? …people apply to many schools all the time,i understand that…but usually is it becuase of ‘reaches’, safeties, and MONEY…it is not like you don’t know anything prior to sending in an app about te school, and likley you’ve visited …so i don’t understand is particular example…</p>
<p>They applied to a wide variety of schools. I couldn’t tell you which school was their dream school. They had great offers, including scholarships, elite, honors, public, private, etc, along with a few rejections I would assume (don’t know). What I can tell you is they didn’t choose MIT. :eek: Alert the media!! What I do know is they don’t owe me an explanation. I simply gave them my sincere congratulations. I don’t second guess people…really.</p>