It wasn’t a conference that we went to in Ireland. It was a private presentation for our specific research project. Also, why do you think I’d receive way more attention at a private school, where grad students are often put in charge of classes and where there are more students of my caliber vying for professors’ attention? Doesn’t quite add up, in my opinion.
@blevine I never said all universities are the same. Obviously that’s not true…I just said it’s possible to thrive and ultimately end up in a successful career or at a reputable grad program without going into massive debt at a more well-known school. A student should still use discretion when choosing their undergraduate institution; for example, I could’ve gone to any school in my state, but I chose the only one that has a freestanding writing department because I wanted to study creative writing.
i really enjoyed reading about your personal journey, experiences, and unique perspective on succeeding in college. congratulations on your success and impressive accomplishments.
@Wien2NC Thanks! I appreciate it!
@aleyna22: I’m so glad for you! Its a fantastic achievement. You show that yes, you can bloom where planted - even if the college is, at first, a poor fit that makes you want to transfer because you’re so miserable. You found the resources in yourself and with your professors to achieve your goals. You made it through, enjoyed yourself, did a lot of impressive things, and hopefully will continue doing so 
Do keep us updated, but you’re the proof it’s possible to succeed even in difficult circumstances. Talent and maturity win.
@aleyna22, Congratulations on your wonderful achievements. I am sure they will continue. I also thank you for posting updates and taking the time to care. Kudos and thank you:)
I do admit to being a bit perplexed to those few that respond with such negative vehemence to the contrary to the positive message of the OP experience…?
I hope to read more positive updates in the future:)
@MomofAlex1 Thank you! I’m a bit perplexed by all the negative responses, too…I spent a lot of time on this website when I was a senior in high school and a college freshman, and I learned that many of the people on here attribute a ridiculous amount of weight to where they’re going for their undergrad. For example, I’ve seen people have meltdowns because they have to attend well-regarded LACs instead of Ivy League schools, which I just can’t wrap my head around. Some people tend to tie their self-worth, as well as others’, to where they went to school, so I guess having someone dispel the notion that you’re defined by your alma mater is upsetting to some people. I don’t know. I choose to not be defined by my school, and I guess some people don’t understand that.
@aleyna22 @MomofAlex1 I agree with you too! I think the negative vehemence says a lot more about those posting it than it does about what is possible for anybody out there. Bottom line is you can bloom or wither at any school.
The bottom line is this: If you end up doing really well at lower-ranked school that offers more financial aid, then it doesn’t matter. If you don’t end up doing well, then you think it matters. But going to a school where you can be a big fish in a small pond will probably help you get better recommendations from professors for your graduate schools. It’s tough to say because you will have only one experience and cannot compare.
But personally, whether you feel comfortable at the college is more important. If you hate snow slushing and cold, you shouldn’t be going to Harvard even if you get in. I personally don’t like NY City so I would never attend Columbia even if they loved me there.
Also, it’s not totally goal dependent; the process should count also. For example, driving Benz and Yugo cars will get you to your destination pretty much the same but the experience while getting to your goal may differ. Of course, I disagree that to be successful college student, you must go to Thomas Jefferson High School type of Magnet high school. In fact, it might be better to go to a small public high school in Alabama and end up at HYPSM. In fact, you might be able to have a lot more fun at a small public high school in AL and end up getting accepted at a higher ranked college because you were top 5 students at the AL high school, whereas you were just top 40% student at the Thomas Jefferson High School. Who can say you should have went here or there for high school?
Original poster: you’re still in school. Wait until you’re mid-career and can look back on your life so far. You might have the same view then as you do now, but you might not.
I think that where you go to undergrad matters somewhat, although a “better” school does not always correlate or cause a “better” outcome. Much depends on the student.
Where you go to a professional school, such as law school, matters a LOT.
When the OP says it does NOT matter, I think it’s too broad, to be fair. It all depends on the purpose or goal. If the goal is to go to a high-ranking graduate school, yes, being a big fish in a small pond will give you different advantages, i.e., close relationships with profs that make up for lesser-known name. In some sense, if you are a caliber of student who could have or who did get into HYPSM but chose to go to an Honors College at a state school, you probably will be able to do better among your fellow students than you would have been able to do at let’s say MIT etc. This is similar to a student who chooses to attend a regular high school rather than attend a well-known high school like Thomas Jefferson High School. I know most of the students who go to a Magnet high school like Thomas Jefferson High School go there so they can learn among other highly-motivated students, but if the goal was to get into a high-ranking college, it might not be a good idea to go to a school like Thomas Jefferson where around 50% of the students are National Merit Finalists. In other words, being a stand-out student at a regular high school will probably give you a better chance of getting into a high-ranked college than a top 50% student at Thomas Jefferson HS. Which makes me think the students at Thomas Jefferson HS must really love learning.
Congratulations to the OP. Getting into an MFA creative writing at Johns Hopkins is Huge, an incredible accomplishment and actually it is important in this field (my younger d’s former boyfriend is in a competitive MA/Ph.D program in a related English field. They were together the year he went through the grad school process. If you hope to teach in a university or work in a prestigous literary journal or organization, where you attend grad school and the connections you make and the conferences you submit to/asked to present at are really important.
In an entirely different situation I have an older cousin in his mid-late 70’s. He was one of the first computer programmers many moons ago when the field was getting started. For years he was a systems analyst at Digital a very large company outside Boston. When that company imploded one of the key components that got his foot in the door for interviews was that he was an alumni of Brown. At the time Brown was not the same Brown one knows of today and computer science was literally a brand-new field.
I just wanted to sincerely say thank you to the OP. Receiving all of these college decisions takes a huge toll on my self-esteem (especially getting rejected from JHU), but hearing your success story has really given me a positive outlook on all of this.
I went to a non elite school and am constantly insecure about it. Any time I accomplish anything, I think, " well that’s cool, but just think what could have happened if I attended X." I constantly feel the need to prove myself. CC’s attitude of “Harvard or bust–have fun being a loser basement dweller for the rest of your life and having none of your accomplishments mean anything” really gets me down (and has been displayed by some on this thread), but I suppose that’s my fault. Not only should I have been smarter and more talented or whatever, but I should not frequenting this site when it does nothing for my productivity whatsoever. I could go on and on about what I’ve achieved and whatever, but I wouldn’t be doing anything but trying to convince myself that my shortcomings aren’t so bad, and I just don’t have the energy for that.
I am still so happy for you that you got accepted to a dream MFA. I’m hoping I’ll be in a similar position in a couple months. My hopes aren’t so high, but you’ve served as an inspiration for me. Best of luck to you!
And this is just an after-the-fact add, but I’m going to say:
If some people here weren’t so smug, people like me and the OP wouldn’t take many of these assertions so personally. Heck, if you just came right out and said “You’re a loser and a failure and you should feel bad, better luck in the next life,” I’d say, fair enough, thanks for being honest.
But the smugness is thick and reads like this: “Well, you didn’t go to X school, but I guess you did the best you could–for someone /like you/, which is all we can really expect from you.”
Maybe you don’t intend to sound that way, but that’s how it comes across. In fact, I’d go as far to say that maybe it’s a bit intimidating to admit that someone from Podunk U could dare succeed at something Elite U Grad could (oh crap, if that “idiot” could make it, maybe the path to success isn’t so clearcut after all and me/my kid might need something else going on beyond a pretty name")? I’m not sure. Some of this thread has just rubbed me the wrong way.
Yes, exactly @Allegories! Thank you for saying that. That’s how I feel, too.
For majors like computer science where a graduate degree wouldn’t be of much need, getting into a good undergraduate school does matter. I’m glad things worked out for you, but it’s way too broad of a statement to make when you’re majoring in something that definitely leads to a master’s.
I’ll weigh in. I really enjoyed the OP by @aleyna22 and the follow-ups. Great story, and an inspiration to us all to make the most of our resources. I have to agree with those who did not enjoy the veiled elitism that was expressed in some of the posts.
I teach surgeons and hold an academic appointment at a prestigious university. In this role, I help select the next generation of our profession. So I know a little bit about the value of a “name” school. In my field, basically, not much. Certainly not the current going rate of $300,000 for a private bachelor’s degree and a like amount for an M.D. degree.
Less charitably perhaps, I might add that upon arriving at my highly competitive med school back in the day, it was pretty apparent that some of the most highly touted West Coast private universities must have had some pretty significant grade inflation. Those were not the smartest people in the room on Day One–the people who had survived as science majors at UC schools were better equipped at the start. Yet we all had to work our little tails off to keep up. By the end of our four years, there was no longer any difference that one could tell.
@misscherie, Re: CS, the gold rush is on. There is no longer room for all of the super-smart aspiring CS students at the “top” schools, so we will soon find out if there is much of a difference there.
All of this is JMHO; of course everyone is entitled to their own!
Elite colleges don’t matter if it doesn’t matter to the person himself and you work hard and have just as much talent. Now, there are some fields where it’s hard to tell whether one is really good at his field; then maybe the name matters. With most fields, an experienced person can tell quickly whether so and so person is good or not good in a specific area.
I am all for some grade inflation. Who wants to go to a top school and have to work hard to just get Cs? My kid had enough of competitiveness in his high school, and demonstrated that he can compete by doing well there and getting into a top school. I think he deserves a better, more collaborative atmosphere in college.