<p>While most are desperate for admission to top schools, I am sure there are many kids who make a conscious decision not to seek admission from some of those (even if they could get into) for really good reasons. Please list your top rejects and reasons. I will start with my list.
Harvard - Wil never apply there, it is too elitist. I think Harvard has produced more unethical grads [who get thrust into leadership positions to cause damage] than most other top schools
Brown - Initially I was interested, but slowly veering away as I am interested in Engineering
MIT - Tough academics because of huge number of Asian kids. I think my life will be miserable there, it is just not worth it to lose four years of my life there.</p>
<p>MIT will eat your soul. If you go there undergrad, it's very difficult to gain admission to their grad school (and MIT grad is amazing). It's also the only place I've talked to people who did not enjoy their undergraduate experience. If grad school isn't looking like it's going to happen, the MIT name and education can't be beat for many math/science fields.</p>
<p>Ivy's - overrated
and any other college w/o a campus</p>
<p>I already finished the process, but here's what I felt then...</p>
<p>Harvard - the kids didn't seem terribly happy. I wanted classes taught by professors, not TAs. People seemed to want to cover all ills with, "Well, at least I go to Harvard," and it left me with a bad taste in my mouth. No one seemed to do anything, either, just masturbate with their intelligence.</p>
<p>Tufts - many of the kids seemed disgruntled about not being at an Ivy, and I wanted people to be happy with their school situation.</p>
<p>UPenn - people were downright unfriendly. Felt like it had all the things I should want in a school, but somehow it didn't gel.</p>
<p>lol, "masturbate with their intelligence," though crude, may be the most accurate description of how harvard people spend their free time I've ever heard.</p>
<p>great phrase....</p>
<h2>When I was researching schools HYP -- would have been my top choices due to prestige and traditions (ie. eating clubs, secret socities, etc).</h2>
<p>After those three, social life becomes important for me:</p>
<p>Schools that look fun -- Penn, Duke, Stanford, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Georgetown, BC, UVA</p>
<p>No feeling either way -- Brown, Northwestern, WashU, Notre Dame</p>
<p>Schools I would never apply to -- MIT, Caltech, Columbia, Cornell, Hopkins, Rice, University of Chicago, Tufts</p>
<p>not applying to:
mit - too competitive and engineering school (im looking into premed)
johns hopkins - crappiest campus ive ever seen</p>
<p>I would never go to Hopkins. It's in the middle of Baltimore, and Baltimore sucks....plus it'd bee too close to home.</p>
<p>Why do you people not like MIT? I think people there are really great.</p>
<p>Already graduated from college but schools I would eliminate (just a one sentence synopsis, don't mean to stereotype):</p>
<p>Chicago: No fun, I don't wear my intelligence on my sleeve</p>
<p>JHU: Too few people are fun, didn't like the campus, no community for a school that should have it, pressure cooker</p>
<p>Cornell: Too big and too "vocational". Don't like its reputation for being the easiest to get into, hardest to stay in</p>
<p>Columbia: Not willing to sacrifice the college experience for the chance to go to unfriendly NYC bars</p>
<p>Swarthmore: too small, too much work, not as well known for how good it is.</p>
<p>MIT: Campus, not into tech (at least not as much as MIT brings)</p>
<p>Notre Dame: Too homogenous, too catholic</p>
<p>
[quote]
If you go there undergrad, it's very difficult to gain admission to their grad school (and MIT grad is amazing).
[/quote]
This is actually strongly untrue -- for the vast majority of MIT programs, being an MIT undergrad gives you a significant leg up for admission into an MIT graduate program. MIT is actually the most common graduate school destination of MIT undergrads.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cornell: Too big and too "vocational". Don't like its reputation for being the easiest to get into, hardest to stay in
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Cornell's acceptance rate is barely over 20% this year, they've gotten a lot more selective, but it is a hard school. Though their campus is the bomb.</p>
<p>Probably not HYP: Not for a stupid reason, the schools are great but a lot of people from my school apply there and I want to go west.</p>
<p>Caltech: Also a wonderful school but sometimes I question my ability to do well there because of the difficulty--"It's not Caltech, it's me . . . "</p>
<p>MIT, CalTech- i'd be intimidated by the freakin' geniuses
Princeton, Harvard- too many students are there solely for the name
Chicago- social life anyone?
Duke- too pretentious
any school without a campus (nyu)- not a real college experience.
any school with over 10,000 undergrads- wouldnt want to be just a number, and walking around campus its wierd not to recognize anyone.
vanderbilt/W&L- too many popped collars, would feel out of place being very liberal politically.</p>
<p>yale - cause it was the school from which both john kerry and bush came. worst election ever.</p>
<p>I didnt apply to Cornell (2nd home of Long Island), MIT (hell), Princeton (didnt like atmosphere), CalTech (2nd layer of hell), Duke (South).</p>
<p>The eating clubs at Princeton really turned my daughter off. Seems so pretentious.</p>
<p>Dartmouth - not vocational enough</p>
<p>Caltech and MIT because of the grade deflation there. If you are a premed or prelaw, do NOT go to either of those schools.</p>
<p>wow, everyone is beating up on MIT---guess you guys just can't hack it. :) ;) I am a pre-med, and although I've only visited twice, all my friends that are there are absolutely in love with it. And I'm in love with it too!!! <3 The atmosphere is definitely different, but I like that. And personally, I like grade deflation (I think it's much better than inflation) and don't you think that med schools will KNOW that MIT kicks everyone's butt? I mean, come on, it's MIT!</p>