<p>BUT - I don't understand why everyone thinks that getting into top ranked universities is the best case scenario.</p>
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<li><p>You can maintain a higher GPA for grad school at a less competitive school (correct me if i'm wrong).</p></li>
<li><p>You can spend less money.</p></li>
<li><p>You don't need to work so hard over admissions.</p></li>
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<p>If you have a 2300 SAT, why not just get into somewhere like USC, Vanderbilt, or U*state? There will likely be less admissions stress, you'll get into a better grad school, and you might spend less.</p>
<p>And if you are truly exceptional, why settle for just HYPSM when you could try to get the A.B. Scholar at Duke, a merit scholarship at Rice, or Presidential scholarships from very decent colleges?</p>
<p>Everyone has different priorities. I personally am not interested in HYPSM because they do not dovetail well with my priorities. Live and let live.</p>
<p>I think it’s just because of the names. Person A says, “Oh… I went to Harvard.” That is respected everywhere and everyone thinks highly of you.</p>
<p>Person B says, “Oh… I went to USC.” Although USC is a very good school, it doesn’t have the same reputation that Harvard has.</p>
<p>Also, if a person from one of the slightly lower-ranked schools is competing against someone from an Ivy for a job, the employer is more likely to pick the Ivy grad, simply because of the name (in most cases, at least).</p>
<p>I agree with you ripemango. It’s not really about where you go but more about what you do.
I know a student who went to U of Minnesota (his state school) fiinished his undergrad and is now attending NYU for grad school. Not saying it’s HYPSM, but I think you get the point.</p>
<p>Probably name recognition. I suppose it does matter - but only to a certain extent, really. Why would you care what a random person thinks? If everyone lived for the random people in their lives, Harvard would have a 95% yield (losing a few west-coasters to Stanford). That’s not to say both schools are only good for their names - obviously not; both are obviously tremendous in countless ways - but they aren’t necessarily the best choice for everyone.</p>
<p>For the purposes of grad schools and top jobs, I clearly can see the name value of HYPSM (though the buck doesn’t stop there - several other schools are just as respected by those who matter IMO). I’ll be going to an HYPSM as an athlete, but my next choice was a non-HYPSM, which I preferred over two other HYPSMs to which I had access. My two top schools had very similar feels and I don’t think I could have really gone wrong with either. Fit really does matter as long as you aren’t making a big sacrifice on the name side. Remember, 4 years is still a pretty big chunk of your life and you’ll want to make the best of it.</p>
<p>True, but you may also be expected to have a higher GPA if you attend community college, so it balances out.</p>
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<p>True, but students from families making $180,000 or less a year, which comprises a significant proportion of the U.S. population, will most likely pay less for attending HYP than for attending their state public.</p>
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<p>But the ideal is that you work hard because you want to work hard, not just because of college admissions. </p>
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<p>Actually, I think the competition for the most well desired scholarships are even more intense than for undergraduate admissions at HYPSM. People indeed turn down HYP-etc schools for these scholarships.</p>
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<p>USC and Vanderbilt are also pretty hard to get into these days. Also, certain people may find HYPSM or a LAC a better fit for them than USC or Vanderbilt---- it’s also a matter of personal preference.</p>
<p>ripemango, I think one of the main draws and distinguishing factors of HYPSM is the quality of the students you’d find at these schools. Some of us put a huge premium on being surrounded by amazingly capable students of all kinds from every corner of the globe. Of course there are some outstanding students at many other colleges, but usually not in such high concentrations. Being surrounded by that peer group tends to bring out the best in students who do want to stretch themselves academically, and also enhances relationships outside of the classroom.There are also great profs. to be found at many other colleges, but there are very high concentrations of excellent/renowned profs. at HYPSM and their peers. So these factors are one way to assess “fit”.</p>
<p>for the prestige factor, connection, experience and opportunities after graduation (employability). But then again, a few other top schools would offer that, such as Caltech, Berkeley, Mudd, the rest of the Ivies, The Claremont colleges, the Three Little Sisters, Shwarthmore, Northwestern, Chicago, Michigan, UVa, JHU, Duke and Rice.</p>