<p>hahahaha…you’re perfectly contempt about your future? I’m sorry :(</p>
<p>Why not?</p>
<p>I’m going to work hard
I’m going to college
I’m going to succeed no matter what?</p>
<p>Just because I might no go to an Ivy league school does not make my future any more bleak than yours.</p>
<p>I did not say I was NOT going to strive for an Ivy League</p>
<p>I merely meant that I regret some mistakes I’ve made Junior year and I’m going to make up for them.</p>
<p>But if said mistakes are the reason why I don’t get into a Top school then Why should I stress over it? What’s done is done.</p>
<p>I’m merely saying the same stuff any sane person would agree with.</p>
<p>You don’t have to go to a top 25 school to be successful.</p>
<p>I just think that before you start spouting off about how you will become a writer, you should have a basic grasp of the English language including common phrases like “I couldn’t care less” and the difference between “contempt” and “content.” But yeah, good luck with that…lawlz</p>
<p>And what’s wrong with the University of Iowa?</p>
<p>It’s a great school.</p>
<p>But not as good as others…Maybe a mediocre school.</p>
<p>Sometimes I wish I was going to a higher ranked school. I noticed a lot of… underprepared and (to put it bluntly) unintelligent students at my orientation. They certainly weren’t the majority, but I feel like a University with a slightly lower acceptance rate may have weeded those students out. So one reason I think people choose higher ranked schools is for a higher caliber of classmates.</p>
<p>But to be honest I’d rather go to U Chicago</p>
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<p>Trying to crush dreams. </p>
<p>You’re a bad person too.</p>
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<p>I would too. If you go to Harvard for electrical engineering but everything you touch falls into pieces, I’m going to turn to the guy who went to Montclair St. and if his ideas are inspiring I’m hiring him.</p>
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<p>I forgot that people ■■■■■ here. Shoot.</p>
<p>Coming from a student who certainly has the stats to go to a top 30 college at worst, it’s ridiculous how many people, not just in CC but in the world, think that any college below a certain point in the US News Rankings is “mediocre”. Rutgers is a fantastic school where students there are certain to succeed. As is Drexel, Penn State, Iowa, BYU, and the sort - or, better yet, Rowan, Alaska, Ithaca, Old Dominion, Butler, etc - where certain people may shun as nothing more than “those schools for 3.0 GPA losers”. It’s really sad that people write off colleges purely because their name isn’t among the Ivies. </p>
<p>It’s sickening. I was really annoyed when a friend I met in the UPenn camp scoffed at me for looking up Purdue. Seriously? One of the best engineering schools in the country and you have the balls to say “not a good school”? Jeez.</p>
<p>inb4umad</p>
<p>EDIT Just realized I already mentioned the Purdue situation. Oh well</p>
<p>A comment from a parent’s viewpoint -</p>
<p>There are several valid reasons for trying to attend an upper tier school.</p>
<ol>
<li>Most all of the upper tier schools have gone to a need blind admissions policy and have eliminated most if not all loans from their financial aid package. With their better endowments, they have the financial ability to fund many grants and scholarships that the lesser ranked (and endowed) schools can afford. Most of the ivies provide full tuition grants for family household income of $60 - $65,000 or less and offer some grant aid to some families with incomes well into the $100,000 - $150,000 + range. This type of aid is not available at the majority of state schools or lesser ranked (and endowed) colleges.</li>
</ol>
<p>In some cases, it may be less expensive to attend a top school that a state school after the financial aid is factored in.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The average class size and faculty to student ratio is lower at the upper tier schools. This provides a better learning environment and a better opportunity for one on one assistance and interaction with the professor.</p></li>
<li><p>With smaller classes the learning environment is much stronger and there is much more interaction within the classroom and lab or seminar sessions. All of the students are challenged and will actively participate in class.</p></li>
<li><p>The undergraduate graduation rates are typically higher at the upper tier schools.</p></li>
<li><p>The admission rates to medical, law and other professional schools are generally higher for students graduating from upper tier schools. </p></li>
<li><p>Right or wrong, society in general equates a degree from an upper tier school as “superior” to other colleges and this may result in positive results when job hunting.</p></li>
<li><p>Because more of the upper tier school graduates tend to end up in key positions during their careers, graduates from those schools have a “stronger” network of contacts (fellow classmates and alums) when searching for internships or jobs.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>In my son’s situation, he was admitted to 2 excellent state schools and four upper tier schools and was rejected by four other upper tier schools. He applied due to his excellent academic record (co-val) and his desire for a mid-sized school with options. The financial aid side was an additional factor and he ended up in a very good school that is a great fit for him and will only be a few thousand a year over what the two state schools would have cost. For us it was a no brainer decision.</p>
<p>Everyone should have a couple of reach schools. You never know how the adcoms are going to react to your application, essay, interview, etc. Good luck to all the rising seniors out there. This year will be a wild ride on the college selection and application roller coaster.</p>
<p>BTW - Purdue is an excellent university.</p>
<p>^ This is easily the best post in the entire topic. </p>
<p>What I don’t like is how there are students who focus almost exclusively on these schools. They get drunk with their obsession to attend powerful, reputed schools that they don’t realize the experiences and connections they could also potentially have with other schools. </p>
<p>This one student was talking about Boston College today. “Oh, it’ll be my safety, I guess it’s an alright school.” Alright? Boston College is a top five Catholic university, and perhaps the only schools that beat it are Notre Dame and Georgetown. Without a doubt would a student enjoy parts of the Boston atmosphere and the alumni connections as well. And the school is just “alright”? He spoke with a slightly scoffing tone, too, and that dug under my skin a bit as well.</p>
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<p>First of all, major congratulations for your son’s success, and if I was in the same situation I would pick the very good school too (assuming that I liked its atmosphere). I’m not saying that people shouldn’t attend top schools, I’m just saying that people shouldn’t only respect the creams of the crops and denounce every other school.</p>
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<p>I cannot agree more - well besides the Indiana weather 
But not everyone else thinks so…</p>
<p>Great post Avon!</p>
<p>And congrats to your son!</p>
<p>Thank you Tenor for that post. </p>
<p>@ ForTheWolf I’m sorry I made a typo between Content and Contempt :\ Not everyone is perfect</p>
<p>Yes, the argument is not that top 20 schools are bad, but rather that the complete fixation certain people have on them is bad. I’m going to one, yet I never once considered the rank (actually, I haven’t bought the magazine, so all I know is that it’s somewhere in the 15-20 range). The US News ranking system is so inane that considering it a valid source for the assessment of a college’s value would be downright idiotic.</p>
<p>As for “top” vs. “mediocre” schools? Entirely subjective, fairly offensive, and completely misguided. Over four thousand colleges and universities in the US, but 99.5% of them are mediocre? Please.</p>
<p>my sister just started working at a top investment bank. according to her, most of the newly hired analysts went to top25 schools. i do think that employers would give someone more consideration if he/she came from a top school. not to say that it’s necessary though, but it surely gives you better career options, considering the economy. another important factor is the endowment/money available for renovation and new technologies. truth is, top universities are more likely to be well endowed.</p>
<p>^^ Nail in the coffin Post.</p>
<p>When I think of Penn(UPenn), I do not think of it as a top college but just the place that I will fit best in. But if I didnt get accepted and got into one of the SUNY schools, I will be fine. Maybe all the facilities needed will not be as good but I’ll manage.</p>
<p>Where you went to school matters more in investment banking than in just about any other field. It is true that going to a top school will provide a much easier entrance.</p>
<p>It cropped up in the parents forum a while ago that where you went to school can sometimes get you an interview where a less “prestigious” school wouldn’t, but you obviously still have to impress there.</p>