<p>kellyconn1, um, your reactions to diane's posts are a bit immature</p>
<p>and it takes away a bit from your credibility, to be honest</p>
<p>i say this for the future, when you are in college, if you are right, you don't tell your prof, SO THERE...you need to be gracious, regardless of how you feel you were attacked</p>
<p>citygirlsmom: I don't think this needs to be continued, but kellyconn did not have to feel that she was attacked. She was attacked. I don't think it would have been more possible for anyone to call her more of a liar. I personally did not have trouble with the truth of the OP. The mother of the boy probably would have told people that she worked with. She probably would have said how she discovered him and said that the lights were turned out in the room. All of this is getting a little stupid. However, I don't see why a high school student should be gracious when somebody calls them a liar in a very strong way. Is it because they are a high school student?</p>
<p>Right on Dufus!! Absolutely correct, I mean originally when I posted this, I thought it was a story I had to share, tragically at someone elses expense, it was a valuable lesson and story to give us all a reality check of how to keep this process in perspective. We are all no doubt stressed, clearly there were likely underlying issues in his life that I will likely not ever have the privy of knowing, that contributed to his need to want to end his life. I didn't post it to have the DETAILS RIPPED APART but to have everyone read it, and take away the MESSAGE. I found Dianes numerous posts to be highly insulting, grossly overanalyzed and as a few others have noted it is possible that I touched a nerve with her over this story, and if so I am sorry for her. I think it takes a pretty big person to say I am sorry and Diane for the record, I am saying that to you if this offended you on a personal note for some reason. Your outrageous response evidenced a deep rooted personal reaction. But, City, if you look OBJECTIVELY at her posts and then mine, IN REACTION, you will see mine were warranted as I was really being attacked! And.....one last detail lets not forget I am a 17 year old student and is a 40 or 50 year old ADULT! I have the utmost respect for every adult in my life and in fact am very close to a number of my teachers, one to whom I showed all these posts and you know the first thing out of his mouth? She reacted this way because in some way this story touched her life, and he is likely right.</p>
<p>That said, I am happy to put this to bed unless you have something nice to say or inspirational, I got a number of private messages thanking me for posting, and people opening up to me about some of the despair they felt, sometimes its just hearing someones comforting voice or reading their words that is the support that will get you through the day. We all hurt and some of us can cover more than others, I am happy that I was instrumental in being able to talk things through with a few of you on a personal level, and know the value of a kind word or two.</p>
<p>I'd have to agree with kelly.</p>
<p>Why would someone rip on the story, especially when she said she was not sure of all the details, even if they tend to be more negative. If you have something to say, you don't need to push others around. As adults, one should not rely on power to get the message accross but the message itself. I don't know that that happened.</p>
<p>I do understand that it is possible for some of the facts to be slightly off, we all have played "Pass It On". But, kelly's intent was to remind us that college admssions is not the end of the world. My parents seem to think so, and it's hard not to get carried along with them.</p>
<p>If the idea is to be fair and be openminded, then teenagers need to be given some credit. I know it's difficult to start treating us as adults or recognizing that we also have a voice, but to inhibit our expression makes us less likely to share and be anything less than suspicious to those who feel that they can impune us simply because of our age.</p>
<p>IB.</p>
<p>Kelly:</p>
<p>Babson does feel like a smaller liberal arts college, actually. Cool campus, and within a quick train ride to Boston.</p>
<p>As for Indiana, the campus is beautiful, the kids are wholesome and very friendly, anf they are definately down to earth. The town is a student mecca. It is a bigger school, however. So it's not surprising that some of my friends majoring at Indiana sometimes have trouble getting a class at the time they want, so they have to settle for a different slot. But, that does not curb their enthusiasm of being in Bloomington, INDIANA! (I get calls at like 1 in the morning sometimes with 10 people talking at once. It is so disconcerting, but also fun to see my friends enjoy their college experience.</p>
<p>Hope this helps a little bit.
IB.</p>
<p>isle............thanks for the input! I didn't apply to Babson for a few personal reasons, Bentley is the one I applied and got into.........and am considering, am trying to arrange for a visit, what do u know about it? And thankx for the support, Diane was so hostile it totally freaked me out. Glad to hear there are some rational people out there just seeing what I was trying to do, share a freaking story thats all!</p>
<p>Kel:</p>
<p>I meant Bentley....Babsons the other B-school. I must be tired. All the waiting. (Chagrined). :)</p>
<p>Babson feels more businessy. Bentley is slightly more laidback and has a more liberal arts feel. I'm sure you'll pick-up on that when you do tour it.</p>
<p>As for the story, I was surprised but Dianes reaction as well...a bit out of proportion to what the intent of the sharing.</p>
<p>IB</p>
<p>I read this thread and now I have nothing of value to say. I guess I just wasted my time.</p>
<p>t488:</p>
<p>Not a waste, it's a good study of how different people react to the same story.</p>
<p>I just want to add that as a follow up to the kind of despair this child in the story felt, my sons very good friend got rejected from harvard and yale and he was by all accounts harvard and yale material, sort of had a meltdown of his own. As soon as he found out, he left in his car, and without telling anyone just took off from the house. His parents called late last night to our house around 12 to see if he was here which he was not. They were frantic with worry. He eventually made his way back home around 2, we called there on the hour to be sure he got home safe and finally he did much to everyones relief, apparently he was so distraught at the outcome, I felt terrible as I know it must have been devastating, however he does have some other excellent choices.It was immature of him to put his parents through the worry and stress they felt for those 4 hours, but he was obviously not thinking very rational at that time. I thought of this story when she called last night, it is an unfortunate "side effect" of this process, and particularly seems to afflict those who are applying to the most top tier schools. The schools do not determine your success, the person does. I hope all of you can continue to remind yourselves of that.</p>
<p>To be honest, getting into a brand name school IS very important. It's not the education you're paying for, it's the networking abilities. The hope that your roommate will be able to offer you a job in his daddy's WASP law firm 5 years down the road. People constantly tell me that undergrad isn't important, only graduate is!</p>
<p>Well I just looked up the academic credentials of the Supreme Court Justices over the past 20-30 years and all the major political analysts of our time (since law/politics are what I am interested in) and guess what? Almost every single one of them is from Ivy League/Equivalent undergrad and grad. In fact, if my memory serves me correct, only TWO Supreme Court Justices over the past 30 years have come from non-elite university backgrounds.</p>
<p>So...the concept that Undegraduate education doesn't really matter is in fact a load of crap.</p>
<p>I couldn't disagree more. Moreover, what are you doing to the hopes of hundreds of thousands of kids who are not attending ivy league schools? Not much, I assure you. Are you trying to say you don't stand a chance of success unless you have attended one of the elite? My husband attended a average state university but got his masters from Georgetown, I graduated from Brown , we have seen it on both sides of the fence, and I beg to differ. No one disputes that yes certain doors will open if you are lucky enough to be amongst the elite in these top tier schools but don't for a minute imply that they are the only means to a top flight career. There are countless individuals who epitomize success in every field who attended everything from community colleges, to big state schools and many had no schooling at all. So UNLESS your only ambition is to be a Supreme Court Justice, in which case a ivy league education makes it more likely, wherever you go to school, you can succeed..........its all a matter of what YOU want to do with it.</p>
<p>Well, my only ambitions are to be either the managing partner of a top Manhattan law firm, a Supreme Court justice, or a Samuel P. Huntington political analyst equivalent, so I'd say that going to an Ivy League school is/was pretty critical to me.</p>
<p>Unfortunately despite my best efforts and legacy statuses, I've been denied from every elite university I've applied to. Let's see how UChicago pans out today, heh.</p>
<p>What is going to happen is that because so many qualified students don't get in the elite 8 because of volume, those kids are going to other schools, and those schools when be recognized for the quality education they provide, and the bar will have been raised at those schools</p>
<p>As for networking, professional groups, seminars, mentors, jobs, and actually taking your education seriouslly</p>
<p>its the Ivy leauge alumni that like to hold onto their "special status" as being better then everyone else as far as education goes</p>
<p>its up to graduates of other great schools to show that they also have what it takes and to prepitrate the myth that only the few that have the luck of the very qualified draw pool are the only people that are qualified</p>
<p>just not true</p>
<p>holyspirit: Going to an elite undergrad school is important for certain professions, but a very few professions. To be at the top of the food chain in Law, it is important. Actually, to go to Harvard Law, it is very important to go to Harvard undergrad to improve your chances. However, it is still possible.</p>
<p>holy with ambition like yours, you will go far. Hang in there, I am SURE you will go somewhere that is elite and will catapult you into the next stratosphere! Good luck.</p>
<p>I sense some sarcasm. <3.</p>
<p>And like previous posters said, law is one of those areas where you have to go to the right schools to be at the top of the food chain. Maybe I should have developed an interest in writing. hah.</p>
<p>Slight correction in my opinion: You don't HAVE to go to the right schools to be at the top of the Law food chain. It just helps alot. Harvard Law does take applicants from relatively unknown schools each year, but they show a tremendous preference for other ivies, not even other prestigious schools but the other ivies. They also accept ten times more Harvard undergraduates than they do from any other school. </p>
<p>The mistake on CC is to think that all fields are like this.</p>
<p>Law School admissions is very much stats driven....it's the LSAT, the gpa, then other factors. Just go to the test website, and punch in your projected gpa and LSAT score. It will give you your chances in a range.</p>
<p>It's how you do in college and on the test that is of great consequence.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The mistake on CC is to think that all fields are like this.
[/quote]
Exactly. Google "CEO Ivy League" and you'll find some nteresting articles. Here's a bite out of a NYT article from November, 2005:</p>
<p>
[quote]
...In fact, the changing educational backgrounds of the corporate and political elite may best sum up the trends. In 1980, about 23 percent of chief executives at big companies had attended one of the eight Ivy League colleges, while only 13 percent of senators had. The boardroom, not surprisingly, was a more elite place than the halls of democracy.</p>
<p>Today, the two groups have switched places. The number of senators educated at an Ivy college has risen to 16. Among C.E.O.'s in the Standard & Poor's 500, the share has fallen by more than half, to 10 percent. The University of Wisconsin has tied Harvard as the most common alma mater for top executives, according to Spencer Stuart, an executive search firm. ...
[/quote]