you people are COMPLETELY INSANE

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>"maybe it doesn't matter so much"</p>

<p>You mean the stuff publicized on TV and radio DOES matter? For example, what happens among celebrities, or people who let their rabbits take over their houses, or ridiculous lawsuits?</p>

<p>"usually we don't hear people announce perfect 800's and amazing EC's and researches on TV"
Well, we always see the results of things like the National Spelling Bee...but as a rule, TV news is mostly about negative things, because they're more exciting to watch...</p>

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<p>which part of that post was actually relevant to what this thread is about? Well...at least it was relevant to my post, but I think you should save analyzing for English class. or you could start a thread on it if you like, somewhere else.</p>

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<p>Sorry to be off topic myself, I just couldn't see how a person with great stats could be so contentious on a thread like this. I hope that's not a side effect.</p>

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<p>Sorry, I forgot to explain my point when making that post. What I wanted to point out was that the argument that we are being "COMPLETELY INSANE" because we care about things that "don't really matter" (i.e., overachieving) cannot be supported by the fact that our accomplishments don't show up on TV. Just because an 800 doesn't land a TV gig (see <a href="http://www.tnt800score.com%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.tnt800score.com&lt;/a> for otherwise, but that's besides the point...) doesn't mean that it doesn't matter.</p>

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<p>sorry to be off topic again, I don't think anyone here agrees that overachieving is meaningless. The point I was trying to make is that having an excellent college app can only be used to judge someone during highschool or college years, and we should be happy (if we survive highschool) because after that, no one is really going to care. After that, it is rare that someone will use SAT scores to judge you, and there are many more opportunities to come for us to use the talents we have.</p>

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<p>I think that's right on topic with the discussion.</p>

<p>However, the work ethic (or obsessive mentality, depending on your viewpoint) associated with nabbing high SAT scores tends to stay with people throughout college and their careers, for better or for worse.</p>

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<p>lol, I agree, it's depressing to see everyone elses scores. But someone us just want another opinion when we're very desperate. Being on this site shows me the competition that I have to go through to get into my top choice school. All these people here are all very smart, and their opinions are valuable to me. I appreciate them taking time to evaluate my scores so I can set higher standards for myself. At least I won't try and blindfold myself to the truth of the Ivy League competitions.</p>

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<p>wow, i didn't actually think this many people would reply to my post. go me. jk.</p>

<p>anyway. i can relate to alot of people here whose standard of best isn't as high as everyone else's perhaps because of situation. i also have the second highest SAT scores in my class with 2070...but then again, my class has something like 150 students, lol.</p>

<p>but i dunno. killing yourself over chances makes people like ME go like, wow, thanks alot lol. be HAPPY-you can do so much "better" if you wanna say that in regards to college with the kick-ass scores and crap you have.</p>

<p>i dunno. big name schools are so overrated. i dont think anyone can totally disagree with me there.</p>

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<p>"I think people should stop looking at the retarded big names like the ever-revered harvard and princeton and look for somewhere that FITS them"</p>

<p>Guess what... Princeton fits me better than anywhere else could. There's nothing wrong with shooting for the (much-debated and dependant on the person) top.</p>

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<p>alright, so you're not an overachiever -- there are a lot of people out there that are, and we take great pride in our academics and attending schools that have proven track records of post-college success in the business world, and when you're out on your own eventually, that's all that matters, and attending an ivy league or ivy league equivalent college as an undergrad (and some that go on to grad school) will significantly help you in various different ways in many aspects of business.</p>

<p>I don't profess to be a super-genius and I'm not a 2300+ SAT/stacked full of ECs and jobs guy like some of the CCers here, but that doesn't mean that those elite people don't exist -- they do, and they, like everyone else, are worried about their chances at the elite schools because nothing is a given in the admissions world. </p>

<p>For example, in my class of 350 kids, my 2120 SAT score is probably exceeded by about 75 kids in my graduating class because of the highly competitive, affluent, intelligent area that I live in. Not everyone lives in an area like that that naturally breeds overachievers, but again, that doesn't mean there aren't places like that in the world. A majority of the people on CC are the ones that achieve the 98 and 99th percentiles on the ACTs, SATs, state standardized testing, etc., but they are going to worry as much as their chances at getting into, say, Harvard the same as an 1800 SAT student worrying about getting into state college -- there's no big difference between them in terms of how nervous/worried they are, and people like to be reassured by others that think that their chances look pretty good</p>

<p>So while this board may be full of overachievers (some of which may be extremely anal about academics and ECs etc. [i'm not one of the latter]), they're regular people too -- we may only make up like ~15% of the applying students in the country, but even students with great SAT scores, GPA, and ECs worry about their chances. Trust me, I'm worrying about my own chances northwestern ED as I type. People just differ, and you have to accept that -- if you don't want to be surrounded by kids that make you feel inferior, or less confident about your own "stats", then don't, because someone whose confidence in themself is not absolutely sterling may be demoralized when they see some of these kids applying to the same schools they want to go to with better stats -- But look at it this way, if a college accepts 2000 kids a year RD, these kids here are a very small percentage of that 2000, and although the others admitted may have similar "stats", colleges look for a diverse group of students, and there are subtle differences that allow a 1300 old SAT student to get admitted above a 1450 old SAT student in various cases.</p>

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<p>Excellent post JArganbright, it's all relative. </p>

<p>Pineapple, I can and will disagree with you that top schools are overrated. There are some very real benefits of attending one. This does not mean that you can't do just fine not attending one, but the fortunate 2% are lucky indeed.</p>

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<p>Sushi:</p>

<p>Well, unfortunately, you are correct that big-name colleges are overrated. Classes at the Ivies/stanford/MIT, etc aren't significantly harder than a lot of public state universities.</p>

<p>However, the sad thing is that in this education/employment system, the name plays a big role psychologically. If you present two applicants to a random assortment of employers and say that applicant A graduated from Harvard with a 3.3 and that applicant B graduated from a college where the average applicant has an average SAT of 400 per section, most (if not all employers) would be more inclined towards the Harvard graduate, even if both programs were equally rigorous.</p>

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<p>BTW, I LOVE eating sushi and sashimi. Nothing is more tasty than a roll of rice, tuna, caviar, and sea urchin wrapped in seaweed, dipped in soy sauce and wasabi.</p>

<p>No, I'm serious, I really love sushi! =)</p>

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<p>Pineapple - sure, that is absolutely true in some cases. However, if you look at list of faculty at top schools, as well as the grad schools their students have gotten into, and the jobs they've gotten, compared to lesser-name schools, you will see that, for the most part, big-name schools have earned their reputation.</p>

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<p>NEWS FLASH. There are plenty of people who go to good high schools and get 4.0s with perfect SAT scores and ECs and get rejected from every ivy they apply to.</p>

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<p>I absolutely agree with what most of you guys are saying. I believe that hard-working people, no matter what school they go to, will be successful in life. My father is a perfect example. He went to the University of Maryland and then Hofstra law and is now in charge of dozens of Harvard and Yale graduates who are as old, and as experienced as he is. The hard-workers will always rise to the top. And, I say all of this as a fairly "competetive" student who will be applying early decision to Penn. Thanks and good luck to all in the upcoming college admissions process.</p>

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<p>I have to agree with sushi: y'all are nuts, for the most part. I'm fortunate: I'm not an overachiever, <em>and</em> I managed to get into the best place for me. But Kung Fu, as always, puts it best. </p>

<p>"Consider a field of lilies in seed. The wind which carries the seed plays no favorites. The seeds fall where they will, according to the fortunes of wind and weather. Those that fall in fertile soil, may be tended and cared for, grow strong and bloom. Those that fall in barren soil will die. Yet some will cling to life in arid places. On hillsides, in deep clefts. And so, the traveler, unsuspecting, comes upon a sight of beauty. A single lily, growing amid the rocks. The thoughtful traveler will water this lily in passing. Grateful for its strength, its beauty, its tenacity to life. And growing in the rocks, as it is, is it not, in its essence, still a lily. And every bit as beautiful as these." - Master Kahn</p>

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<p>offtopic but..</p>

<p>asian...why would u mix toro and caviar :(</p>

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<p>Yeah I'm on this website all the time and I like most of the posters on a superficial level (basically the only level you can achieve on a webpage) but I have to admit that sometimes I have to sit back and shake my head at some of these people. The funniest part is that I feel as if a lot of the work and panick is unnecessary and that they could chill out and do just as well, which I something I remind myself everyday. I mean, yeah some people here are obnoxious, and some are obsessed, and some are aholes, but whatever, they can talk a big talk now about scores and grades or whatever, but we'll see what goes down round decision time. LOL. :)</p>

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<p>I admit that I'm extremely neurotic and paranoid about my grades. After freshman year I was a shamble, it must have been the worst summer ever because I thought I would probably end up as a bum on the street with my grades. Eh, what canyou do, I'm asian.lol.</p>