deprofundis

Plesae can you tell me how you make the little quote box happen?

You can be miserable anywhere, happy anywhere. It depends on your outlook.

Pizzagirl

That works both ways, doesn't it, though? So the brilliant student who can only afford a comm college should be thrilled to be there.

MBA Grad 2009

Are you saying Rice University is not prestigious? It's arguably one of the top three schools in Texas for an undergraduate degree, and its graduates are well-regarded everywhere.

ag54

Karabee, I can see not feeling guilty if your parent's couldn't go on vacation this year because you chose Vandy, but if they have to skimp on GROCERIES because you chose Vandy - then perhaps you might have been a tad selfish by demanding that you attend the "prestigious" (relatively) private other than the lowly state public. (I really hope you were just being facetious)

Or, I hope that you have taken out loans in your name in order to finance your "high falutin" education

AMEN!!

IBclass06

{quote}Blah blah blah{/quote} (replace the {} with [])

or

{quote=postername}Blah blah blah{/quote} (again, replace with [])

MBA Grad 2009

OK, went back and read through the thread. OK, here's the thing, speaking as a 49-year-old codger who went back for my MBA and is trying to offer some sagacity to the new generation: College is not magic, and so for 99.99% of students, there is no one school that will make or break you. Prestige is a subjective thing, too. A lot of students brag on their school, but again for the most part how you do in the world will depend more on you than on your school. Yes, a "top" school may get you an interview to that dream job, but you will still have to win the job.

Have a look sometime at the bios of top businessmen and cultural icons. Most of them went to schools that were considered 'ordinary', some did not even go to college. Blake Nordstrom, Peter Rose, James Skinner, and Martin Sullivan never went to college for example, and the CEOs of Comerica, Marathon Oil, Cisco Systems, and Sherwin-Williams for example went to "ordinary" state universities. Look it up.

College is important because it will shape you, your personality as well as your mind. College is where you will make major choices, in study and direction and commitment. So make your choice with that knowledge, that the people matter far more than the buildings, that prestige is far less important than persistance, and that the university - at best - is a tool you can use to build your future, not a prize to brag about.

Grcxx3

OH MBA Grad - I think I love you!


And just to add -
"Yes, a "top" school may get you an interview to that dream job, but you will still have to win the job. ".....and you have to have the drive, persistence, commitment, and smarts to KEEP the job. All of which are determined by YOU, NOT the university you went to.

CountingDown

Reputations of departments vary within a school. Some place with less of a "brand name" may have the best program for someone's particular interest. A student may decide that after years of a particular focus of study, branching out is now appropriate.

We know many students who would be superstars even by CC measures who chose the less-expected school. In a number of cases, it was the chance to begin early graduate work and/or research that was the tipping point. For others, the research mentors and colleagues strongly recommended the free ride state flagship with continued access to graduate work, NIH and on-campus research rather than a $50k/yr Ivy. (The schools rejected among just two of these students included Harvard, MIT, Caltech, JHU, CMU, Emory and Duke.)

The vast, vast majority of students we know have been very happy with their college expereices WHEREVER they chose to attend.

Tzar09

Everyone should stop flaming the OP. Prestige isn't just made up-- it's a measure of how good a school is, if an imperfect one.

If you're smarter, or just more academically oriented, than the majority of the kids at your school, that sucks, and you shouldn't be forced to ostracize yourself and flee to the graduate program.

For all the talk in this thread of "picking the school that's right for you," few people seem to have considered the fact that there are enough 'prestigious' schools out there for someone to find the school that is right for him or her AND is prestigious.

Also, most people in this thread don't seem to get that even beyond the education that you'll get at a school that is recognized as being the best in a set of fields, there is a distinct advantage in going to a school that employers will recognize on your application and know to be top TOP rate.

I'm not saying that Rice, Vandy and the other schools mentioned aren't great schools, but they are not THE BEST. It seems like in the OP's author's school there is an assumption that the most successful kids in a graduating class go to the best schools in the country. Its the same way at my school.

To answer the OPs question, I think two things are possible. The first is that even though your district is well off it's very possible that your valedictorians' families are not. There are varying levels of wealth in even the seemingly most homogeneous communities.

The second possibility is that while these kids have the best GPAs they might be lacking in other areas of their resume. Every year at my school the valedictorians go to the top Ivys. This year three of the valedictorians did but one is going to a solid school but not one on the same level as the schools the other people are going to. She got rejected from a bunch of places. Why? I don't think she was very seriously involved in clubs or activities out side of school, she was very quite in class and i she may not have developed relationships with her teachers (so so recs?) and maybe her essay wasn't good. Maybe your valedictorians were the same.

My two cents.

ring_of_fire

It can be a prize to brag about. Compared to all other superficial things people choose to brag about, I consider gloating over a top degree to be more acceptable. If Sally XYZ wants to brag about getting into Harvard, then she deserves to because she worked hard to get admitted there.

I think America rewards "participation" a lot more than "excellence", which I find to be somewhat tragic. Everybody is a winner in this country no matter how smart they are, whether they went to college or not and what they choose to do with their life. The janitor deserves the same amount of respect as the investment banker.

The truth is our culture that rewards mediocrity is crashing down upon as we speak. In just a couple of decades, China and India will be the new superpowers and everyone will be flocking there.

"Fit" is somewhat of an overrated factor. With the diverse student body and plethora of student activities and academic resources that Stanford offers, there exists a person who can't be happy there? Well then, shame on him/her!! The whole concept of picking a college based on convenience is a very entitlement-based concept anyway.

See you all in Beijing in 2030.

DougBetsy

Are you trying to say that a janitor deserves less respect than an investment banker?

MBA Grad 2009

Tsar, I wouldn't say anyone is "flaming" the OP. Some of us disagree with the premise, is all. You wrote of prestige as if it were something we all agree on, that 'School A' is "better" than 'School B'. In fact there is much dispute on that question. There are at least half a dozen major publications touting this school or that as "the best", but if you read them even those people qualify their opinion on conditions and subjective evaluations. For instance, how would you choose the "best" medical school, when Medicine ranges from Family Practice to Oncology to Pediatrics to Gerontology to Gynecology & Obstetrics and so on, plus questions about certification for MDs, RNs, NPs, DCs, and other professional catgories? How would you rate even an undergrad school, when so many graduates go on to advanced degrees while other students expect to work their entire career on the strength of their Bachelor's degrees?

Comparing universities is a lot like comparing music. Was Bach greater than the Beatles? It depends on the criteria and on the person doing the judging.

ring_of_fire

Yes, absolutely. I'm not saying that one should treat a janitor bad, but he/she definitely not deserving of admiration or praise.

MBA Grad 2009

Hmm ... so the janitor who keeps a building clean and running should not be admired, but considered inferior to an investment banker, even if that banker, arguendo, does such a bad job that the building is foreclosed upon and no one is able to work there?

ag54

Me too! Great post! (#81)