<p>If I were to be an economics major, but would also fall back on either spanish, mathematics, or psychology if I hated economics, and I wanted to get an excellent education, have a great social life, play sports (soccer,) have the ability to get involved, while still maintaining a good GPA and get an outstanding GMAT, which school would be the best (ignore the two factors of price and difficulty of getting accepted.) I want a school that will set me up for either Stanford, U Chicago, Rice, or any Ivy for my Graduate studies.</p>
<p>I have heard that Harvard is too pretentious (although I am egotistical but willing to admit it.)
I have heard that Yale is so caught up with trying to be as good as Harvard that they lack an identity of their own.
I have heard that Princeton is a bunch of snooty rich kids whose daddies have donated their way to acceptance.
I haven’t heard anything of that sort about Stanford, but I wonder if their is an epitome student.</p>
<p>Help me out, are these accusations correct? and where do I belong"?</p>
<p>Any of those schools will offer the chance for you to experience eerything you mentioned. Harvard is not overly pretentious but is filled with amazingly motivated students, Yale is not trying to catch up to Harvard, it’s a wholly different institution with different goals and smaller size, Princeton is a bit of a wealth school but its students are likely not any flashier with money than any of the other top schools. Stanford is huge, apparently a relaxed atmosphere, and is much different in feel than the HYP’s. Choose the schools you like most by doing your own research on the vibe at each school and how well people balance sports, EC’s, socialness, and a good GPA.</p>
<p>You can find those things at any of those schools. You really have to visit and see which school is right for you. Posting this on the Stanford forum will get you results skewed towards Stanford, most likely. But it’s all about the right fit for you. </p>
<p>But since you’re interested in a stereotypes, here’s a few more in joke form for you (with Princeton left out because it, clearly, is the best): </p>
<p>How many Harvard students does it take to change a lightbulb?
One – he holds the bulb and the world revolves around him.</p>
<p>How many Yale students does it take to change a lightbulb?
None – New Haven looks better in the dark.</p>
<p>If you want to play soccer in college (Im assuming that you dont mean simply intramurals), you want to choose a school at which you can play. All of the schools you mentioned are Division I schools. Most kids would be surprised at how good you need to be to play Division III.</p>
<p>The kids who are being recruited to play at H Y P or S are all being recruited by countless schools. Walk-ons who see playing time are rare.</p>
<p>I would recommend that you meet with your coach and ask him or her what level you can play at. You can then decide whether to go for that level if it is less than Division I (most top schools that are not Division I are Division III), or pretty much, you can aim for an Ivy school or Stanford and assume that you are going to play only intramurals.</p>
<p>You should also ask your coach what you need to do to be visible to colleges. Usually, youll need to attend key camps or do something else beyond playing in your schools games to attract the attention of college coaches, even D3.</p>
<p>If you are good enough to play in college, the colleges coach will put you on the list (which is very short) of players that he or she wants accepted. Those kids have a much easier ride through admissions, again, even at D3 schools</p>
<p>I recommend that you go to the best academic school at which you can still play, if soccer is important to you.</p>
<p>“I have heard that Princeton is a bunch of snooty rich kids whose daddies have donated their way to acceptance.”</p>
<p>With Princeton’s endowment at $17-billion, they don’t need to have a school filled with kids whose daddies have donated their way to acceptance. The school has over $2-million in endowment per student, more than any other school in the country, and they have turned down many of the kids of my classmates who could donate a building (usually creating a furious alum in the process). Many of the legacies who do get in come from families who don’t have a fortune to donate.</p>
<p>You’ll find that only a small percentage of the students at the schools you mentioned will have been admitted because their families have donated big money, or could do so.</p>
<p>The stereotypes you’ve been told about each school are about as valuable and inaccurate as the stereotypes that (hopefully uneducated) people float around about Muslims, blacks, Jews, Southerners, Catholics, New Yorkers, or whomever. They’re generally inaccurate, and damaging overall. </p>
<p>Ptontiger is right - you can find every type of person you described in your post at any of these schools. Each one of these schools has thousands of students, and each has their share of kids with numerous backgrounds and personalities.</p>
<p>But the question is whether there are currently many rich students. The reality is that there are many such students. That’s the case at every elite university, because a student’s income and how qualified he/she is are highly correlated. The rich have an advantage at any university, no matter how elite it is.</p>
<p>I agree, though, that very few get in because their parents made a large donation.</p>
<p>To the OP, in general you shouldn’t listen to stereotypes; there’s usually a nugget of truth to them, but they’re mostly false. All four are very strong in the subjects you mention, although Yale is a notch below the others (it’s also great, but HPS are at the very top for those fields, esp. H and S). Harvard students have complained quite a lot in the past about a lack of social spaces (which the administration is still trying to remedy by building new spaces), final clubs, etc. If you’re interested in sports, Stanford can’t be beat - not just because it has the best teams (and one of the best in soccer), but because the weather is great year-round, so there’s rarely a time that you can’t go out and play pickup soccer or whathaveyou. I’d also say that’s what gives Stanford’s social scene an edge: good weather promotes socializing. (There’s a reason that California schools are known for their social scenes.) That said, the residential colleges at HYP engender a strong social scene, although Stanford’s housing system (a greater focus on stand-alone houses with 40-50 people in them) has its advantages - both make for a great social scene. In general people seem to either hate or love eating clubs, which dominate at Princeton.</p>
<p>Even though Stanford matches all your criteria the best, fit really does matter more, and you may like the others more despite Stanford’s edge. More importantly, you should get in first before worrying about all this.</p>
<p>edit: Other Stanford lightbulb punch lines I’ve heard: “0, it’s always sunny in California” and “Two, one to file a HelpSU ticket and one to complain loudly about how slow maintenance is” (so true).</p>
<p>Stanford fits you best from what you described, but they are a D1 school when it comes to athletics so Im not so sure about that. The notions you had about those colleges arent true, at every ivy league there are pretentious kids because hey, they are in the ivy league.</p>
<p>Have you (or did you, since the last post was nearly a year ago…) considered elite LACs? You could get a roughly equally great undergrad education at places like Williams, Amherst, Swat, Pomona, etc… and probably have a much better shot at playing varsity soccer.</p>