<p>The lives of others will affect you less in college, trust me. The environment is much larger for one, and there are many more events hosted on a college campus that function as alternatives to parties (cultural and intellectual events). Plus, despite differences in income here, the academic superiority complexes hardly exist. The environment is very collaborative. In many/most cases, your fellow classmates are very supportive if you request help/ attempt to make friends with them. The spoiled factor here is high, but the snob factor is relatively low (I don’t think the two go hand in hand, because snobbery suggests obnoxious displays of how spoiled one is. One can be spoiled without having everyone know it). There is no point in being a snob if most of your classmates/peers are of similar academic caliber and income. Medium-sized/large colleges levels playing fields in certain respect. Also, the fact that this isn’t some Ivy, Stanford, or MIT lessens the snob-factor. The fact that students here do not attend or were not admitted into such institutions keeps the ego in check. I suppose the complaining might be considered snobbery, but that is much better than people wandering around with their noses in the air. </p>
<p>The fact that college requires a greater deal of independence is itself indicative of the fact that it should be harder for others to directly affect your attitude.</p>
<p>Also, these niches you speak of are much larger than the high school counterparts. And in Emory’s case, the diversity will help you a lot.</p>