<p>I 2nd CMUGal by choosing a full ride in CMU over Columbia/Cornell/Stern as well as my state flagship of UVA.</p>
<p>I don’t think the example given by the OP is one of anti prestige. For one thing, the student who got into both Harvard and BU, actually chose to apply to Harvard in the first place so had SOME interest in that prestigious school. If the student chose BU, it likely was for one of two reasons…one, financial…many students have done this (remember Evil Robot who went to Vandy over Yale due to the financial package?). The other reason is that believe it or not, some kids (mine fall into this category), really pick a school based on if it really matches up with what they want. A more presitigious school that they got into may not fit some criteria they have as much as another fine school on their list. They would go with whichever school fit what they wanted in a college the most. I don’t think they are the only ones who grouped their schools (besides into reach, match, safety) into favorites, next favorites, least favorites but would be happy to attend. The schools on the favorites pile were not always ordered in terms of prestige. </p>
<p>There is a young woman on CC on another forum who got a FULL ride at Harvard and got a substantial scholarship to NYU/Tisch for film, along with being selected as a Tisch Scholar. However, she can’t fund the rest of the tuition at Tisch but PREFERS to go to Tisch because it is a BFA in film and Harvard is a BA program which is different. For some kids, it is not JUST about prestige but they truly care about the match up. </p>
<p>Susan</p>