<p>Okay, we’ve all seen those movies where some girl has to chose between a rich, cool guy and a clumsy, dorky guy and choses the dorky guy because there was some sort of charm about him.</p>
<p>My question is, has this ever happened to you and a college? </p>
<p>What I mean is, have you ever applied to or even attended a school that was well below your standards in terms of test scores, prestige…but you chose that school anyway because there was some sort of charm or connection?</p>
<p>American is definitely a safety for me, but I would attend it ahead of a bunch more prestigious schools, because when I visited I fell in love with the diverse student body, the AMAZING location, the perfect size, the connectedness w/ DC without being downtown, and the new CLEG major (Communications, Law, Economics, and Government).</p>
<p>This doesn’t answer your question, but I know 2 students at American and they are both very happy with the opportunities the location has given them.</p>
<p>And my son turned down colleges that are higher on the USN ratings for the one he liked the best but it still met his high academic standards.</p>
<p>lol not surprising that this topic didn’t get alot of posts. 95 percent of the people on CC believe that college rankings are a holy document.</p>
<p>As is written in the “2nd tier: not second best” article under the CC College Search Section, “All too occasionally, others—even the most able applicants—manage to filter out publicity and peer pressure and, instead, think carefully about where they’ll be the happiest and most engaged. (Ironically, the sort of strength of character that should make a student an attractive candidate for the Ivies and their ilk can also come in very handy when a high schooler attempts to stray from the fold and pick a second tier college).”</p>
<p>Two years ago my school’s valedvictorian (just under 2300 SAT, 4.0, ASB Pres.) chose to go to whitman college in WA over yale, NYU, and duke. </p>
<p>My personal number one choice is what many would call a ‘safety’ for me - University of Washington. I’m not Yale material, as my SAT is 2100, but I think I’d have a decent shot at some “higher ranked” schools. While, admittedly, it is tempting to try to go for the ‘prestige,’ the only reason would be to put the colleges sticker on my bumper to show everyone how “smart” i am. You may impress your fellow prestige-whores at your school, but after graduation, when you move to the school, and if you’re not happy there, is the name really worth it?
Go Huskies.</p>
<p>We’ll see where I end up, but I applied to five safeties and one match. Among those, I won’t be considering prestige much unless I make the decision that I definitely want to strongly consider transfering as a sophomore. The match I choose in large part because of its prestige, and that’s where I have every intention of going if I am accepted, but among the others, it’s all about how I feel about/ at the college.</p>