English Major at Haverford

redandtheblack
Sat, 18 Apr 2009 23:31:06 +0000

I hear ya, newengland8. And I gotta wonder if that double-edged sword also applies to graduates of highly selective colleges competing against each other to get into top graduate and professional schools. My dad turned down an Ivy to attend a large state university for undergrad. He did great, got a great education, and went to an Ivy for law school. Meanwhile, he says that none of his friends from high school who went to Ivys or top NE LACs for undergrad were accepted to the same Ivy law schools that took him, despite, in some cases, having better LSAT scores; some ended up going to law school at state universities (and went on to have great careers, BTW). He thinks that he was really helped in the law school admissions process by being a standout at a large public U instead of an also-ran at an Ivy, or at A, W, or S. Maybe getting waitlisted at the “great” schools is a blessing in disguise.