Sounds crazy right? One of my friends whose the valedictorian is the smartest person I ever met, perfect GPA and SAT and got accepted into Harvard. We both go to a high school in a small city. There is a college 5 minutes away with a 90% acceptance rate which he chose to go. I asked him why he denied Harvard and he said his parents want him to be close with them. That’s sweet, but still its Harvard.
I don’t understand why he chose to work his butt off for 4 years to get into a 90% acceptance rate school. I know people who got straight C’s and D’s who got into this school.
I’ve known him since middle school and he knew he was going to go to this college since 7th grade. I feel bad him kind of.
cant really assume anything but maybe his parents do want him to stay close to him. my parents want me to get into colleges closer to home so I can live with them (not gonna happen) for my undergrad years.
And I suppose that they graduated suma cume laude because this university hands out degrees, right? Just because it’s easy to get into doesn’t mean it’s easy to graduate from.
Maybe there’s more to it than you know. Perhaps his parents can afford it, but he wants to save them money. I’m presuming that he got at least some merit money. Maybe he wants graduate school or med school and hopes for his parents support in that.
It’s hard to understand decisions sometimes. One of my friends is going to be attending a small techie school in state when he hoped for the USAFA or Cornell or some other places. He was rejected at most of his elite choices, and while he got into some of his matches, his family couldn’t afford them and the USAF didn’t give him as large of an ROTC scholarship as he had hoped for. I know him to be a driven, hardworking guy so I know he’ll be ok, but sometimes life doesn’t work out how we think it should or how people would expect.
Yea your right, he will probably be happy. I’m just really curious on his decision. We were always taught to try to get into the best possible college. Now I’m wondering if going to an ivy league or top school is worth it.
People should try to get into the best possible college for them, not just best possible college as in highest ranked. There are many possible reasons he chose the other school; you never know, maybe he just liked that school better and is just saying his parents want him to be close so people won’t go, “WHAT why would you not want to go to Harvard?!?!” Or maybe his parents did want him to be close.
Also, while it isn’t Harvard, just because a school has a 90% acceptance rate doesn’t mean he’ll get a poor education there.
Love the anecdotal stories.
With a two-physician family, it’s very possible that the applicant’s financial need was nil, necessitating that the family pay the full cost, and they may have simply determined that it wasn’t worth the price tag.
Like? Uh I thought that is the only reason to work your butt off in high school lol. The only other reason I can think of is if you’re a perfectionist or your parents demand it.
So, basically, you shouldn’t work hard and become more knowledgeable for yourself if you know you know won’t get any rewards for it besides knowing more in general?
I think that is so questionable? Was there a program there at the college that he wanted to go to? It is a waste to work your butt off to go to a college that is not worthy of your hard work; I understand your viewpoint. He WILL regret this decision horribly. Not for the fact that he rejected Harvard but because he chose a school “to be close to his parents”. I am not saying he has to go 3000 miles away I am saying college is a stepping stone into your adulthood and being coddled will not help his character whatsoever. He needs to pick his college not just based on how far it is but other things like the education value, class size, opportunities available at the college, if it has his major, etc. I am pretty sure there are many other colleges/universities worth his time, but we may never know…
@CougarCatClan
Nope, he just chose the college that is closest to his home.
I’m so stressed with the college application process right now and I’ve been stressed these past 3 years with grades and SAT. I can’t imagine doing this for nothing, you know what I mean. Now I’m looking back, was it worth it?
According to Wikipedia (although it’s not the most reliable source, it does occasionally have good information), UCA has a great Honors College (which I’m assuming is where he’s going).
Maybe he wanted college to be easy. If I ever got into Harvard, I still think I’d consider my safeties/matches bc they’d be easier, and I could get a high gpa for med school.
