I’m faculty at an open-access public university. (We actually have below a 90% acceptance rate—though not by all that much—but that’s nearly entirely because we start rejecting applicants when we run out of projected classroom space.) There are a lot of programs here that would be, quite honestly, wastes of time for a driven student. We have other programs here that are, based on measures like graduate/professional school acceptance and quality of undergraduate research experiences and so on, easily the equal of the best schools in the country—not many of those, but we do have our handful of really amazing strengths where those who know these things really do mention us in the same breath as, say, Yale. For a student who’s interested in one of those fields to choose us over Harvard,* well, yeah, that’d probably be a surprise, but it wouldn’t actually be a horrible choice for such a student, especially one who’d be full-pay and is looking at, say, medical school and wants to save pennies for down the road.
TL;DR: “Better” or “worse” colleges aren’t always actually better or worse in the expected directions at the level of individual fields of study.
Which does have a handful of comparatively weak programs, by the way. Just sayin’.
The thing is, he doesn’t plan on going to graduate schools. I asked him himself and he just wants his bachelors.
I could understand the whole saving money thing since the privates are pretty expensive, and since it doesn’t matter what undergrad you go to if you go to grad school. However he isn’t going to graduate school. All I see is a wasted opportunity. I doubt he will transfer and there is still a chance Harvard can reject him next time.
But hey I guess he’s happy right? So I guess it doesn’t matter what college you go to as long as you are happy?.
He told me that his parents want him to stay close to home…
He surely isn’t a person to defy his parents and I know he really does love them. He isn’t even mad that he’s going to a low tier college. Doesn’t seem like he cares what college he will go to. Which is understandable, I’ve known him for 6 years now and he really does genuinely like learning and homework. So it’s not like he worked hard with the purpose of getting into a good college.
His parents are immigrants so I don’t know if it has do with traditional morals of taking of the family or something.
Knowing that he has two physician parents and follows his parents’ wishes, I wouldn’t be surprised if the reason his parents want him close is to make sure he will go to medical school.
Doesn’t matter what he wants to be… Where did the older siblings go to college? The fact that they did not choose medicine may have something to do with his parents asking him to stay close.
The underlying assumption in the OP—that if someone got into Harvard they’d of course automatically go—still kind of boggles me. I mean, yeah, Harvard has a killer yield rate, but it sure ain’t 100%…
I’m not against his decision. I’m just wondering why would he go to a low tier college instead of Harvard or top colleges. Surely there isn’t anything wrong with me just being curious and asking on CC?
I think the overall question I’m asking is does it matter what college you go to as long as you will be happy there?
Have you read the story about the guy who chose University of Alabama over 8 ivies and several other top schools? If Harvard wants your parents to pay $65000, it is upto them to decide whether to pay or not.
You know, this could be a terrible decision. Or it may be reasonable. It depends on the underlying facts–and he may not be willing to tell them all to the OP. Maybe (for example) a member of his family has a very serious illness. That might justify wanting to stay near home. Despite what he said, money may be an issue. Or his parents may be super-controlling, and don’t want to let him out of their control. That’s not a good reason, but it’s one he can’t control.
But I’ve gotta say–what kind of immigrant parents, who are both doctors, don’t want their kid to go to Harvard?
@LeviAckerman It sure sounds like you’re against his decision. You act like getting into Harvard and not going is a waste and you’re questioning his decision–and not just in a curious way, but in a “my friend’s crazy for not going to Harvard” way.
You said:
Basically every post you’ve made in this thread questions his decision (whether indirectly stated or subtly implied.) If you were curious about why he chose the college he did, you’d ask him. It seems like you’re seeking our validation, that you want us to all agree with you and say he’s making the wrong decision.
You also have a very warped mentality about the point of doing well in school…getting into Harvard is not (or at least, should not) be the point of trying hard in school. Getting into a good school should be a byproduct of doing well, but not the sole goal of trying hard in high school. Most people I know try to get straight As and take AP classes either because a) they like learning and challenging themselves or b) they personally want to do well; they have personal satisfaction in knowing they get good grades. Sure, of course people do well so they can get into a good school, but even if college weren’t the goal I would still try just as hard. Doing well in school just to get into Harvard sounds like a good way to get burnt out.
Tl;dr Your friend decided not to go to Harvard. He isn’t stupid or a fool for not going to Harvard, nor is he making a bad decision. It’s simply not the decision you would like him to make, so you’re frustrated with him; maybe YOU feel that he’s wasting an opportunity, but he doesn’t seem to think so. At any rate, CC cannot help you…we aren’t your friend, so if you want to find out why he chose his college, you should ask him, not us.
Actually, the kid may think that it’s a terrible decision, but he’s making the best of it since that’s what his parents are insisting upon.
Look, there may be a really great reason for this decision, but it’s highly unusual. If this kid really had the stuff to get into Harvard, there were many better schools that he could have gone to for nothing. So, yes, OP, it’s weird for somebody to turn down Harvard to go to a local school with 90% admissions. It almost never happens. It often happens for people to turn down Harvard or similar schools in order to go somewhere cheaper, or with a specific program they want, but not usually this many tiers down.
But my advice would be not to quiz your friend about it any further. The real reason may be something that it would be painful for him to share with you.
If I found out a good friend was questioning my decision on a college chat board, I would feel hurt. Each of us makes the best decisions we can for ourselves and our future. Good friends support those decisions, or they bring up the reasons that those decisions might be questionable. But they do it with the friend, not the rest of the world.
Surely you have enough decisions of your own to make that you don’t need to open his up to scrutiny by the online community??
Lol why would I be frustrated at his decision? It’s HIS life, not mine. I’m just curious about decision, I’m not hating on it. If you read clearly, I did ask him why he chose UCA, he said his parents want him to be close to home.
Honestly, this thread is to benefit me more than him. When it comes to deciding what college I should go next year, this thread might help me decide… prestige vs saving money…
My HS psychology once said something about what if there was no such thing as grades and everyone would get an A regardless. Would the majority of the students try less harder in school than they would now? Absolutely, are you saying this statement is false? Would the majority put in the EXACT same effort like before? Maybe back in your day when colleges were less selective and the competition wasn’t as rigorous this might not be true, but it’s a new era.