Friend got accepted into Harvard but chose to go to a university with a 90% acceptance rate

Pre-College Topics High School Cafe
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@LeviAckerman I have no idea, but it certainly seems like it because you’re really and truly not just curiously asking why he would choose not to go to Harvard, but you are putting him down; maybe not directly, but at least indirectly (as evidenced where I quoted you in my previous post.) Look, I don’t care if you’re on here asking or not, simply saying that this is kind of a pointless thread and that this is rude to your friend. I did indeed see where you said you asked him…but apparently you weren’t satisfied with his answer because you keep questioning his decision on here.

I never said that they would. Of course they wouldn’t. Would I? Nope, not the EXACT same effort. But I do enjoy learning and the personal satisfaction of knowing I have done well in a class. I was simply saying that trying to get into a good school shouldn’t be the sole point of doing well in school. It always seemed as if my peers who worked hard just because they wanted to get into a really good school were more stressed out and felt burned out more than those who worked hard for more than just the college aspect.

Uh…“Back in my day?” Ha. I’ll be a college freshman in the fall, I just graduated high school three weeks ago; pretty sure I know what I’m talking about.

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I agree with the majority of the posts, Ivies don’t even get a lot of applicants compared to other universities since (1 people have plans including the notion of those people wanting to go to grad school or professional school at Ivies - so they would want to continue to be at the top at a state university (2 Like people said, it’s generally much cheaper and sadly money does play in college choices. and (3 People just generally are scared to apply to Ivies now.

Years ago Ivies were like the UCs, many many many people applied until some individuals realized that there are other schools out there and reasons that I mentioned. Right now besides Merced, expect over 50K applicants for each UC and leading the way is UC Los Angeles which according from the career center director 92K applicants applied to UCLA for fall 2015. If you go to California many people make a big deal out of UCs…it gets annoying sometimes. I get they’re amazing institutions for basically extending the human lives and whatnot but they’re not the only colleges…the same goes with the Ivies.

Fall 2014 Ivies amount of Applicants

Brown: 30,431
Columbia: 32,967
Cornell: 43,037
Dartmouth: 19,297
Harvard: 34,919
Pennsylvania: 35,866
Princeton: 26,641
Yale: 30,932

None of them compete with schools like UCLA, USC, San Diego State, Penn State, etc. in terms of how many people apply to those schools.

Plus from college board, Central Arkansas actually doesn’t seem that bad. It looks good, it’s just the students they get that ruin it (except the top tier students like your friend for example). From the way you said it I thought it would be something low tier compared to fellow colleges, very commuter, a lot of part time students, and no social life - like UT El Paso (still a great school, though). Heck, 84% of freshman live on campus, that’s really cool and not a lot of universities have that. Only cons of it is a low retention rate (67%) but 21% graduate in 4 years. 17:1 student faculty ratio too, UCA focuses a lot on their undergraduates.

Your friend did some excellent research. Kudos. UCA is one of the schools where it could be really good if they get the right students, and a good proportion of their student body seems like they’re focused on academics and whatnot. Your friend will be fine. :slight_smile: Plus a Statistician? I want to be one too, and a Master’s is close to required so he’ll probably go to a graduate school with a more of a name.

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Despite ^^ discussing the virtues of this school, it does seem like a strange choice. Is he paying for this place? There seem to be an entire universe of schools between Harvard and UCA. For someone who wants to be in the south, Emory, Duke, University of Alabama which has a guranteed free merit award for people with certain stats. I agree with the poster who wondered why this kid did not go to a free ride school with better stats. It honestly sounds like he just went based on geography rather than academics. It is beyond my comprehension. I know people who turned down Harvard but it was for JHU or Duke or a free merit. Sounds like a family issue since his siblings went. I would not read too much into or let it influence you. It is an outlier. Sounds like something that is important to their family.

As for studying for its own sake, I have never cared about grades. Once I knew the material getting the last 2 or 4 points did not matter and never has

I do not agree: “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.” This assumes that all classes are equally interesting. I went to a school with few electives. A lot of classes are not interesting. What about people who hate math and know they want to writers and not premed? How interesting is a math class really to them?

My grandmother likes to quote the movie “Peggy Sue got Married” where after going back in time to high school she tells her math teacher after she says how important this is, “I know for a fact I will never need this math again”

If people were studying for its own sake they would only study what interests them. Plus there are a lot of quicker more efficient ways to learn what you need than hearing someone repeat the same point 3 different ways in math class.

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it’s possible he didn’t CHOOSE it but was FORCED to go.
Because there are SO MANY colleges that are better and as cheap as a local directional, and in-between basically-non-selective directional and Harvard for academics. So, you’re right, it makes no sense.
A kid who got into Harvard won’t be challenged at a university like this. Frankly, I can’t imagine a bright, self motivated kid who is at Harvard level (where 2100 on the SAT is bottom 25% and AP are the normal preparation) wouldn’t be incredibly frustrated at a college where most students read below grade-level and/or need remedial instruction, and the average SAT score is 600-700 point below his. He’ll be like an alien, unless he’s in engineering and the school is ABET-accredited. (I’ve seen it, and many kids come for the full ride, not appreciating that they won’t have any peers, and leave after their first or second semester, having lost any chance at full-tuition merit at the flagship. That’s why, within the “affordable” colleges one was admitted to, one must consider “value”, fit, and ROI and that’s not always what is “free”.)
This is weird, too: why UCA when there’s the just-as-close, MUCH better Hendrix College nearby?
Did he get into the Honors College and somehow thought it’d be better than Harvard? WHY didn’t he enroll into the Honors College? What does he think he’s going to do - skip 2 years with AP credit and graduate in 2 years, be ready for med school faster (because that’s a TERRIBLE plan and one almost certain to make him ineligible for federal loans if he graduates yet doesn’t have the experiences he needs 4 years for.)
Where else did he get in?
Any chance he can take a gap year, apply for better places with full tuition/full ride scholarships?
If he got into Harvard, he probably has the stats for a full ride plus (tuition, room, board, books) at Howard. He’d get full tuition at UAlabama, a much better school.
For math, Harvard is a better place than UCA. As would HarveyMudd, Northwestern… even Beloit is better than UCA (and he’d get a lot of merit at Beloit).
Can he tell his parents he’s taking a gap year to work and save money so that he can attend a school where he’ll really study math?
Have his siblings stayed close after they graduated college or have they all left? If he’s the last child, could his parents worry he’ll leave and therefore they’re keeping him there out of selfish reasons?
Or do the parents not understand how the American system works and that there’s a HUGE difference between UCA and many other universities?
Did he really have a choice - is he happy or is he hurting but trying to “make do”? Can you try to help him or comfort him if need be, or figure out whether he’s there by choice or not? Because “my parents want me to stay close” doesn’t scream “my choice” to me, it states “my parents made the choice for me”.
Perhaps his parents have heard that what university you go to doesnt matter if you go to med school and they want him to go to med school? if he’s the last child and none of the siblings got into med school, they may consider him their last hope to send a kid to med school (whether he wants to go or not). But in this case, it doesn’t make sense, because even premed at UCA isn"t comparable to premed at Hendrix.

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It’s not just strange, it’s absolutely nonsensical. If he had chosen UAlabama over the Ivies (like Ronald Nelson from TN), I would at least understand and respect it. But a school with a 90% acceptance rate, a 67% retention rate, and a 21% four-year graduation rate??? Absolutely foolish choice.

One kid who graduated from my high school in 2014 went to UAlabama to play club lacrosse despite his father being very recently diagnosed with cancer. I had his mother for art the next school year, and she said that they had a very long family talk, but he was allowed to go to the school he wanted to go to.

Your friend has made a very asinine choice, OP.