Hello! Should I go to Harvard? Not could.

Parents Forum
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<p>True, I am a junior in HS, do not have a kid, nor do I plan to sire one anytime soon. But the parent forum contains many invaluable opinions about colleges and life in general, therefore I hope you could help out.</p>

<p>I have always been aspired to attend the best colleges (suspiciously common nowadays yes). Last year, I aimed at Harvard and Yale, and have worked hard to make attending either schools a possibility. Right now, I have terrific test scores, GPA, course selection, and leadership roles in various extracurricular activities. In short, Harvard and Yale are, although still reaches, not impossible.</p>

<p>Having just completed the AP tests, as well as currently running for class president with a great shot, I had the epiphany about where I am going and why I am going. I asked myself, why those two schools?</p>

<li>If I attend Harvard, I will not be at the top 10% of all students in any field. Curriculum or extracurriculum. </li>
<li>If I attend a relatively less competitive but nevertheless excellent school, I will be able to excel, once again, in class or out. I can have a very high GPA, be class president… You get the idea.</li>
<li>At the less competitive school, I probably will be able to have fun and learn without spending every weekend in the library. This probably won’t happen if I were at Harvard.</li>
<li>I probably will get full ride at both colleges (need-based or merit-based).</li>
<li>Funnily enough, rumors have it that the less competitive school has very hot girls. </li>
<li>I want to go to law/business graduate schools after completing undergraduate. Hypothetically speaking, if I get accepted to Harvard Law or Business, employment probably won’t be very much different in terms of pay.</li>
<li>My value in college will be probably 80% knowledge, 20% fun.</li>
</ol>

<p>I apologize in advance for possibly sounding immature and conceited, but please bear with me. Thank you.</p>

<p>BTW, this does not necessarily pertain to only me. I think a lot of students might be facing the same dillema.</p>

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<p>Not to sound blunt, but kid, you’ve got another thing coming if you think you’re going to be hot stuff at Harvard.</p>

<p>“Children” with terrific test scores, GPA, course selection and leadership roles in “various extracurricular activities” are a dime a dozen at HYP. You have to be these things at minimum in order to even be considered. What sets you apart? What makes you think you’re so special?</p>

<p>Point 1. No, you certainly will not be in the top 10%.
Point 2. How do you know? College is much more difficult than high school. You sound exceedingly conceited to me.
Point 3. You won’t need to spend every waking hour at the library at HYP if you are anywhere as intelligent as you claim to be. The only exception is if you attend, say, Caltech or UChicago.
Point 4.HYP do not offer merit based scholarships. Do your research.
Point 5. Very true, but there are quite a few attractive ivy league girls too. You’d be surprised.
Point 6. A college diploma/graduate diploma doth not a successful person make.
Point 7. Sounds about right, but I’d have it more 60/40.</p>

<p>So what exactly is your question? Or are you just bragging?</p>

<p>I may just be the resident angry cynic, but I smell a ■■■■■.</p>

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<ol>
<li>guglie, i don’t mean to sound conceited, sorry</li>
<li>you will also notice that i did not include ANY specific scores and awards and such. this is NOT a chances thread. for this reason I will not tell you how i will stand out, or if i will at all. i’m not bragging</li>
<li>sorry if my post came across as presumptuous that I will get into either of the schools. I’m just asking whether I should even CONSIDER going there when there are so many attractive benefits from the less competitive ones</li>
<li>i know HYPS are only need-based. I’m saying merit-based for the less competitive ones</li>
<li>pretend this is only hypothetical and more abstract than practical of a decision. </li>
<li>and i apologize in advance for being a ■■■■■.</li>
</ol>

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<p>Yeah, deciding about whether or not to go to Harvard vs. a less competitive school will be the least of your problems come senior year. Get into college first, then decide where you want to go.</p>

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<p>assumptuous? </p>

<p>Sounds like a ■■■■■ to me.</p>

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<p>Since I don’t like being cynical without being able to back myself up, I dug up your stats.</p>

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</p>

<p>I think you’re in for a rude awakening when it comes time for admissions. You may stand a chance, but like everyone else, your chances aren’t great. Worry about this IF you get admitted.</p>

<p>Your stats are good, but not good enough to be an auto-admit based on academics. You have varied (but no special, obvious devotion and passion) for your ECs. This combined with run-of-the-mill stats (FOR HYP!) will KILL you.</p>

<p>I’m betting on a rejection/waitlist at HYP.</p>

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<p>THIS IS NOT A CHANCE THREAD. I don’t care if you dug up my stats, cause that’s just silly. </p>

<p>I’m asking philosophically, is it really worth it today to even think about applying for HYP</p>

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<p>That is such an absurd question…why would you expect someone to be able to answer that?</p>

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<p>well, there are these benefits provided by less competitive schools. you may end up with a similar education but more fun</p>

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<p>I would try if that is the school you want to attend, as long as you add some other realistic schools to your list. Apply and then forget about it until you get your letter in the mail. If you get in, you can do what everyone else does and decide based on your acceptances. If not, at least you tried. You will never know if you don’t try.</p>

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<p>That “novel in progress” (see OP’s quotes on Post 6) is probably something Harvard would like to avoid this year. :)</p>

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<p>Here’s some advice: Apply first. Decide later.</p>

<p>Don’t get hung up on where you should go right now. You’ll have plenty of time to think that through after you turn your applications in.</p>

<p>I know your question is if it’s WORTH applying. </p>

<p>And, in my opinion, it definitely is. It’s definitely WORTH applying somewhere you think you MIGHT go, wherever that may be. 'Cause, seriously, what can you lose by simply applying?</p>

<p>That said, you have a very low chance of getting accepted to HYPS. </p>

<p>Looking at your stats, you have pretty much nothing to distinguish you, let alone anything that <em>defines</em> who you are. All the adcoms will see are stats (which aren’t exactly high for HYPS either), and a random assortment of activities. </p>

<p>Make sure you apply to some matches that you know you’ll be happy at. Good luck!</p>

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<p>I think the OP asks an excellent question…basically what are the advantages and disadvantages of being a medium-sized fish in a huge pond (Harvard), vs. a biggish fish in a biggish pond. There is another thread active these days (in the “College Search and Selection” area) that is asking a question in the same vein: what are colleges which offer excellent educations but are not cutthroat pressure cookers: “Relaxed/friendly atmospheres.”</p>

<p>Generally, there is often a tradeoff: the more intense, competitive, and often prestigious the academic environment, the lower the GPA and the lower the amount of “fun” a student would have. The OP is merely asking whether it seems to us better for someone to (1) gain the presige of Harvard studying like crazy to get a decent GPA and being just another very bright student on campus, or (2) go to a slightly less spectacular school (e.g., Vanderbilt, Bowdoin, Virginia, Brown) and probably get a better GPA with a little less work, more fun, and have a chance of being more prominent on campus.</p>

<p>I think that there are a slew of wonderful colleges in the US that fall into (2), and most of them are being discussed on that thread in which is asking about more “laid back” colleges(“Relaxed/friendly atmospheres”).</p>

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<p>i did NOT pull up my stats, and do NOT ask for an evaluation of my chances</p>

<p>therefore, i appreciate tourguide’s acknowledgement of my original intent of this thread, before gugliet twisted it up</p>

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<p>One thing that amazes me about collegeconfidential is that amost everybody is striving to get in the very very best college he can get into. Anybody who dares ask if, for example, going to Notre Dame might be a better option than going to Dartmouth is immediately pelted with every conceivable stat from every conceivable ranking…as if the the higer-ranked college is the OBVIOUS choice. </p>

<p>Occasionally someone mentions “fit,” and that is pretty much what the OP is asking…and he’s asking about the most extreme example (Harvard): is it crazy to turn down even HARVARD for a place which is probably a better fit in a lot of ways (more spare time, higher gpa, more opportunities to stick out in a crowd)?</p>

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<p>Um, yeah I think everyone understood what your question was…</p>

<p>I’m just saying, don’t bang your head into the wall trying to figure out if you really want to go to HYPS rather than a different school. It’d be a pretty bad decision to make such a decision NOW, you know…without having visited during admit weeks. </p>

<p>Try your best to get into whatever schools you can, and then decide what fits you better.</p>

<p>I mean, why are you asking us if it’s better to turn down HYPS for a better-fit-school? That’s totally up to you…</p>

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<p>Of course it’s up to him. He knows that. What he’s asking for are some theories and examples related to the decision. I’ll give you an example…a true one. I knew a very bright guy who went to Cornell and ended up with a 2.8 GPA. He had trouble getting into even decent grad schools with that GPA, and he was a little angry at himself for having gone to the most difficult college he got into and ending up being a merely average student there. He wished he had gone to a lesser college and had gotten a higher GPA–it would have given him a wider range of opportunities after undergrad, even if the college wasn’t as good as Cornell. Since the OP indicates he wants to go to a good professional school after undergrad, such a story points out a possible pitfall he might run into if he goes for the very very best colleges he can get into.</p>

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<p>great point, tourguide</p>

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<p>i suggest you get in first. you will more than likely be rejected by harvard.
and by yale.
and by princeton.
and by most of the other ivy league schools you apply to.</p>

<p>also, you’re not facing a unique choice. whather you want to believe, most students who get into a really good school also get into a more normal school with much better social life and are concerned about which to pick. look at the matriculation rates to find out</p>

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<p>If you read the thread-starter, he clearly mentions that he knows this is not an unusual situation. What IS unusual is that the OP is one of the few people around here who actually thinks things over carefully BEFORE applying. Everybody else seems to do what fae proposes–apply to a bunch of places and THEN start thinking about where to go. That’s why there are so many threads in April like “HELP! I can’t decide between MIT and Sarah Lawrence!”</p>