Right now I’m deciding between tufts, northwestern, and stanford…since I live on the west coast, you mention the word “stanford” and it’s like everything else melts away and people just assume that is where you are going to go. (Despite the fact that, of course, tufts and northwestern are also amazing schools and if you travelled to other parts of the country people would have a different reaction)
I really haven’t made up my mind about the schools, but there is always a lot of talk about “prestige factor” and whatnot in a college. I don’t want to go to Stanford just because its part of the abbrevation HYPS (haha) but I also don’t want to discredit a school I might really like–i really just don’t want to feel like i’m selling out to US News and World Report.
Now, for a disclaimer, I still have to visit NW and see Stanford again, but judging past reactions to schools, I don’t think I’m going to have an overwhelming love for any school. There are a lot of other factors i’m considering, of course, but I’m not the most decisive person in the world and I know it’s going to be tough for me to pick one in the end.
I just wanted to pose the question…how do you prevent having a prestige bias but also avoid a backlash?
Is anyone else feeling the same way?
<p>hmm…i dunno…i say get out of your comfort zone and go to either tufts or northwestern…</p>
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Actually this is fairly straighforward. What you’re referring to is known in psychology as the “halo effect”, BTW.</p>
<p>The antidote is a structured decision making process. Ideally you used this to pick the colleges you applied to, but its never too late to start. You need to build a list of criteria that matter to you, and then rate the schools on each (give a grade A thru F, or a number 1-10, whatever). At the end when you look over your chart you will be evaluating things rationally and not based on prestige/anti-prestige.</p>
<p>So for example do you want a school in the city or rural area? Big greek system? Strong system for study abroad? Guaranteed housing all 4 years? What parts of the country? I could list dozens of differences between colleges, hundreds if I wanted to take the time. Of course most wouldn’t matter to you, and that’s ok. What you ought to do is identify what does matter and then find colleges with those qualities.</p>
<p>Now you may not know many of the differences between colleges, and there’s a way to fix that first problem. There are books out there that can fill you in. “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” by Pope is an excellent book to read because he describes the various choices different types of colleges offer.</p>
<p>Stanford and Northwestern are similar in a lot of ways so if you like one school then you would most likely enjoy the other one.</p>
<p>mikemac, that’s really great advice </p>
<p>You should make a post like that in Search and Selection when people are trying to figure out where to apply next fall.</p>
<p>in terms of this situation, i would say stanford…now listen i have reasons, first off both northwestern and stanford are excellent and as the above poster said similar, now with that said you have to think beyond what all these people who critisize individuals that take prestige as a factor, IT IS A FACTOR…think about it bro, why do people by mercedez benz, bmws, lexus et cetera et cetera, i mean a toyota is the same goddamn engine as a lexus and it lasts more and there are TONS of toyotas that look extremely nice as well, but why is it that 99% of the “upper” class drives m benz, et cetera, because of class, prestige, it’s common sense man, and it is a factor no matter where you go in the world…it’s the harsh truth and part of reality</p>
<p>Dima343, thanks for the kind words! I do hope my posts here can be of help to somebody.</p>