<p>You completemy manipulated my statement and turned it into something its not. I never said they couldn’t handle the best or anything stupid like that, I simply said they didn’t get in. and by logic that means they were rejected. I also said that its not a criticism, because very few kids do go and it in no way means they won’t go to another great school or be successful. I understand your angry about your comment in the other forum that was irrelevant and I happened to point that out, but now your just getting immature.</p>
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My cousin attends there now and my godmother did as well. Simply because I do not consider it the best best university does not mean I dislike it or do not respect it. I believe it is a great school, but my opinion of how great apparently differs from you as an alumi. I have experiences the real world and talked to many people, who I would guarentee to be older, smarter and more successful than you—so stop with this crap about how you know it all. If you look at the stats, kids that go to Georgetown are on the lower end than those that go to Columbia and as a result more kids from Columbia find top jobs after they graduate. They are both great schools and its not a criticism to say one is better than the other…and that same thing applies to HYPS. For the record everyone who is remotely intelligent considers HYPS to be the best of the best, so I am really not sure what you are arguing, or are you maybe just arguing for the sake of arguing? Thanks for another constructive post though applejack.</p>
<p>Bescraze. You just asked everyone to be respectful and then you completely insulted applejack in your very next post, even though he/she was giving you somewhat the benefit of the doubt. Not every top student wants to go to HYPSM. It’s as simple as that. It doesn’t mean they were rejected at all. Furthermore, how you can just assume that in the first place? That is the height of arrogance on your part and something I might expect from an eighteen year old. You might “have experiences (in) the real world” but you haven’t had enough of them yet to be arguing with “older, smarter, and more succesful people than you.”</p>
Most of those jobs you mentioned are prestigious jobs so I don’t get your point. Running theater troupes, owning yoga studios and becoming pastors of church congregations are all AMAZING things to do. However, I stand by my claim that Harvard grads aspire to become top researchers, high-profile surgeons and medical organization directors rather than general physicians. You could go to Podunk State and become a general physician if you have the grades/MCAT scores. With a Harvard degree, you can do so much more. </p>
<p>Pizzagirl, you have incredibly populist views which I find to be absurd. You think that becoming a janitor is just as admirable as becoming an i-banker/consultant as long as someone is “passionate” about it. This is RIDICULOUS. Being an consultant is better than being a janitor. It’s more prestigious, better respected and gets better compensation. If someone with a Harvard degree decided to become a janitor, then that person ABSOLUTELY WASTED his college degree and is an idiot.</p>
Haha who, Alexandre and Pizzagirl? You’ve got to be kidding me. Most of the posters on this thread like Bescraze, CNI and me are as smart as Pizzagirl/Alexandre based what I have read on this board. We all have access to Vault, IBanking Oasis, etc. here. I don’t care how much experience in Consulting Pizzagirl has. That does not make her more knowledgeable than 18 and 19-year olds who have done their research on the field.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is a college sophomore at Wharton who is making $45/hour working in a Private Equity firm in Detroit. I guess he’s not allowed to make observations about business just because he is not a 40-year old right?</p>
<p>Sidetracking a little bit… WHY is consulting considered to be more prestigious than other professions. A janitor is a bit extreme to use as a comparison, so why don’t we use a practicing physician as an example, since someone claimed HYP graduates think its below them. </p>
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<p>I don’t see how it’s different at Podunk State. If you put someone who was admitted to Harvard at a local state school, would they not succeed as well? I can see how there would be a difference in finance and consulting because of targeted recruiting, but in medicine, there wouldn’t be. Medical schools don’t really take into account where you did your undergraduate work; it’s more about GPA and MCAT scores. Sure more Harvard students may go on to med school, but is that a result of Harvard? Or the student? Would the student not make it to med school if s/he went to a local state university instead of Harvard?</p>
<p>I think you’re all a bit starry-eyed as to what the average HYP grad does after graduation. Like any other top college, some have great jobs, some have good jobs, some have ok jobs. Some rise to the top of their fields, some make a decent progression, others are content to have a quieter existence and not worry about becoming the top dog. Some step off the career track to achieve better life balance. HYP grads are not all kings of the universe, nor do they all want to be.</p>
<p>ken825, obviously not everyone who goes to H will end up, or even wants to be some sort of superstar. However, most of them do have extremely high goals, and that comes along with the type of student that goes to H. Making a choice to go to Harvard is an indication of one person wanting to push him/her self, wouldn’t you agree (if this weren’t true, wouldn’t a person just go to a CC to save money? heck, wouldn’t they just not go to college at all?). The student who chooses to go to Podunk state has an equal chance of succeeding if he continues to work hard, but he is also not choosing the illustrious path. Students at HYP do choose undertake normal jobs, but the sheer fact that they’re at HYP makes it more likely that they’ll take more lucrative jobs, which is exactly what EAD is saying.</p>
<p>Furthermore, this also comes along with the type of student Harvard admits. Adcom will tell you themselves, they want future LEADERS. Thus, you can see why EAD says that the typical student at Harvard aspires to be someone above everyone else (HORRIBLE choice of words, I know, but you know what I mean). </p>
<p>Also, you asked the question why is consulting considered prestigious? It’s because there is high competition among very intelligent people for very few spots. It’s the same reason why Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are considered prestigious.</p>
<p>I’ve tried looking for their post-grad plans, but I’ve never been able to find them. Friend of mine (h student) told me that the number’s around 40 % for Ibanking/Consulting- relatively the same as duke’s, although their offers are obviously a little better. It would be helpful to know though, for sure.</p>
<p>Why are you making it so black or white – that if the person didn’t want to push him/herself, he’d just go to a CC or not to college at all? There are *nuances. The person might be interested in medicine, but also find being a primary care practitioner personally more satisfying than going into a specialty or academic medicine. The person might be interested in business – but then they get to a certain level and decide that’s all they want to do, they don’t necessarily need or want to be the next CEO. The person might be interested in law – but they’re happy being a corporate lawyer at a decent firm instead of a rainmaker at the hottest firm. HYP has a lot of smart, driven people (obviously). That doesn’t mean that all of them aspire to be The #1 in Everything in their fields.</p>
<p>I suspect most of you on here are also guys, and I’d also add that when you start having a family, that puts a different spin on your ambitions, particularly for women. For example, using the med school example, it is not a great state secret that female med school students tend to populate those specialties that have more fixed hours, versus the specialties that are on-call, in order to balance work and family. Believe it or not, HYP-educated female med school students are going to have the same concerns.</p>
Then why go to HYP? Why not just go to your state school and settle with a decent career if you know beforehand that you don’t have a great amount of ambition? There’s nothing wrong with living a simple, family-oriented life. God forbid it might make you happier than a high stress, high reward one. I just think if you have the priviledge and financial resources to attend the top colleges in the country, then you should fully capitalize on the opportunity and attempt to do great things, rather than settle for a mediocre existence.</p>
<p>EAD: the assumptions you make are pitiful. “rather than settle for a mediocre existence”.</p>
<p>You seem to assume that a person attending an elite college would be wasting the “opportunity” by devoting the majority of their energy to a family, or into being a school teacher, or social worker, or artist, or fill in the blank.</p>
<p>I am sorry your view of things is so materialistic.</p>
<p>I’m going to make a wild guess that you are not asian, and that you have very little life experience.</p>
<p>By “logic”, then, was I rejected from ITT Technical Institute and Devry because I did not apply? Was I rejected from Northwestern, Georgia Tech, and Northern Arizona University as well, simply because I did not apply?</p>
<p>Or, perhaps, did I simply not apply to those schools because I did not feel they offered the programs and culture in which I would thrive? </p>
<p>Your “logic” is fundamentally flawed, but I do thank you for your gratitude of my incredibly helpful posts. It’s good to be appreciated.</p>
You grossly misinterpret my views on things. Doing meaningful social work, working in the public/non-profit sector and becoming an artist are all wonderful things for a HYP grad to do as long as he/she is dedicated to excelling in those areas. There is certainly nothing wrong with getting involved with Teach for America, going to South America to work with an anti-poverty group or helping researchers find vaccines to battle diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa. These are all extraordinary endeavors. Becoming an elementary school teacher or a general physician is not however. That’s just a waste of a Harvard education.</p>
<p>its not possible to waste any kind of education, even a Harvard education, as long as the student enjoys his/her current profession and feels like he/she is making a difference in the world. It is possible for elementary school teachers and general physicians to fit these criteria.</p>
<p>Ambition is a fickle master. Those whose extreme ambitions are motivated by certain factors – prestige – find it hard to believe when others have lesser ambitions or similar ambitions determined by different factors. </p>
<p>What EAD is saying sounds harsh to swallow, but is it really wrong? I’m sure there are exceptions that defy his absolutes, but usually those who strive for top schools usually do so in hopes of achieving jobs on par with the schools they’ve attended. </p>
<p>Yes many of us are superficial.</p>
<p>Few others find solace in “Becoming an elementary school teacher or a general physician.”</p>