<p>Hi!
My name is Hannah and I am a future grad school or maybe combined J.D./M.D. hopeful. Sorry this question is broad, but as I'm looking at schools just in terms of feel, I'm wondering which prestigious schools tend to enroll students who value learning instead of students who are from wealthy families. Several of my friends are doing undergrad at Princeton, Northwestern, and Brown. They seem to feel annonymous because their parents are not wealthy alumns. I'm just wondering if any IVY/other prestigious schools are known for having a friendly student body where money is not the be all end all.
Thanks bunches!
Hannah
P.S. I'm currently at Illinois Wesleyan University, a nice LAC.</p>
<p>Not being prjudiced by knowledge or experience I will jump right in. The ivies are large enough institutions that the student body operates in subgroups. Someof these are attached to activities or church groups, but there will be those that involve money or legacy. If you're comfortable not being the center of attention, you can have a good time and help your education in these schools, but they are big ponds. You have to decide do you want a group of friends which you can get in these universities or whether you need to make a big impact.</p>
<p>very few people at ivies care about family wealth. your friends hang out with a weird crowd.</p>
<p>H went to Harvard and I hung out there extensively ( ;) ). H grew up in public housing, and he wasn't invited to the Hasty Pudding Club at Harvard :eek:, but his economic background put no crimp in his thriving at Harvard. I went to graduate school at Stanford, and while some of my classmates were quite wealthy, some from "household name" families, it was no factor at all in social life, cooperative academic environment... I'd say erase this concern entirely.</p>
<p>Hannah, no Ivy League credentials here, but grad school/professional school, etc. is even more egalitarian, more of a leveller than undergrad. It is all about ability. And,as far as finding friends goes, by that time people are making friends by personality and shared interests - some very stuck-up pretentious people in med school were from definite middle clas backgounds. The one "household" name in my class was a rather shy person, and very conscious of his background, he chose to be quite private.</p>
<p>Agree with Cangel. The grad students are often poor but bright, and end up being the teachers of the power elite. (Been there, done that.)</p>
<p>It's just like in ancient Greece! ;)</p>
<p>"It's just like in ancient Greece!"</p>
<p>And like old Indian Vedic society. The Brahmins were the teachers of the Kayasthas who were the power elite. The Brahmins were respected but not rich.</p>
<p>I went to an Ivy League professional school. It was hard work and all about ability & intelligence. I had no clue about the socioeconomic background of my classmates.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They seem to feel annonymous because their parents are not wealthy alumns
[/quote]
I did not have that experience at Cornell at all ... among the 10,000 undergrads there certainly were some rich kids with an attitude and a couple frats that required extensive portfolios to fit in ... that said the other 9,750 kids were just great and I have no idea how much money anyone had (I was a lower middle class kid)</p>
<p>anonymous "feel" can happy anywhere...particularly any school with over a few thousand kids.</p>
<p>This may sound harsh, but if you arrive on campus with a chip on your shoulder, by the time you leave it is likely to have wedged itself more deeply into the skin. There are all sorts of kids on these campuses and they are happy to get to know students who are outgoing and friendly.</p>
<p>I came from an immigrant family, and was the first to go to college. I was very happy at my Ivy grad school. There were people from all over the economic spectrum, and I NEVER knew of any of the wealthy ones lording it over anyone else; on the contrary, people were respected for what they knew and did and gave to others (in terms of friendship etc), not money. I agree with aparent5 and others. If "several" of your friends are feeling this way, either you need new friends, or they need to get over the envy which may be blinding them to what they can really experience......I was really surprised by your question.</p>