@JohnNZ - I wasn’t part of USP, because it didn’t start until after I was a student. I knew the director of the program well, though, so I ended up involved in some of the things and knew quite a few the Scholars.
By ivy filtering, do you mean places saying “no” because they only want ivy league people? I’ve never run into that. As for the part about feeling like I others aren’t as smart: Any time you’re put on this sort of pedestal of people saying you’re smart, it’s important not to let it go to your head. USP accounts for a small percentage of students, and are chosen with a certain amount of luck. The thinking that others aren’t as smart is part of the problem with the perceived pretentiousness of ivy league schools. It’s isolating and you miss out on a lot of incredible people who didn’t bloom on an admissions essay at age 17.
Which leads to the question of networking. I am looped in with a lot of incredible northeastern alums doing everything from tech startups in Silicon Valley to MD/PhD research at MIT and Harvard. Not to mention the network I have through the professors I’ve worked with. One of my references is one of the top robotics researchers in the world, who advised me on a co-op in Germany. That’s another place to build networks - co-op. Northeastern has co-ops pretty much anywhere you’d want to work (including Antarctica), which is an unparalleled networking opportunity. That’s why I think northeastern offers she best of both worlds. You have incredible opportunities, but it keeps you grounded.