Pick a Top School - Prestige Fact

College Search & Lists
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<p>OK, so you want a school with prestige; you want to go to a “top school;” How do you choose? Where can you get accepted? How can you get there without breaking yourself or your parents financially?</p>

<p>On CC, there is a snobbishness that is contageous. If it’s not a “Top 10” or an Ivy League school, your life may be ruined forever.</p>

<p>But here is the truth: According to the Digest of Education, there are 4216 degree-granting institutions in the USA (statistics for 2004-05 year). USN&WR lists 124 schools in their “Top Schools” Tier category. That means that any one of those 124 schools are in the top 3% of all colleges and universities in the US."</p>

<p>And yet, within the ranks of the top tier, you can find public schools as well as private schools, and schools willing to give generous scholarships if you have the stats to match. </p>

<p>So why all of the concentration on only the top 10 or 20 schools, as if those are the only choices? Doing so, IMHO, is an error in judgment.</p>

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<p>For impressionable status-seekers the top 3% is not good enough. It’s top 0.5 - 0.1% or bust. :rolleyes:</p>

<p>I mean why is being a billionaire enough, when some of them want the lifestyle of the multi-billionaire (Warren Buffett excluded)? :)</p>

<p>Rightly or wrongly, our society is largely driven by people wanting more…whether that is more money, more power, more exclusivity, more prestige.</p>

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<p>So true, UCB.</p>

<p>What we have to start recognizing is that the US News rankings don’t mean anything, for one, and, secondly, we should all be so fortunate to be in the position that we are to be able to attend such prestigious schools (if we get in :slight_smile: )</p>

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<p>people either go to these schools because it is their dream, or they truly love having that status symbol.</p>