<p>Alexandre, as a prospective student of a number of private schools and Michigan, I want to personally thank you. You were thorough in your data and argumentation and cut through a lot of the BS. The debate of public vs. private is certainly a relevant one in today’s college admissions scene.</p>
<p>My GPA means I will likely not be able to choose where I go; admissions of the places I applied to will determine my destination. I may not even be able to get into any of my preferred places and have to settle for Michigan State. However, if I am able to make a selection, what you said here was extremely helpful.</p>
<p>Goldenboy, I’m sorry, and I still love Duke (applied and interviewed), but many of your points looked biased, to say the least. You cherrypicked Alexandre’s argument in numerous places and ignored the damning parts. “You actually think it is ok for a university to fudge numbers” was spot on; your argument centered around massaging the numbers to fit the most favorable argument for your university. It doesn’t work that way. You frequently cited aspects and numbers that purported to put private universities in a better light that A) Alexandre largely defused (s/f ratio, seminars: sometimes smaller isn’t always better; did you see also, that sportsmom said her son liked being able to blend in with the crowd in some places? I think that’s a sentiment shared by many, including myself) or B) were just illogical to begin with (counselor ranking is, as stated, absurd: to think that the counselors at my school, who are to put it charitably hands-off, influence USNWR rankings is laughable).</p>
<p>I still love the private universities I applied to as much or more than Michigan. (Though some I would prefer to be a Wolverine) However, Alexandre convinced me that the difference between some of these private institutions and their public counterparts is at least overstated.</p>
<p>Thanks again Alexandre.</p>