Pressure for the Ivies

Hapworth
Thu, 04 Jan 2018 03:06:48 +0000

OP,

1. Go to your local library or bookstore.

2. Check out or purchase Frank Bruni’s fairly recent “Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be” (the book, which is quite short, makes a strong case that people wrongly believe that a name school does all the work, when it is the person that is responsible for her own success).

3. Read the book but then pass it on to your parents, especially your mother who is too ashamed to mention that you might attend Northeastern.

I’ll also mention two honorable mention books: Loren Pope’s “Looking Beyond the Ivy League” (Pope is definitely biased in support of LACs (he does not like large universities), but this book, now nearly thirty years old, is still relevant in that it reminds students and parents that there is a world that exists beyond eight schools) and Jaques Steinberg’s “The Gate Keepers” (Steinberg gives an in-depth look into admissions at Wesleyan, which many here will recognize as an “elite” college, but the book also shows how even a prestige school like Wes has to market itself at high schools and college fairs to students and parents who have never heard of it and also fight against the perception (for those who are familiar with Wes) that it’s second tier and lesser than the Ivies).

It’s so sad, when you think about the craziness (and, note, I have nothing against the Ivies or elite schools and am happy for those students for whom such schools are a good fit). Somewhere, a student is dancing, celebrating, because she was accepted at Haverford, while another student (and his family) are devastated because all the Ivies rejected him and, thus, he has no choice but to attend the lesser, unworthy safety: Haverford. Somewhere, a student cannot believe his good fortune at getting into U. of Washington, while another student (and her family) will “put up with” U-Dub, but the student is still reeling from her Stanford rejection and feels that her future is ruined.

I’m not sure how we reached this moment, but it is worrying.