UChicago / QuestBridge questions and concerns

JHS
Sat, 20 Oct 2012 22:30:17 +0000

So, fine. It sounds like you have made a decision only to rank Yale and Chicago, and that’s OK.

But don’t overvalue the differences between colleges based on stereotypes. You are just as likely to find yourself with a bunch of people passing around drugs at Yale as at Wesleyan or Oberlin, and only slightly less likely at Chicago. And there are plenty of people at Wesleyan and Oberlin who don’t do drugs.

And, most importantly of all, when you get to a college like any of these colleges, you will find that occasional drug use or drinking does not have the same meaning it has in many high schools. Smart people do it; serious people do it. The world isn’t divided into partiers and serious students, and even if you never touch a drop of alcohol or use any drugs, you will probably count among your close friends at least a few people who do. That will be true wherever you go. And wherever you go, at least among these schools, there will be other people who share your values, plenty of them, regardless of what the cliches say, and also plenty of people who share some of your values but not all of them.

I think there are lots of reasons why people may be unhappy at a particular college. In addition to the one you are worried about, there are having unrealistic expectations about a college, and also getting distracted by superficial things and not being open to figuring out how to make the college perfect for you.