Obsession with HYPS, why?

[Anonymous]

Recently was speaking with the mom of the top-ranked kid in DC 's class during PTA meeting. She said the following: "I would be rather disappointed if [her son] didn't make it to HYPS. But i guess a lesser ivy would be better than no ivy at all." She is truly an insufferably pompous woman, both her and her husband went to Harvard and she won't shut up about it. Sadly she is not the only one in our private school...

Anyway, she got me thinking. Why is HYPS such a big deal? I m also reading this forum for the first time and HYPS seems to be mentioned a lot.

Husband and I went to public universities and public high schools so we don't really know this stuff. We don't mingle well with the elite prep-school crowd, but have sent our kids there for better opportunities. So why is HYPS such a big deal?

[Anonymous]

OP you don't understand and you never will because you're a hick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP you don't understand and you never will because you're a hick.

So rude. Do you feel better about yourself now? We might not be as sophisticated as most people in that kind of crowd but we come from very humble beginnings and i guess we must be doing rather well if we can afford to send 2 kids to a top prep school.

[Anonymous]

Very simple actually. It is the prestige level and the bragging rights. All of the ivies and comparable top 15 or so schools provide similar opportunities. However HYPS is miles ahead in terms of prestige and name recognition compared to the other elites.

[Anonymous]

I had a colleague who was smart, successful and a lot of fun. She and husband went to Harvard and other Ivy’s for post graduate degrees. Her parents went to Harvard too.

Literally could not imagine her children going anywhere else for undergrad — while she never criticized another school but nothing else was going acceptable for her family or her kids. She did express concern that the private school in DC her children attended was not as strong as NYC, where she grew up.

And yes her kids got in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a colleague who was smart, successful and a lot of fun. She and husband went to Harvard and other Ivy’s for post graduate degrees. Her parents went to Harvard too.

Literally could not imagine her children going anywhere else for undergrad — while she never criticized another school but nothing else was going acceptable for her family or her kids. She did express concern that the private school in DC her children attended was not as strong as NYC, where she grew up.

And yes her kids got in.

lol in what kind of world do these people live? most people can only dream of attending an ivy and there are people who think that only HYPS or only Harvard is good enough? Didn't go to an ivy so it seems crazy to me.

Agree with above, the obsession with HYPS is for prestige reasons. The opportunities there and in other ivies will be similar.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe for one second that the education one receives at an Ivy League school is superior to all other institutions. It is merely the facade of prestige. The only reason they're so hard to get into is because everyone is trying to get in.

My kids to to school with several whose parents are paying $25k plus for hired Ivy League admissions consultants. Will they get in? Probably. But who would want to go to college with all the spoiled brats whose mommies paved their way in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe for one second that the education one receives at an Ivy League school is superior to all other institutions. It is merely the facade of prestige. The only reason they're so hard to get into is because everyone is trying to get in.

My kids to to school with several whose parents are paying $25k plus for hired Ivy League admissions consultants. Will they get in? Probably. But who would want to go to college with all the spoiled brats whose mommies paved their way in?

Is about connections and ultimately making gobs of money

[Anonymous]

Then I guess she will be rather disappointed

Harvard rejects more valedictorians than it accepts.

[Anonymous]

Why not MIT?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Then I guess she will be rather disappointed

Harvard rejects more valedictorians than it accepts.

true but i know many families with multiple generations across many ivys. there is some secret sauce there

[Anonymous]

Lay Prestige, lay prestige, lay prestige. This is why.

Tell an average person down the street you go to a HYPSM school and they will be impressed. Tell them you go to one of the other elite schools and most likely they won't have heard of it. Even if they are familiar with it they will be much more impressed with HYPSM.

I know this first-hand. I went to UChicago and my brother went to Yale. We get totally different reactions regarding our alms maters. But we have both had top opportunities.

[Anonymous]

This is good to hear. The opportunities open to my DC have been on the level of HYPMS. I think the lay prestige is increasing too. Two years ago, the school name was met with comments about the weather or crime. Now it's "he must be brilliant". Not shabby at all. The admiissions office can send all the toys they want if it engenders thiat type of response! All of his 3rd year friends have been offered dream jobs.

[Anonymous]

She is a prestige-obsessed person who wants everyone, including the person at the checkout counter, to be impressed by the college her son goes to. This is why she places such an emphasis on HYPSM. Places like Columbia, Penn, Duke, UChicago, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell will sure provide top notch opportunities but also sure won't impress the average Joe down the street. For some people prestige is the end all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe for one second that the education one receives at an Ivy League school is superior to all other institutions. It is merely the facade of prestige. The only reason they're so hard to get into is because everyone is trying to get in.

My kids to to school with several whose parents are paying $25k plus for hired Ivy League admissions consultants. Will they get in? Probably. But who would want to go to college with all the spoiled brats whose mommies paved their way in?

That is hilarious. You clearly have zero 1st, 2nd or even 3rd hand knowledge of the Ivy League colleges. Have you even MET a person who graduated from one? Clearly not.

Just try reading their websites and you will see the academic opportunities which are open there, the publishing possibilities, the overseas connections. Regardless of what people say about money and social aspects, these are truly 1st class academic institutions with the BEST and brightest teaching and the BEST and brightest fellow students.

If you don't know this then you are just totally ignorant.