Why Such Snobbery Against State Universities on These Fora?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Oh, and define “so many”. Last time I perused matriculation from Exeter and Andover there were very few public colleges represented.

Michigan, Berkeley, and UVA were considered respectable choices for college. I assume that hasn’t changed, since 23 kids from Andover’s class of 2017 went to one of those 3 schools.

- Andover alum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Oh, and define “so many”. Last time I perused matriculation from Exeter and Andover there were very few public colleges represented.

45 from the class of 2017 at Andover.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Anyone who gets into UC-Berkeley, UMich, or UVA could easily get into a private college like GWU or Tulane. Yet, they chose to go to public college with the plebes. Gasp!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Oh, and define “so many”. Last time I perused matriculation from Exeter and Andover there were very few public colleges represented.

Michigan, Berkeley, and UVA were considered respectable choices for college. I assume that hasn’t changed, since 23 kids from Andover’s class of 2017 went to one of those 3 schools.

- Andover alum

I don’t dispute that they are respectable choices but you wouldn’t dispute that they aren’t first choices, would you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Anyone who gets into UC-Berkeley, UMich, or UVA could easily get into a private college like GWU or Tulane. Yet, they chose to go to public college with the plebes. Gasp!

Oh no, but haven’t you heard? Even the top state schools are worse than ANY private college or university.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Anyone who gets into UC-Berkeley, UMich, or UVA could easily get into a private college like GWU or Tulane. Yet, they chose to go to public college with the plebes. Gasp!

Sure, but who aspire to go to GW or Tulane? Those are classic safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Oh, and define “so many”. Last time I perused matriculation from Exeter and Andover there were very few public colleges represented.

Michigan, Berkeley, and UVA were considered respectable choices for college. I assume that hasn’t changed, since 23 kids from Andover’s class of 2017 went to one of those 3 schools.

- Andover alum

I don’t dispute that they are respectable choices but you wouldn’t dispute that they aren’t first choices, would you?

They are for some kids, and it’s not just about money or being close to home. If you haven’t been in the college counseling office at Andover or an equivalent school, and seen the admissions graphs, you really can’t talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Anyone who gets into UC-Berkeley, UMich, or UVA could easily get into a private college like GWU or Tulane. Yet, they chose to go to public college with the plebes. Gasp!

Oh no, but haven’t you heard? Even the top state schools are worse than ANY private college or university.

Don’t be dense, that’s never been said. Work on your reading comprehension.

[Anonymous]

Well if you really wanted your kids to hang around the super rich you wouldn’t bother with the Ivy League colleges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let’s be honest.....nobody with half a brain aspires to go to a state school. They are an excellent option for in state students for whom money is an issue but the most qualified applicants are going to aspire to the best schools...,.and they aren’t public.

Let’s be honest: you’re an elitist asshole.

For stating the obvious? Fine, I hope your children are successful with their degrees from big state U but I pity them for having parents with such low aspirations.

Why do so many kids from elite boarding/private day schools go to state schools, do you think?

I’d assume it’s because they couldn’t get into a better school.

Anyone who gets into UC-Berkeley, UMich, or UVA could easily get into a private college like GWU or Tulane. Yet, they chose to go to public college with the plebes. Gasp!

Oh no, but haven’t you heard? Even the top state schools are worse than ANY private college or university.

Don’t be dense, that’s never been said. Work on your reading comprehension.

It’s actually precisely what state school troll is saying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we move in and out of DC every few years. We are here now for the fourth time. We'll stay three years and then move again. In most of the country, you don't see this nonsense. People are super excited to attend their very good state universities. One of my kids turned down two Ivies to accept a full ride at University of Florida. We were of course thrilled to save the money. But for her, it was all about Gator Nation. She graduated with no student loan debt, as did my other kids. While I know many great people who went to Ivy Universities and are very successful, most of the people I know with those degrees have good jobs but crippling debt. My advice - Look elsewhere for guidance when helping your child select a college. DCUM is a good resource for many things, but not for advice on colleges.

Nothing wrong with being in the top 20% or even striving and getting to the 1%, but if you want to run this country and want to get to the top .01%, you have to go to a handful of universities in this country and the state schools are not it. There are exceptions, of course, but few and far between

Thanks for the advice. You have a valid point. Some people have higher standards though and that’s just not the goal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, I attended one private university and one semi-public university back in the 1990s, and I received a good education at both and have moved on to have a fulfilling career(s) in my chosen fields of study. My daughter is now attending her second year at the University of Virginia. When we were applying to universities, I continually impressed on my daughter that she would have to make a very strong case for paying either private school tuition or OOS tuition given that we have very good in-state options in the Old Dominion. In the end, she did turn down Georgetown because, IMHO, it was not worth the extra $20K over UVA.

Its interesting to read the banter back and forth on these fora about what constitutes a "prestigious" university or college. You know what? Who cares? I'm not looking for bragging rights, but for the right fit for my child.

I am completely amused by the snobbery at state schools here. Somehow, some tiny LAC in backwoods Maine I've never heard of is a better choice than anything on offer at any of our fine public institutions. Two of the greatest things the United States ever did was create the system of Land Grant universities under the Morrill Act and open up the higher education system to the lower and middle classes through the GI Bill. This more or less democratized our educational institutions. The Ivies and other so-called "elite" schools play an oversized role in our higher education system while educating a very small percentage of our college students. As Robert Kaplan pointed out in his recent book "Earning the Rockies," the public institutions - the Indianas, the Iowas, etc. - play a much bigger and more important role in American educational and economic life. Much of the scientific, technological, and engineering research and training of America ton which postindustrial society depends takes place at our public institutions. They are worthy of our support and our respect.

OP, I have not read all the responses. In your case, yes, UVA is a better choice over Georgetown. Your daughter made a smart choice. However, for some families extra $20K is like extra $20 for you. And if their kid wants to be in the city setting, then Georgetown would be a better choice for them. For others, even thought Georgetown comes with a higher price sticker, their kids were not able to get to UVA.

In one of my kids case, we got a full ride from UVA. She opted out for other school that you would call "snobby".

She was interested in a specific engineering field and UVA, even though for free, was not very strong in that department. So it was not because of snobbery she chose out of state school (by the way, she got a full tuition paid too).

As to the small unknown schools, very often they are very known in very narrow field that you may not be familiar with (like Cooper Union, for example).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, we move in and out of DC every few years. We are here now for the fourth time. We'll stay three years and then move again. In most of the country, you don't see this nonsense. People are super excited to attend their very good state universities. One of my kids turned down two Ivies to accept a full ride at University of Florida. We were of course thrilled to save the money. But for her, it was all about Gator Nation. She graduated with no student loan debt, as did my other kids. While I know many great people who went to Ivy Universities and are very successful, most of the people I know with those degrees have good jobs but crippling debt. My advice - Look elsewhere for guidance when helping your child select a college. DCUM is a good resource for many things, but not for advice on colleges.

Nothing wrong with being in the top 20% or even striving and getting to the 1%, but if you want to run this country and want to get to the top .01%, you have to go to a handful of universities in this country and the state schools are not it. There are exceptions, of course, but few and far between.

Remember, attending one of these elite schools is a necessary but not sufficient condition, so don't come back with "I know of xxx who went to an Ivy and is now a barista"

More than one state school in that top 10 list. More than two actually.
Uh, nope.
http://time.com/money/4364104/top-colleges-fortune-500-ceos/

Idiotic article from somebody who has never had statistics in their life. They should have normalized the same size based on the number of graduates from these schools, but what can you expect from a dumb white chick who went to University of Florida

Ok, so then if you have other evidence that you need to go to “a handful of schools” to be a .01%er/“Run this country” - share it. Otherwise you’re just talking out of your ass.

Learn to google idiot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_by_number_of_billionaire_alumni. Here are the top 10. See the trend. Just one state school

Top Billionaire producing Universities

Harvard University – 131 degrees, combined wealth $529 billion
Stanford University – 50 degrees, combined wealth $339 billion
University of Pennsylvania – 47 degrees, combined wealth $247 billion
Columbia University – 38 degrees, combined wealth $218 billion
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 26 degrees, combined wealth $158 billion
University of California Berkeley – 19 degrees, combined wealth $83 billion
Cornell University – 23 degrees, combined wealth $57 billion
University of Southern California – 22 degrees, combined wealth $51 billion
University of Chicago – 28 degrees, combined wealth $49 billion
Yale University – 21 degrees, combined wealth $99 billion

Top 20 Ultra High net worth (80% here are Private schools, and not a single state school in the top 10)


Harvard University – 16,316 alumni, combined wealth $3,238 billion
University of Pennsylvania – 6,993 alumni, combined wealth $1,328 billion
Columbia University – 4,945 alumni, combined wealth $1,067 billion
New York University – 3,870 alumni, combined wealth $697 billion
Stanford University – 3,724 alumni, combined wealth $978 billion
University of Cambridge – 3,708 alumni, combined wealth $586 billion
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – 3,291 alumni, combined wealth $727 billion
Northwestern University – 2,902 alumni, combined wealth $384 billion
University of Chicago – 2,850 alumni, combined wealth $431 billion
Yale University – 2,667 alumni, combined wealth $552 billion
Cornell University – 2,661 alumni, combined wealth $482 billion
University of Southern California – 2,590 alumni, combined wealth $497 billion
Princeton University – 2,576 alumni, combined wealth $574 billion
University of California, Berkeley – 2,500 alumni, combined wealth $512 billion
Boston University – 2,219 alumni, combined wealth $408 billion
University of Michigan – 2,105 alumni, combined wealth $437 billion
University of Texas at Austin – 2,061 alumni, combined wealth $346 billion
University of Virginia – 2,035 alumni, combined wealth $258 billion
University of Notre Dame – 1,863 alumni, combined wealth $253 billion
University of California, Los Angeles – 1,728 alumni, combined wealth $299 billion

This is before normalization based on student population. Even without that Private universities produce 3x to 4x time what state universities produce. If you normalize for student body population, State universities will virtually disappear.

[Anonymous]

Rank, please.

Columbia
Brown
Georgetown
American
UVA
UChicago

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rank, please.

Columbia
Brown
Georgetown
American
UVA
UChicago

Rank for what?