Ivies vs. Top 20 schools (after listening to many a podcast on the subject)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real message is that HYPSM have completely ruined a fair number of our brightest kids. Any bright kids who are taking that BS seriously and trying to twist themselves into pretzels to please those schools probably have ended up with serious problems that’ll take generations to analyze. Our nation may perish because our brightest kids are more into checking boxes than actually doing anything of value.

And the evidence you base this opinion on comes from where, exactly?

My guess is you made it up to suit your narrative.

Of course it’s a made-up narrative. PP is trying so hard to convince herself she doesn’t want what she apparently can’t have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real message is that HYPSM have completely ruined a fair number of our brightest kids. Any bright kids who are taking that BS seriously and trying to twist themselves into pretzels to please those schools probably have ended up with serious problems that’ll take generations to analyze. Our nation may perish because our brightest kids are more into checking boxes than actually doing anything of value.

And the evidence you base this opinion on comes from where, exactly?

My guess is you made it up to suit your narrative.

Of course it’s a made-up narrative. PP is trying so hard to convince herself she doesn’t want what she apparently can’t have.

You can tell people repeatedly that no, you're not jealous, but they will keep insisting that the thing they have is what you want. This is, perhaps, human nature.

I went to a public magnet school with a graduating class of 30. I've lost track of the exact count, but I think we had 2 to Yale, 2 to Princeton, 1 to brown, and a whole mess to Penn. 5 or 6. So a third of my cohort went to ivies. The rest to schools like Oberlin, Chicago, Duke. Penn State. Howard. Etc.

The ivy grads have not been spectacular success stories. One is a professor at at public college. A few are lawyers. A few are unemployed housewives. No one cured cancer, or invented Wikipedia, or even went to med school. These were brilliant, brilliant kids. And nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real message is that HYPSM have completely ruined a fair number of our brightest kids. Any bright kids who are taking that BS seriously and trying to twist themselves into pretzels to please those schools probably have ended up with serious problems that’ll take generations to analyze. Our nation may perish because our brightest kids are more into checking boxes than actually doing anything of value.

And the evidence you base this opinion on comes from where, exactly?

My guess is you made it up to suit your narrative.

Of course it’s a made-up narrative. PP is trying so hard to convince herself she doesn’t want what she apparently can’t have.

You can tell people repeatedly that no, you're not jealous, but they will keep insisting that the thing they have is what you want. This is, perhaps, human nature.

I went to a public magnet school with a graduating class of 30. I've lost track of the exact count, but I think we had 2 to Yale, 2 to Princeton, 1 to brown, and a whole mess to Penn. 5 or 6. So a third of my cohort went to ivies. The rest to schools like Oberlin, Chicago, Duke. Penn State. Howard. Etc.

The ivy grads have not been spectacular success stories. One is a professor at at public college. A few are lawyers. A few are unemployed housewives. No one cured cancer, or invented Wikipedia, or even went to med school. These were brilliant, brilliant kids. And nothing.

Curious about the stories behind the ivy educated housewives. They must be some success stories as they apparently married to rich men.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real message is that HYPSM have completely ruined a fair number of our brightest kids. Any bright kids who are taking that BS seriously and trying to twist themselves into pretzels to please those schools probably have ended up with serious problems that’ll take generations to analyze. Our nation may perish because our brightest kids are more into checking boxes than actually doing anything of value.

And the evidence you base this opinion on comes from where, exactly?

My guess is you made it up to suit your narrative.

Of course it’s a made-up narrative. PP is trying so hard to convince herself she doesn’t want what she apparently can’t have.

You can tell people repeatedly that no, you're not jealous, but they will keep insisting that the thing they have is what you want. This is, perhaps, human nature.

I went to a public magnet school with a graduating class of 30. I've lost track of the exact count, but I think we had 2 to Yale, 2 to Princeton, 1 to brown, and a whole mess to Penn. 5 or 6. So a third of my cohort went to ivies. The rest to schools like Oberlin, Chicago, Duke. Penn State. Howard. Etc.

The ivy grads have not been spectacular success stories. One is a professor at at public college. A few are lawyers. A few are unemployed housewives. No one cured cancer, or invented Wikipedia, or even went to med school. These were brilliant, brilliant kids. And nothing.

Anecdotes are no substitute for data, especially when offered up by some rando with an axe to grind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the real message is that HYPSM have completely ruined a fair number of our brightest kids. Any bright kids who are taking that BS seriously and trying to twist themselves into pretzels to please those schools probably have ended up with serious problems that’ll take generations to analyze. Our nation may perish because our brightest kids are more into checking boxes than actually doing anything of value.

And the evidence you base this opinion on comes from where, exactly?

My guess is you made it up to suit your narrative.

Of course it’s a made-up narrative. PP is trying so hard to convince herself she doesn’t want what she apparently can’t have.

You can tell people repeatedly that no, you're not jealous, but they will keep insisting that the thing they have is what you want. This is, perhaps, human nature.

I went to a public magnet school with a graduating class of 30. I've lost track of the exact count, but I think we had 2 to Yale, 2 to Princeton, 1 to brown, and a whole mess to Penn. 5 or 6. So a third of my cohort went to ivies. The rest to schools like Oberlin, Chicago, Duke. Penn State. Howard. Etc.

The ivy grads have not been spectacular success stories. One is a professor at at public college. A few are lawyers. A few are unemployed housewives. No one cured cancer, or invented Wikipedia, or even went to med school. These were brilliant, brilliant kids. And nothing.

Anecdotes are no substitute for data, especially when offered up by some rando with an axe to grind.

+1 written by someone whose bar is "cure cancer or you are a failure"! Where housewives are "unemployed" (Say that to my wife and see what happens). An where being a professor or a lawyer is "nothing". That bar is only set for others, of course.

OP you are very sad. You need to read this: http://read.gov/aesop/005.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The admissions* committee* can spot the fakes.

They usually cannot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In many cases, parents have bulldozed the "achievements" of the successful applicants to the Ivies. There are very few kids who actually start their own non-profits/businesses on their own, like that.

This is so true.

It sometimes makes me think of predestinationism and Calvinism. I feel like there is this belief that some people are born to be graced with an Ivy League education, and those children will, because of their blessed nature, do great works and follow the Will of the Admissions Officer. However, no one really knows who the blessed are, or what they actually do. So, everyone is looking at all the people around them, seeing who other people say is blessed, and attempting to mimic what they are doing. Thereby, no one is doing what comes naturally at all, and the entire thing becomes a farce.

Weird take. You might be overthinking this a tad.

Lol...."the blessed". These are just students going to college...some special and some jack*****. Nothing blessed about it.

+1. My kid said cheating was rampant at his top Ivy last year. Many of these kids are used to winning at all costs. Not sure about how blessed they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thread only provides further evidence of how Ivy-obsessed many of you are, even when it manifests itself as resentment or envy. If you don’t think the Ivies are all that, pay less attention to them. State universities have a different mission.

Just wanted to share something interesting and start a conversation I would be thrilled if my kids got into an Ivy, obviously, but I also think it's okay to talk about expectations and pressure. You're free to think differently.

OP— I really appreciate what you have said and don’t at all agree with the poster above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had no idea there were college admissions podcasts. I have a rising second year college student and a rising 12th grader. My kids don’t stand a chance with the level of parental involvement in the process that happens around here.

OP here - they absolutely will! There are so many colleges out there where kids can thrive And honestly, after listening to them, I wouldn't really recommend it. Inside the Admissions Office was interesting but some things they said really turned me off. For example, for one of the episodes they had a woman on who does interviews for Harvard. She was going on and on about how students interviewing should do their upmost to make the interviewer happy and comfortable because the point of the interviews is to keep alums involved at the school... okay. I get that interviewees should act appropriately but why is it my kid's job to make the interviewer feel good about the interview just so they keep giving money to a school that's probably going to reject my kid anyway? She also said how turned off she was by a kid who quoted his hockey coach a few times because "not everyone is into sports." Way to give a kid a chance.

I cringe whenever a poster writes "well, I interview for my Ivy and . . . "

They're doing it because they define themselves by the college they attended. It's the equivalent of peaking in high school and never getting over it. And even they understand completely that their interview will have little or no impact on the admissions decision. It's all about them and their egos, not the appliucant.

Pathetic.

Not an Ivy but I do interviews for my college and I do it because I love my school. I don’t have any illusions that I’m a meaningful part of the process, I just want to help kids learn about the place. Take a step back and try not to be so judgmental. Do you react to everything in your life so negatively? Yeesh.

As one annoying poster would respond, with the cliche of the century: you do you. I guess.

But I think it's kinda weird that adults define themselves by the college they attended, not recognizing the reality that colleges are largely interchangeable and "loving" the one that you ended up attending doesn't make the school unique. You probably would have "loved" another one too.

Interviewing kids and loving your college is not defining yourself by the college they attended. You are so negative and, quite honestly, sound very resentful. Not sure why others who had positive college experiences and want to pass that on to a new generation should cause resentment. Maybe you had a negative experience?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thread only provides further evidence of how Ivy-obsessed many of you are, even when it manifests itself as resentment or envy. If you don’t think the Ivies are all that, pay less attention to them. State universities have a different mission.

Just wanted to share something interesting and start a conversation I would be thrilled if my kids got into an Ivy, obviously, but I also think it's okay to talk about expectations and pressure. You're free to think differently.

OP— I really appreciate what you have said and don’t at all agree with the poster above.

Of course not, OP. There’s never been a shortage on this forum of the envious looking to take comfort in each other. The moderator just found a way to monetize it by selling ads to label on top of your angst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did someone actually write “high school football star”? That actually happened?

Yes, that was me. I realize this is Nerd Central and none of you can relate. The point is that people move on. College is over. I’m surprised that with your college educations you are all too obtuse to grasp the analogy.

Ok? ”Nerd Central.” Why are you on this thread? You obviously have deep seeded jealousy. Your reactive statements reveal lots of resentment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA is a top 30 or top 40... why start with a misleading title?

Who cares? So it’s not top 20. Why does this even matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The thread only provides further evidence of how Ivy-obsessed many of you are, even when it manifests itself as resentment or envy. If you don’t think the Ivies are all that, pay less attention to them. State universities have a different mission.

Just wanted to share something interesting and start a conversation I would be thrilled if my kids got into an Ivy, obviously, but I also think it's okay to talk about expectations and pressure. You're free to think differently.

OP— I really appreciate what you have said and don’t at all agree with the poster above.

Of course not, OP. There’s never been a shortage on this forum of the envious looking to take comfort in each other. The moderator just found a way to monetize it by selling ads to label on top of your angst.

Who has angst?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In many cases, parents have bulldozed the "achievements" of the successful applicants to the Ivies. There are very few kids who actually start their own non-profits/businesses on their own, like that.

This is so true.

It sometimes makes me think of predestinationism and Calvinism. I feel like there is this belief that some people are born to be graced with an Ivy League education, and those children will, because of their blessed nature, do great works and follow the Will of the Admissions Officer. However, no one really knows who the blessed are, or what they actually do. So, everyone is looking at all the people around them, seeing who other people say is blessed, and attempting to mimic what they are doing. Thereby, no one is doing what comes naturally at all, and the entire thing becomes a farce.

Weird take. You might be overthinking this a tad.

Lol...."the blessed". These are just students going to college...some special and some jack*****. Nothing blessed about it.

+1. My kid said cheating was rampant at his top Ivy last year. Many of these kids are used to winning at all costs. Not sure about how blessed they are.

many are very hard-working, dedicated students. Ivies are institutions with thousands of students. There are cheating jerks to be found along with many successful students that have integrity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The admissions* committee* can spot the fakes.

They usually cannot.

They probably can but don't care enough to do it if it's legacy or of billionaires.