Record number of high schoolers swapping the Ivy League for the SEC thanks to sunshine, campus culture - The Times

[Anonymous]

Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Modern SEC schools pitch to OOS full pays, to build their budgets as deep South states have never valued, nor invested in, academics. Football sure but not academics.

[Anonymous]

The entirety of the SEC minus Vanderbilt have fewer 1580+ SAT scorers than Harvard and Yale alone.

[Anonymous]

Why is a British newspaper covering this? Stealing article ideas from U.S. publications? Sus!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

Bwaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

I know. I love when I hear parents whose kids were not even close to required test scores, rigor/goa sat the reason their kids aren’t attending the 3-5% admit Ivies is because they like sunshine. So they go to the 50-85% acceptance rate instead.

This was all click bait. It became a thing when the T20s were next to impossible to get into.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The entirety of the SEC minus Vanderbilt have fewer 1580+ SAT scorers than Harvard and Yale alone.

Maybe - but who really cares? My DC just started a 2 year grad program at an Ivy. Compared to their state school undergrad it is very serious and cold and campus just doesn’t seem fun at all. It’s dead on weekends and so diverse - when students do gather it is cliques of kids from all sorts of cultures speaking their own language when they are together and it is hard to break in - even in DCs program (DC is very outgoing and social btw). Students tend to walk around solo on their phones vs with friend groups. It’s a different experience being a grad student vs. undergrad but you still pick up on the vibes around campus. White kids are a minority and also have their own cliques - dc thinks their state u did a better job of mixing groups overall - their state school was also diverse, but much more upbeat and integrated. FWIW DC had many POC friends in both HS and undergrad, so diversity itself is not the issue - it’s the lack of integration and socialization more generally. Anyway - I imagine that environment is not appealing to everybody. DC is thankful they did not go there for undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

Bwaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

I know. I love when I hear parents whose kids were not even close to required test scores, rigor/goa sat the reason their kids aren’t attending the 3-5% admit Ivies is because they like sunshine. So they go to the 50-85% acceptance rate instead.

This was all click bait. It became a thing when the T20s were next to impossible to get into.

+100

The top kids at our HS still head to the Ivies/T20s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The entirety of the SEC minus Vanderbilt have fewer 1580+ SAT scorers than Harvard and Yale alone.

Maybe - but who really cares? My DC just started a 2 year grad program at an Ivy. Compared to their state school undergrad it is very serious and cold and campus just doesn’t seem fun at all. It’s dead on weekends and so diverse - when students do gather it is cliques of kids from all sorts of cultures speaking their own language when they are together and it is hard to break in - even in DCs program (DC is very outgoing and social btw). Students tend to walk around solo on their phones vs with friend groups. It’s a different experience being a grad student vs. undergrad but you still pick up on the vibes around campus. White kids are a minority and also have their own cliques - dc thinks their state u did a better job of mixing groups overall - their state school was also diverse, but much more upbeat and integrated. FWIW DC had many POC friends in both HS and undergrad, so diversity itself is not the issue - it’s the lack of integration and socialization more generally. Anyway - I imagine that environment is not appealing to everybody. DC is thankful they did not go there for undergrad.

Not at all what my Ivy kid is experiencing. He’s having a blast.

[Anonymous]

What about the “southern fraternities vs northern fraternities?”

I was in a fraternity in DC and it has chapters all over the place. Florida to Colorado to Canada. Is the regionalism a feature or are these “northern fraternities” just new chapters of national fraternities because the old ones didn’t want Jersey boys?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

+1 Harvard accepts 3% of applicants. U. Alabama accepts 75% of applicants. I don't think the Ivy League is stressed about this "trend" towards the deep South.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t argue with the data they cite. Seems to boil down to fun and sunny weather. Ivy League losing its cachet. Ivy match kids increasingly prefer Vandy and Duke or a full merit scholarship at Alabama.

Why young Americans are shunning elite universities for the Deep South. Social life, sunshine and picturesque campuses are luring students from the northeast to colleges in South Carolina, Alabama and more.

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/why-young-americans-are-shunning-elite-universities-for-the-deep-south-2ktn6fmv2

Cope for child not getting into Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can’t argue with the data they cite. Seems to boil down to fun and sunny weather. Ivy League losing its cachet. Ivy match kids increasingly prefer Vandy and Duke or a full merit scholarship at Alabama.

Why young Americans are shunning elite universities for the Deep South. Social life, sunshine and picturesque campuses are luring students from the northeast to colleges in South Carolina, Alabama and more.

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/why-young-americans-are-shunning-elite-universities-for-the-deep-south-2ktn6fmv2

Because they cite almost zero data. The biggest takeaway from the data I.e. the map is that CA and TX do not have enough spots in desired schools for their kids so they go to other states. Probably more reflective of the population of those states than anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

+1 Even the best student from a school has only a lottery chance at an Ivy, and there are probably a quarter of a million spots available in the SEC. The idea that kids are saying "no thanks" to Harvard to go to Ole Miss doesn't pass the smell test at all. That said, IMO if football and marketing and Rushtok have changed the vibe of a midAtlantic kid announcing they're heading South to a college where 1) you can certainly get in, and 2) you have a decent chance at merit aid on top from "oh wow, they didn't get in anywhere good" to "oh man you're going to have so much fun there," that's a good thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Swapping the Ivy League? That suggests they had a chance of admission in the first place.

Bwaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

I know. I love when I hear parents whose kids were not even close to required test scores, rigor/goa sat the reason their kids aren’t attending the 3-5% admit Ivies is because they like sunshine. So they go to the 50-85% acceptance rate instead.

This was all click bait. It became a thing when the T20s were next to impossible to get into.

But Vandy (<5%) and Duke (<5%).

[Anonymous]

I am so glad that my son wants no part in this. Sure, he likes to party, but he really wants to be involved in a community and not just constantly tailgate and spectate. He's applying to private schools in New England and couldn't be more excited.