If you graduated college in the 90s/00s which schools shocked you with their change in status/competiveness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC

OMG this is the hill I will die on. When I was in college in CA in the late 90s/early 00s, USC was known was being a great school for film, football, and being a loose sorority girl… and aside from that was a total JOKE.

No one will ever be able to convince me that it’s worth any $$$. And I would never let my kid go to school there.

Wow, I had to look at the date to make sure this wasn't some old post I had written!
Same here, I graduated from a southern CA high school in the early 90s. The people I knew that went there were either wealthy but not that bright, or extremely bright and went because they were given a great financial package (and needed it!)

I am class of '93. I grew up in rural PA. I had no idea USC had this reputation until I started reading about it on this board.

I just remember Steve Sanders really wanted to go to USC and didn't his dad, Rush, also want him to go to that school too? I always thought it was a prestigious school back then because of the emphasis they seemed to place on that school. But he didn't get in and had to go to California University instead.

If USC's reputation was University of Spoiled Children - wealthy but dumb - wouldn't Steve have been a shoo-in?

And then Dylan smashed his girl, Valerie. Poor guy couldn't catch a break.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seems like some northeast LAC’s have declined Wesleyan, Middlebury, Colgate.

Declined in what way? In the early 1990s, Middlebury had an acceptance rate of around 40% and drew around 3,500 applications. Now they draw 13,000+ applications and have an acceptance rate around 10%.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In the early 90s multiple mid to lower tier students at my private went to USC, Vandy, BC, BU and UCSB. Six kids from my class went to Stanford, different times for sure.

I got into 4 ivies and Stanford in the late 90s. If you knew me, that would tell you everything you need to know about the changing landscape for admissions.

Likewise. I was admitted to MIT RD with a 1440 and was only in the top 5-10% of my class. A good student, but not exceptional. More surprisingly, Carnegie Mellon -- a school to which I had not applied -- called me (I was a NMSF) and over the phone offered me admission plus merit money (IIRC it was $5-7K.) I said I had to think about it and they called me again the next day.

My sister went to Vanderbilt because she was the lazy one in our family. I think she got around 1100 on her SAT's?

Vanderbilt median SAT scores were significantly below UVA and W&M when I was applying. Now it is significantly above.

[Anonymous]

Vandy benefits by being only private school in SEC. Holy Cross is becoming much more popular due to great alumni contacts.

[Anonymous]

UMD
Washing
Northeastern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UMD
Washing
Northeastern

WashU

[Anonymous]

Ohio State, Wisconsin, the whole SEC. Duke had almost 60k apps, Notre Dame is incredible and second Holy Cross. Look got UFlorida to get a bump from NCAA hoops .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Santa Clara
Hamilton

I went to Hamilton in the 90s. It was solid, but nowhere near Wesleyan or Middlebury. Whenever I hear it mentioned with those schools, I am aghast. In the 90s, there were frat bros, stoners and maybe a couple of Ivy rejects. However you could get a good liberal arts education and a solid foundation for a career.

Santa Clara seems like a great school. A mid-sized university in the Silicon Valley. I have met families whose kids go there and think well of it.

Colby has also risen as well. It was similar to Hamilton, but now it is pretty competitive. Trinity and Conn were pretty much New England kids, but now attract kids from all over the country.

Growing up in Westchester, I didn't know anybody who went to an SEC school, but now tons of kids from the DC area go to them as well as more kids from the tri-state area. The only school that is relatively popular here, but not so much in the tri-state area is Ole Miss. I have met kids who have gone there and gone on to be very successful.

My sister is in Westchester now with a HS senior and it boggles my mind how many of her friends are going to SEC schools. I also didn’t know anyone who went there BITD.

[Anonymous]

I went to an Ivy in the late 90s and most of us came to NYC for summer jobs/internships. NYU kids then seemed impossibly hip, attractive and wealthy but not remotely like serious students. The reputation was that it was a school for people with access to serious money who wanted to party in the city. Can’t believe how selective it has become.

[Anonymous]

Northeastern
Boston University
Tulane

These were all safeties. Blows my mind how hard it is to get accepted now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not any specific schools, but the competition level in general is astounding to me. Both DH and I think we would not have gotten into our alma maters by today’s standards. But we grew up in a more laid-back part of the west coast, so maybe it's just different out there.

My spouse and I went to Harvard and Williams. I don’t understand who is getting into Harvard and Williams anymore. All these kids just seem perfect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:University of Texas.
Virginia Tech
Emory
Vandy

All of these were considered decent schools in the 90s, but not highly competitive admissions.

The first two are still just decent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern
Boston University
Tulane

These were all safeties. Blows my mind how hard it is to get accepted now.

They were easier to get into, but for mist people they weren’t safeties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Northeastern, BC, and BU were commuter school.

BC & BU were solidly residential by the mid 1970s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not any specific schools, but the competition level in general is astounding to me. Both DH and I think we would not have gotten into our alma maters by today’s standards. But we grew up in a more laid-back part of the west coast, so maybe it's just different out there.

My spouse and I went to Harvard and Williams. I don’t understand who is getting into Harvard and Williams anymore. All these kids just seem perfect.

WASP grad here. I did not encourage Ivy or WASP or T-10 applications from my kid even though their “profile” was stronger (but not perfect!) than what mine was several decades ago (if that kind of comparison even makes sense). I didn’t stop them from applying, but those places were not the focus of their application process. It’s a different world now and we parents have readjusted our expectations.