Great colleges with fewer intense strivers

[Anonymous]

Even if you manage to avoid “strivers” in college, would you really be able to avoid them in the workplace? People who are driven by status or social climbing naturally gravitate toward high-earning majors and careers.

Isn’t it better to get used to this reality earlier on? I understand why people mock it, but honestly, these types of individuals are hard to avoid in the long run.

[Anonymous]

Talented students will find ways to thrive wherever they are and naturally connect with like-minded peers. With that in mind, it’s hard to see why someone would deliberately avoid strong schools simply to escape a certain type of people.

[Anonymous]

Also, this whole thread feels a bit off, like it’s trying to stir up racial division. I have to say, that doesn’t come across as very kind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if you manage to avoid “strivers” in college, would you really be able to avoid them in the workplace? People who are driven by status or social climbing naturally gravitate toward high-earning majors and careers.

Isn’t it better to get used to this reality earlier on? I understand why people mock it, but honestly, these types of individuals are hard to avoid in the long run.

No. They are not everywhere. I would avoid working somewhere with a hyper competitive vibe even if it pays better. That is not how I want to spend my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you manage to avoid “strivers” in college, would you really be able to avoid them in the workplace? People who are driven by status or social climbing naturally gravitate toward high-earning majors and careers.

Isn’t it better to get used to this reality earlier on? I understand why people mock it, but honestly, these types of individuals are hard to avoid in the long run.

No. They are not everywhere. I would avoid working somewhere with a hyper competitive vibe even if it pays better. That is not how I want to spend my life.

Yeah, I understand. Some of my friends have sent their kids to Europe, and I’ve been tempted as well. I don’t particularly like it, but it’s kind of funny that every time we visit family in Europe, I notice the same group of strivers there too—it’s just hard to avoid them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if you manage to avoid “strivers” in college, would you really be able to avoid them in the workplace? People who are driven by status or social climbing naturally gravitate toward high-earning majors and careers.

Isn’t it better to get used to this reality earlier on? I understand why people mock it, but honestly, these types of individuals are hard to avoid in the long run.

On my first day of work at a bulge bracket investment bank, my boss told me that working very late does not impress him and that he appreciates people that work smarter, not harder. I worked really hard for him but not to kiss his backside. So a striver would have failed miserably there.

Several years later I worked for a different boss at a bulge bracket bank who wanted strivers. I worked hard because that is who I am, but I refused to play the striver game and left.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just go to any school below T50.

When I was younger, I don’t remember anyone being called a striver. Being hard working and ambitious was considered a compliment.

Now that I’m a parent, I see the ultra competitive parents who are probably what people consider strivers. Their problem seems to be that they show their ambition too much that it turns people off.

DH is super competitive and very successful. If you meet him, he seems very laid back.

Pretty much this. The academics are nearly as good without the pressure cooker environment or the kids thinking their destiny is to rule the world.

[Anonymous]

There are strivers at schools below T-50 and there were strivers back in our day which I’m guessing is the 90’s for most parents on this board. It didn’t seem as prevalent during the pre-internet days. I’m second gen Asian-American. Our parents seemed striver-ish but a lot of it came from not knowing the system. My parents’ take on my kid’s college search was way open-minded than it was on mine, because they’ve been here long enough to know there are options outside T-50 and that even going to a T-50 school doesn’t come with guarantees. There have always been people who wear their drive/intellect on their sleeve and there have always been stealth achievers who fly under the radar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are strivers at schools below T-50 and there were strivers back in our day which I’m guessing is the 90’s for most parents on this board. It didn’t seem as prevalent during the pre-internet days. I’m second gen Asian-American. Our parents seemed striver-ish but a lot of it came from not knowing the system. My parents’ take on my kid’s college search was way open-minded than it was on mine, because they’ve been here long enough to know there are options outside T-50 and that even going to a T-50 school doesn’t come with guarantees. There have always been people who wear their drive/intellect on their sleeve and there have always been stealth achievers who fly under the radar.

There are, but there are fewer of them and the culture in particular is different. You can lean into the competition if you want but also take steps back from it more easily.

[Anonymous]

Thread gone fully mask off. White mediocrity strikes again

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Asian-American and transplanted Southerner here. The Southern flagships are seen as “havens” of sorts for those fleeing the “Asian” striver schools but the flagships are changing because the South is drawing a lot of immigrants. Visiting those colleges with my kid was eye-opening. Just google the clubs and activities section of the university websites and see how many different cultural affinity groups there are.

Seen as “havens” by whom? It’s hilarious that you think white southern kids applying to UGA and Alabama are trying to “flee” from Asian kids, or are giving any thought to race or ethnicity at all. Trust me, this is not what these 17 year olds are thinking about. At all. Not every dang thing is about race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asian-American and transplanted Southerner here. The Southern flagships are seen as “havens” of sorts for those fleeing the “Asian” striver schools but the flagships are changing because the South is drawing a lot of immigrants. Visiting those colleges with my kid was eye-opening. Just google the clubs and activities section of the university websites and see how many different cultural affinity groups there are.

Seen as “havens” by whom? It’s hilarious that you think white southern kids applying to UGA and Alabama are trying to “flee” from Asian kids, or are giving any thought to race or ethnicity at all. Trust me, this is not what these 17 year olds are thinking about. At all. Not every dang thing is about race.

When they walk on a campus that’s 65-75% white they feel comfortable so they go. If that campus was suddenly 40% white they would not apply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Asian-American and transplanted Southerner here. The Southern flagships are seen as “havens” of sorts for those fleeing the “Asian” striver schools but the flagships are changing because the South is drawing a lot of immigrants. Visiting those colleges with my kid was eye-opening. Just google the clubs and activities section of the university websites and see how many different cultural affinity groups there are.

Seen as “havens” by whom? It’s hilarious that you think white southern kids applying to UGA and Alabama are trying to “flee” from Asian kids, or are giving any thought to race or ethnicity at all. Trust me, this is not what these 17 year olds are thinking about. At all. Not every dang thing is about race.

Yes’m I understand oh wise white woman.

Please tell us when it’s is ok to talk about race.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thread gone fully mask off. White mediocrity strikes again

“Mediocrity” is ironically dcum code for a poster with mediocre intellect who went to mediocre schools so is envious of smarter people and doesn’t realize how ignorant they sound in trying to be tough guys.

[Anonymous]

The people who mentioned the movie Election have it spot on. I don’t know why some people keep trying to tie this back to Asians. Strivery behavior as referred to here is about far more than just academics, and with behaviors that many white people don’t generally perceive as being stereotypically Asian.