Can someone explain the lure of selective colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

Is this that attractive, though? We're not wealthy ($250k HHI), but upper middle class is good enough to let us do the things we want. Are there that many people honestly wanting more? Seems stressful.

You’re showing your Midwest roots. Most on this board do not regard 250k as UMC, at all.

What you think doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you can study with "the best and the brightest" at any top 50 schools or beyond. The only thing is prestige (most everyone knows Harvard). In terms of diversity, probably not true at HYP esp socioeconomic diversity. These schools continue to hugely favor the wealthy. In terms of making money in the future, that really is much more dependent on the student and his/her major.

I lost all respect for Harvard etc. since I learned that 50-70% (sometimes more) of the entering freshmen class consists of legacies, recruited athletes, URMs, donors, VIPs, celebrities' offsprings, Faculty & staff's children etc. etc. You no longer have the best and the brightest there.

Certainly there would be some stars and the average quality would be good but I would much choose a school that selects most (70-90%) of the students on merit basis.

I think everyone understands this at this point. Harvard, Yale, and Stanford are not where the best and brightest go in 2023.

It's a tier lower.

Duke, Brown, Vanderbilt, Rice, Michigan, Dartmouth. Obviously MIT and CalTech.

Harvard and Yale are jokes these days. At least Princeton tries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

LMAO

Right? When OP's kids go to Florida A&M, then we can talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An obvious allure is that if your family makes say $100,000 you can attend most of the top schools for free or nearly free. No idea what your state "land-grant" school might offer...perhaps the same because of the statspeop you have to attend one of the top schools (??). BTW...only on DCUM does anybody refer to schools as land-grant.

Well, yeah, I referred to it that way so people could see where I'm coming from. I give the name of the school if someone asks in real life, but the details aren't important here.

I guess...except you said is it a financial thing where people are trying to make the highest $$$s possible...not a financial thing where maybe your entire college is free. Does land-grant = flagship?

No, land-grant ≠ flagship. For example, in Indiana, Indiana is the flagship. Purdue is a land-grant.

Most of us don't know or care what the difference is. DP

Flagship is more prestigious.

Way too sweeping a statement. You need to add. “maybe” or “in many cases”. UGA is the flagship. GT is better in Engineering and other STEM Ditto UNC and NS State and IU Bloomington and Purdue and UVA and VT and even VCC in some allied health and fine arts area. (yes, it’s true. In some areas VT and even VCU are stronger than UVA. UVA booster needs to stop hyperventilating). Berkeley is CA’s unofficial flagship, and I know a decent percentage of DCUM views UCLA as more prestigious in some programs. Another UCs are best in niche areas. Similarly Pitt and Penn State (although Pitt falls into an odd, quasi public category).

[Anonymous]

I really believe that Health is Wealth. I used to care about selective school shit, but I don't anymore. I have two boys who were hit a bit hard by covid lockdown (like everyone .. mine lost middle school years, stuck in NYC apartment) and were hit a bit hard by crazy expectations from environment (1500 SAT score should be retaken. etc). Again like everyone.

I think guys need to build good relationships in these years. It's much harder to do that later. Find a place where you can do that. Don't worry about the rest. We all know people who went to No Name College and are hugely successful. We also know men who have zero adult friends.

Take care of yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

half the class at these schools are on FA. if you want rich people, go a step down where there's no FA.

[Anonymous]

People won’t say it but it proximity to wealthy people which is why legacy admits will never go away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An obvious allure is that if your family makes say $100,000 you can attend most of the top schools for free or nearly free. No idea what your state "land-grant" school might offer...perhaps the same because of the statspeop you have to attend one of the top schools (??). BTW...only on DCUM does anybody refer to schools as land-grant.

Well, yeah, I referred to it that way so people could see where I'm coming from. I give the name of the school if someone asks in real life, but the details aren't important here.

I guess...except you said is it a financial thing where people are trying to make the highest $$$s possible...not a financial thing where maybe your entire college is free. Does land-grant = flagship?

No, land-grant ≠ flagship. For example, in Indiana, Indiana is the flagship. Purdue is a land-grant.

Most of us don't know or care what the difference is. DP

Flagship is more prestigious.

Way too sweeping a statement. You need to add. “maybe” or “in many cases”. UGA is the flagship. GT is better in Engineering and other STEM Ditto UNC and NS State and IU Bloomington and Purdue and UVA and VT and even VCC in some allied health and fine arts area. (yes, it’s true. In some areas VT and even VCU are stronger than UVA. UVA booster needs to stop hyperventilating). Berkeley is CA’s unofficial flagship, and I know a decent percentage of DCUM views UCLA as more prestigious in some programs. Another UCs are best in niche areas. Similarly Pitt and Penn State (although Pitt falls into an odd, quasi public category).

So, I went to Rose-Hulman, so I can really only speak to IU/Purdue, but overall, IU is still more prestigious than Purdue. I have tons of engineering friends who went there, and it's really funny how people condescend even though Purdue's ranked incredibly high in engineering programs.

[Anonymous]

1. Be able to work and bond with students of similar passion and motivation.
2. Be exposed to a lot of opportunities (especially on per capita basis) that the school provides.
3. Prestige and the benefits it leads to in the job market and elsewhere (for example if you found a startup and need funding).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

No. Just the prestige. You can get there rest at a hundred other colleges too.

Ignorance is bliss.

DP. Not ignorant. I went to Midwest state flagship and am more successful than many who went to these schools. It is just the prestige as far as I can see.

What are you basing this on though? There is zero question grads of these elite institutions continue to be over represented in higher levels of business, government, and culture in our society. So the fact that you've done better than 5 people you know who went to one of these schools doesn't really mean diddly.

Not PP, but I would say that the grads of these elite institutions will do well no matter where they went because they are more than likely to have come from families of wealth and connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really believe that Health is Wealth. I used to care about selective school shit, but I don't anymore. I have two boys who were hit a bit hard by covid lockdown (like everyone .. mine lost middle school years, stuck in NYC apartment) and were hit a bit hard by crazy expectations from environment (1500 SAT score should be retaken. etc). Again like everyone.

I think guys need to build good relationships in these years. It's much harder to do that later. Find a place where you can do that. Don't worry about the rest. We all know people who went to No Name College and are hugely successful. We also know men who have zero adult friends.

Take care of yourself.

Agreed, so many mental health issues in the Gen Zs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

Is this that attractive, though? We're not wealthy ($250k HHI), but upper middle class is good enough to let us do the things we want. Are there that many people honestly wanting more? Seems stressful.

Have you been on this website long?

+10000. Are you truly baffled that different people like different things?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To compete with the best & brightest & most highly motivated.

To get a shot at the best jobs & internships.

Prestige.

Money.

Exposure to a more diverse group of peers.

To broaden one's knowledge & experience beyond that available at the in-state flagship.

To expand one's thinking & appreciation of differences.

No. Just the prestige. You can get there rest at a hundred other colleges too.

Ignorance is bliss.

DP. Not ignorant. I went to Midwest state flagship and am more successful than many who went to these schools. It is just the prestige as far as I can see.

I am sure there are many that went to those schools that are way more successful than you (considering, you likely don't have the last name of Bezos, Musk, Gates...although is this Warren Buffet on DCUM?). What is the median income of your Midwest state flagship after 10 years, 20 years, 40 years...is it the same or better than the elite schools (even accounting for the inherited wealth of elite grads)?

I think the OP’s point is that it seems like once you get past a certain point in income, and you are reasonably comfortable, the impact of increases in income level off. So, what’s the big deal about making $800k vs $200k, when you probably would be just fine on $150k?

This makes a lot more sense if you live in a place where a nice house is $300k & anybody showing off an expensive watch (even at a country club) would be considered a jerk AND a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

Is this that attractive, though? We're not wealthy ($250k HHI), but upper middle class is good enough to let us do the things we want. Are there that many people honestly wanting more? Seems stressful.

You’re showing your Midwest roots. Most on this board do not regard 250k as UMC, at all.

What you think doesn't matter.

It does actually. All our opinions count. Mostly bc you’re too gosh darn Midwest naive to figure out the merits of an elite education. Bless you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get to be around rich people. I went to a selective college as a middle class kid. I got a good education, but I could have gotten that at my state school. The biggest thing I got was marrying into money.

Is this that attractive, though? We're not wealthy ($250k HHI), but upper middle class is good enough to let us do the things we want. Are there that many people honestly wanting more? Seems stressful.

Have you been on this website long?

+10000. Are you truly baffled that different people like different things?

Just think it's strange to put so much emphasis on attaining something you likely won't that you ignore perfectly good alternatives. I'm curious why people do. I am baffled by people, yes, but I like learning about what makes them tick.