Turning down Ivies
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Anonymous
It’s true that Michigan has a more exciting sports culture than Cornell. Not going to take the bait about academics being better at one or the other. 🙄 |
Anonymous
Isn't that the donut hole definition? |
Anonymous
2 kids at Ivies. 240k. No FA. |
Anonymous
PP never said Michigan is beneath Cornell academically. Merely stated a preference for a more academic reputation than a sports one |
Anonymous
Smart choice! NW is outstanding for both of those, especially chemistry. And in reality, NW is a very different vibe than Penn or Columbia, so I can see that |
Anonymous
Only those with little in the way of assets. We are at 180k and no aid; full pay here due to assets. |
Anonymous
Very "insightful" observation by someone who seems to know a lot about northwestern. Obvious if PP knows how to spell the name, s/he must know something we don't! Great opportunities for wait listed students. |
Anonymous
I went to Georgetown (a million years ago) and I have to ask: What student gets a full ride to Georgetown and not similar (or better) aid to an Ivy? GU is not known for it's deep pockets. |
Anonymous
Probably doesn't hurt that Providence is cooler too. |
Anonymous
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Realistically, how many top students even confront these decisions? My kids both go to T20 non-Ivy schools. They both got in Early Decision as did a pretty high percentage of their peers. If they hadn't gotten into their ED schools, I'm sure they would have applied to a couple of Ivies but that's neither here nor there for anyone that gets into their ED school.
I'd guess roughly half of the students at Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Rice, Chicago, Williams and Amherst were one and done and never had to make any choice at all. I think a lot of students these days are very strategic about how and where they apply. And a very high percentage will apply ED if they can. Most know that an ED application is wasted at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. So they apply where it makes a difference. And ultimately only those rejected in the ED round will go on to apply to other schools. It follows then that Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are quite likely mostly populated by Duke rejects. |
Anonymous
| We turned down Columbia for Rice. Less drama. |
Anonymous
Dumb. |
Anonymous
Probably an athletic scholarship. |
Anonymous
| Columbia for UVA. |
Anonymous
As a group, Ivies are excellent schools, but there are plenty of technically non-Ivy schools that are equally, if not more, academically rigorous. Additionally, there are schools that excel in particular fields where the Ivies don't have equally strong programs. But also--and I know this fact will come as quite a surprise to some of the most insular amongst us--not everyone can afford to be full pay without putting themselves and/or their parents into potentially unrepayable debt. No school is worth that kind of stress, and while Ivies certainly can lead to other opportunities, they are not the only pathways to them and, more importantly, they are no guarantee of what makes life meaningful. Finally, people's individual circumstances may also factor into these decisions. So absent the details that underlie these choices, which in these cases concern choosing one nationally prestigious school over another, one cannot with any certainty say that such decisions are "dumb" --and I say all of this as someone who refers to USC as the University of Spoiled Children, a reputation that has only further been further reinforced by the Varsity Blues scandal and by the fact that some of its most prominent alums include Klete Keller and Lauren Sanchez--although the previous poster's simplistic assessment of these choices as such reveals that s/he certainly is. |