Elite Colleges Seem Like A Rat Race to Nowhere

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, W&M, BC, Wake Forest, to name a few.

At our BC tour, the students mentioned “applying” for clubs and that it was competitive. I was really surprised.

BC clubs are the basis for a lot of their social life since there are no sororities or fraternities. Club admission is competitive and a lot of your social standing has to do with your club affiliation.

So it's basically the Greek system in disguise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, W&M, BC, Wake Forest, to name a few.

At our BC tour, the students mentioned “applying” for clubs and that it was competitive. I was really surprised.

All the clubs or just some?

https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/campus-life/student-organizations.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

High school kids need to know this so they can stop freaking out about 'needing' to get into an elite college.

No, you're totally wrong. High schoolers don't "need to know" anything except for the fact that the world is a cold, competitive place. I'd much rather have my kids go to a competitive "sink or swim" school like Columbia or UC Berkeley or UCLA so they get used to self-advocacy and develop grit and resilience after rejection and failure. Sending them to some coddling SLAC like Wesleyan where students spend their freshmen summer reading obscure literature for fun when they really should be doing a tech/finance internship or getting research experience for grad school does them no favors.

Life is a difficult, competitive grind. College is a great place to learn this.

That's fine for an elite school like Yale. Columbia is a mid school barely ranked #20. Who wants to pay $82K for that especially when student morale is so low there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

High school kids need to know this so they can stop freaking out about 'needing' to get into an elite college.

No, you're totally wrong. High schoolers don't "need to know" anything except for the fact that the world is a cold, competitive place. I'd much rather have my kids go to a competitive "sink or swim" school like Columbia or UC Berkeley or UCLA so they get used to self-advocacy and develop grit and resilience after rejection and failure. Sending them to some coddling SLAC like Wesleyan where students spend their freshmen summer reading obscure literature for fun when they really should be doing a tech/finance internship or getting research experience for grad school does them no favors.

Life is a difficult, competitive grind. College is a great place to learn this.

So you're saying kids should be upset about getting rejected from elite colleges b/c they'll lose a great opportunity to learn about rejection?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

Can you name these school, PPs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

Can you name these school, PPs?

University of Rochester

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

High school kids need to know this so they can stop freaking out about 'needing' to get into an elite college.

No, you're totally wrong. High schoolers don't "need to know" anything except for the fact that the world is a cold, competitive place. I'd much rather have my kids go to a competitive "sink or swim" school like Columbia or UC Berkeley or UCLA so they get used to self-advocacy and develop grit and resilience after rejection and failure. Sending them to some coddling SLAC like Wesleyan where students spend their freshmen summer reading obscure literature for fun when they really should be doing a tech/finance internship or getting research experience for grad school does them no favors.

Life is a difficult, competitive grind. College is a great place to learn this.

I feel so bad for your kid. And you, later in life, when they never want to visit you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tend to agree. Went to one of these elite schools and now DS is at a laid back SLAC. Certainly would have gone to one of them if it were possible (who turns that down?) but I think he’s better off psychologically and otherwise. It’s like ten thousand type AAA people driving each other crazy.

While it stung at the time, not getting into the ivies I applied to was a blessing in disguise. I wound up at a school just a step below that craziness and I had an amazing time-great education but not as cutthroat.

That's what I see currently. My kid is at a school just below, where most kids applied to several T25 schools and many were waitlisted or spring start or transfer fall of sophomore year offers at at least one. The school is much less cut throat, the kids are happy, work hard and genuinely like to learn--at end of freshman year two of my kids friends were seriously discussing what books they planned to read over the summer during some down time (and they were challenging, thought provoking books). IMO, my kid is in a better place for them than if they'd made it into their T10 choice or the T25 WL choice.

Can you name these school, PPs?

University of Rochester

Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't read the article (paywall) but is Georgetown mentioned? They're very selective with the Corp and GUFCU, even more so than a generation ago.

What are the clubs? Acronyms don’t mean much for those of us not affiliated with Georgetown. Thanks!

Georgetown University Federal Credit Union

Doesn't exist.

I think this was intended as a joke