ARE elite colleges worth all the stress and striving and scandal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No they’re not.

My workplace is filled with people who went to all sorts of colleges. Everywhere from Harvard and Yale to Baylor to Albion College. We all got to the same place, doing the same job.

I’m not saying going to a community college is the same as going to MIT, but freaking out if you don’t get into an Ivy League school is absolutely asinine.

Yep. I remember starting at my workplace and saying to my husband how intimidated I was by all of the people that went to Ivies. He noted that we worked side by side and if I came from. a lesser school, that says a lot about my motivation, skills, etc. because they did not hire me for my school name. I think it can be a harder from a school that is not elite, but as time goes on, I think school names will be less and less important.

Yeah, but the made a higher salary than you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite colleges have gotten a black eye this past week or so, but it basically confirms what many people already assumed: Money talks. Also, the recruited athlete hook is rife with abuse as these schools give coaches way too little oversight on the types of students they recruit, i.e., many aren't very good students at all. Coupled with the fact that many parents buy their childrens' way in through legal means (being full pay, big donations, being a VIP, etc.) make these "elite" schools less desirable, at least in my eyes.

No, "many" parents do not buy their kids' admission. This happens but is a rare exception. Full pay does not do much at elite schools.

[Anonymous]

"Are elite colleges worth all the stress and striving and scandal?"

I spent some time with a bunch of net price calculators today.

For us, YES, the elite colleges with $6 to $26 billion dollar endowments suggest they will provide greater financial aid than the colleges that are ranked just barely lower but have only $1-$2 billion dollar endowments.

Sorry CalTech, HYPSM have pay for 3 years get 1 one year free deals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Selective colleges are worth it for extremely bright people who are unlikely to meet equally bright people anywhere else, and for other bright people who love learning alongside other people who like learning.

For kids who aren’t that bright or aren’t that interested in learning, going to an elite school is pointless. Those kids miss out on great keggers at less selective schools and crowd out kids who would have a lot of fun meeting the general education requirements.

Parents who jam kids into those schools are ruining both their own kids’ lives and the lives of the kids who really need those schools.

Except that due to rising college costs, many extremely bright people are at schools that are now selective but didn't used to be. UMD-CP Honors College, for example, is heavily populated by Blair math/science magnet graduates - half the class each year matriculates at UMD, and it's not because they are not qualified to attend elite schools.

If this is true, then forward-looking parents who want their kids to rub shoulders with the best kids ought to be sending them
to the University of Maryland College Park, not Tufts.

Maybe Cal Tech, Princeton and Harvard will still get a lot of rocket scientist sharks because they have such great aid, but the extracurricular requirements the Top 30 schools are setting effectively shut out bright, dreamy kids who are reading, writing and creating on their own. Those are great kids, and they’re going to be flowing to the state flagships. The schools ranked about 8 through 30 looks as if they’re on track to enroll rich kids plus obedient little admissions robots who think they’re all going to be tech company founder billionaires. They’re planting the seeds for their own decay.

Do you understand that money is an issue for most people?