Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:The Ivies will always be special, they can't be surpassed -- there is no substitute for HUNDREDS of years of history and traditions. Especially now with every kid going to college and basically all universities being over-enrolled degree mills with no unique identity. Colleges are simply cookie-cutter homogenized businesses at this point, while Ivies remain a truly unique niche brand -- and keep small enrollment sizes and hyper-selectivity. No amount of money can replicate what the Ivies offer. Think about it, what would it take to try and "make" even a lower Ivy? Not that this sort of money realistically even exists, but say Jeff Bezos hypothetically doubled Vanderbilt's ($10bn to $20bn) or Williams' ($4bn to $8bn) endowments, are they suddenly Ivy tier in a few years? No, they're not.
The Ivy’s HAD unique identities. Now they are degree mills for students selected for any number of attributes (legacy, development case, First Gen, URM, athletic recruits) none of which have anything to do with academics. Why do they love test optional? Because it increases their application numbers and makes them look “selective” while they continue their social experiment without anyone questioning the qualifications of the students they are admitting. Everyone knows that
Ivy students can coast once they get in. There are dozens of fine universities that have admission stats that are effectively the same as the Ivy’s that do a much better job of educating undergraduates. The bloom is off these schools and this is just the beginning.