If you were going to college today, where would you go if you could go anywhere?

[Anonymous]

Yes - def. Berkley/Princeton for the Innovative Thinkers (I'm talking about science and tech in particular).

If you follow the research threads culminating in the discoveries and patents that lead to new fields and insights - the frontiers of Science - these four Universities have an unusually high impact. Even if the researcher himself ultimately lands at someplace like Cal Tech or University of Michigan, there is a good chance that they will still have a link to one of these Universities. Of course Cal Tech, Yale and Harvard are all up there, but in terms of the individuals behind the truly cutting edge papers and patents defining the future -the researchers produced by these Universities stand out.

[Anonymous]

I went to Conn College too! What year? But you got me at Harvard law I wanted to go to law school but marriage and babies happened!

Are you from the northeast? I am originally from Greenwich class of 84'.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly?

I would've taken the Honors route at the small (but impressive) regional LA college near my hometown. Instead, I went to a nationally ranked, big school and was totally outclassed, outmoneyed, and outsmarted. It affected my self-confidence for awhile into my 20's and it shouldn't have.

I could've gotten exactly where I am right now without all the heartache.

Can you explain more about what happened/how you felt?

Without getting into too much detail, I'm sure some of it had to do with my immaturity at the age of 18. But it was like jumping from a puddle into the ocean. So much competition just to do anything (I couldn't even make club level, intramural sports teams -- too many great athletes who weren't Div I great but much better than I!), realizing that the math background I had was sorely lacking, being surrounded by girls who were ALL head cheerleaders in HS, ALL thin, ALL HS valedictorians, and could all afford beautiful clothes. I was work-study (because this college didn't offer scholarships) and just felt kind of miserable for the first couple of years there. By my junior year, I had established some friendships and it kind of worked out. Still, I think that taking a full-ride to a smaller school (with some more kids from rural, middle-class backgrounds like me) would have taken some of the overall pressure off of the situation. I ended up going to a state school for grad school, one that I could've gotten in from the smaller undergrad institution and I could've ended up in the same industry.

I'm right there with you. I made a (poor) decision to go to GW. And was miserable. Looking back, I wish I had chosen the tiny all-women's school where I would have been required to spend at least one semester abroad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly?

I would've taken the Honors route at the small (but impressive) regional LA college near my hometown. Instead, I went to a nationally ranked, big school and was totally outclassed, outmoneyed, and outsmarted. It affected my self-confidence for awhile into my 20's and it shouldn't have.

I could've gotten exactly where I am right now without all the heartache.

Can you explain more about what happened/how you felt?

Without getting into too much detail, I'm sure some of it had to do with my immaturity at the age of 18. But it was like jumping from a puddle into the ocean. So much competition just to do anything (I couldn't even make club level, intramural sports teams -- too many great athletes who weren't Div I great but much better than I!), realizing that the math background I had was sorely lacking, being surrounded by girls who were ALL head cheerleaders in HS, ALL thin, ALL HS valedictorians, and could all afford beautiful clothes. I was work-study (because this college didn't offer scholarships) and just felt kind of miserable for the first couple of years there. By my junior year, I had established some friendships and it kind of worked out. Still, I think that taking a full-ride to a smaller school (with some more kids from rural, middle-class backgrounds like me) would have taken some of the overall pressure off of the situation. I ended up going to a state school for grad school, one that I could've gotten in from the smaller undergrad institution and I could've ended up in the same industry.

I have heard this from other middle class Ivy grads. They feel a permanent one-down by the wealth and power at Ivies. So much so that they do not really support their kids going there.

[Anonymous]

I went to college for music. Today that seems crazy -- something only for the very rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale or Stanford. I went to Harvard.

Stanford.

Top academics without the miserable climate AND the best alum network. I think Yale has really slipped.

WTF? I'm pretty sure Yale alums are still getting good jobs.

At one time Yale produced national leaders - now those people are sending their kids to Stanford and other schools. Kids from Stanford and Harvard are innovating and creating booming companies - and Yale?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale or Stanford. I went to Harvard.

Stanford.

Top academics without the miserable climate AND the best alum network. I think Yale has really slipped.

WTF? I'm pretty sure Yale alums are still getting good jobs.

At one time Yale produced national leaders - now those people are sending their kids to Stanford and other schools. Kids from Stanford and Harvard are innovating and creating booming companies - and Yale?

Very true. Yale alums are mostly sifting through the trash, hoping to find a half-eaten burger or a discarded munchkin to sustain them until the soup kitchen opens. Those whose moral compass is the most degraded are attempting to skank out their bodies for a few cents. A few have found employment, but mostly as wank-booth cleaners or data-entry drones in Bangladeshi call centers.

Sad.

[Anonymous]

Smith. Graduated in 98 and would do it all over again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale or Stanford. I went to Harvard.

Stanford.

Top academics without the miserable climate AND the best alum network. I think Yale has really slipped.

WTF? I'm pretty sure Yale alums are still getting good jobs.

At one time Yale produced national leaders - now those people are sending their kids to Stanford and other schools. Kids from Stanford and Harvard are innovating and creating booming companies - and Yale?

Very true. Yale alums are mostly sifting through the trash, hoping to find a half-eaten burger or a discarded munchkin to sustain them until the soup kitchen opens. Those whose moral compass is the most degraded are attempting to skank out their bodies for a few cents. A few have found employment, but mostly as wank-booth cleaners or data-entry drones in Bangladeshi call centers.

Sad.

LOl- love this.

Would go back to Dartmouth again, but would have a touch more fun this time-- was much more serious than the norm there. Most peers really made the most out of having a fun college experience combined with top-flight academics and teaching and really full-on focus on undergrads.

[Anonymous]

Went to Rice and loved it. However, I would have studied abroad for a year instead of just six months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly?

I would've taken the Honors route at the small (but impressive) regional LA college near my hometown. Instead, I went to a nationally ranked, big school and was totally outclassed, outmoneyed, and outsmarted. It affected my self-confidence for awhile into my 20's and it shouldn't have.

I could've gotten exactly where I am right now without all the heartache.

Can you explain more about what happened/how you felt?

Without getting into too much detail, I'm sure some of it had to do with my immaturity at the age of 18. But it was like jumping from a puddle into the ocean. So much competition just to do anything (I couldn't even make club level, intramural sports teams -- too many great athletes who weren't Div I great but much better than I!), realizing that the math background I had was sorely lacking, being surrounded by girls who were ALL head cheerleaders in HS, ALL thin, ALL HS valedictorians, and could all afford beautiful clothes. I was work-study (because this college didn't offer scholarships) and just felt kind of miserable for the first couple of years there. By my junior year, I had established some friendships and it kind of worked out. Still, I think that taking a full-ride to a smaller school (with some more kids from rural, middle-class backgrounds like me) would have taken some of the overall pressure off of the situation. I ended up going to a state school for grad school, one that I could've gotten in from the smaller undergrad institution and I could've ended up in the same industry.

This was me, too, but at a small, pricey private. Wish I could do it over again.

I'll be the third person to agree with this. Mine was also a small, well known private. The students I met there were so laser-focused on their own futures that they would not take any class during the school year or have any experience over the summers that did not aggressively build their resumes. Fun example: one girl stood up in my introductory economics class and said "OMG, I just realized I am in competition with every one of you to get into Yale Law School." Another fun example: I had a medical emergency and lay unconscious in a major thoroughfare of campus for several minutes and no passing student stopped to help.

I went to larger, less prestigious schools for grad programs and I made great friends and made progress toward a profession I love without all that heartache indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale or Stanford. I went to Harvard.

Stanford.

Top academics without the miserable climate AND the best alum network. I think Yale has really slipped.

WTF? I'm pretty sure Yale alums are still getting good jobs.

At one time Yale produced national leaders - now those people are sending their kids to Stanford and other schools. Kids from Stanford and Harvard are innovating and creating booming companies - and Yale?

Very true. Yale alums are mostly sifting through the trash, hoping to find a half-eaten burger or a discarded munchkin to sustain them until the soup kitchen opens. Those whose moral compass is the most degraded are attempting to skank out their bodies for a few cents. A few have found employment, but mostly as wank-booth cleaners or data-entry drones in Bangladeshi call centers.

Sad.

This is really terrific!

[Anonymous]

Oxford, MIT, Duke, and USC, in that order.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would honestly attend where I did, but I won't name the school because it's a state school and not very well-respected on this board. But I had the time of my life.

I'm all for state schools!

Me too! But from the responses on this thread, they're a top choice for...barely any DCUMers.

Me also, but I'll fess up to my alma mater - NC State. It gets hammered by USNWR and I've seen it razzed on this board, but I had a great time!

[Anonymous]

STANFORD.