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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Not that I am ancient, but back in the day, most of the kids in my HS went to college.  A few to Ivy's, many to state schools, some went to community college first.   Couple of guys joined the military, but not many.  Very little in the way of school rankings.  Someone went to Harvard, wished them luck, no reason for a 21 gun salute.  Personally, I eventually went to graduate business school.  Not a huge deal-filled out the application, took the GMAT, wrote an essay, and got two recommendation.

Flash forward to today with a teenager a couple of years away from college.  It's totally nuts.  Everything is a ranking, brag piece, listing, etc.  Everyone is paranoid that if their child does not go to a great school, they will become road kill in the global economy.  Apply for an MBA?  Interview after interview, three or four essays, and you have to talk about your plans for solving world hunger.  It's as if there is an entire industry around how to game the system.  Want to go to a good school?  Your child has to play in the band, volunteer at a soup kitchen, take a picture with a starving third world baby, earn three varsity letters, etc.  I hear some of the kids in HS talk about building their "brand".  I hear colleges call themselves "brands".

How do you stay out of the craziness?  I don't think my kid would be a good fit for a hyper-competitive environment like Duke or Virginia.  She needs a smaller environment where everyone knows each other and is supportive.  She is already concerned about drugs and sex in college.  Can't a kid find a school good for THEM, without all the dumb-assed rankings.  A place where not everyone is trying to party, have sex until their brains fall out, and drink?  What is a parent to do.  Also, I can understand that the Ivy's, MIT, and Stanford are considered a cut above the rest, but how can US News or anyone say there is a difference between the #26 and #42 schools in the country.  We live in a country of 310 million and a world of almost 7 billion.  Are there only 60 or 70 schools in the US that can freaking teach Shakespeare or how to do debits and credits or design a bridge.  It sounds like hair splitting to me yet people agonize over the smallest change in the ranking as if the world moved.  Can anyone really find any difference between something like psychology department #4 and #11?[/quote]

Are you sure you aren't me?  [/quote]

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