Reply to What really differentiates HYPSM from other elite schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There are a lot of threads in this forum that tout HYPSM and denigrate other elite schools as “Ivy rejects,” much to the protest of parents and students at other elite schools. What’s going on here?

First, it’s not about smarts. Every school among the Top 25 universities and Top 15 liberal arts colleges have a very  similar academic profile.

It is about two other variables:

1) dispositional intensity - HYPSM are looking for hyper-driven, highly competitive people who believe that worldly success/legacy is existential. Other elite schools, particularly those outside the NE, are looking for more balanced students that value Midwestern Southern or non-tech/SV Western values of hospitality, humility, and enjoyment of life.

2) regional cultural differences - HYPSM 
draws heavily from the Northeast, elite private high schools and global strivers. Amongst these groups, prestige awareness and achievement stacking is essential for external validation. For other elite schools that draw heavily from the South, Midwest, or non-tech West, ambition is more subtle, relational and not existential.

When the Ivy-or-bust group deride your kid’s choice as an “Ivy reject,” what they’re really saying is that you’re soft, not hardcore, like them. They want to be a Supreme Court justice; you want to be a local trust and estate lawyer. They want to create Facebook; you want to work at Facebook and get a stock grant.

While many would be tempted to applaud the world-changing desire of HYPSM, I’m not always impressed. First, much of what’s counted as an “advancement” is just incremental improvements on existing human habits. Second, much of this worldly success is privatized (think hedge funds and their ilk). Third, in the worst cases, crazy ambition leads to the breaking of social and institutional norms where society shoulders the consequences. In contrast, hometown doctors, lawyers, educators, and small business leaders almost always benefit their communities.

Only you and your kid can decide what’s right for them. Not all smart kids belong at or will thrive at HPYSM. And, that’s a good thing. If everyone in society acted like the most ambitious, we’d kill each other for scraps.

[/quote]

Cause it’s typical ribbing. Like buying from designer brands with status and legacy. Really not worth taking it so seriously. I went to a “lesser Ivy” - if you ask some - and there are billionaires and policy wonks and yoga teachers and baristas and all sorts from my class. As there are from all sorts of schools. And people have all sorts of outcomes and better fits. There’s status and branding value and networks and often a sense of auto credential of smart and capable on resume - but it’s not any sort of end all and be all. [/quote]

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