Reply to Penn Quaker Days

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Penn Quaker Days"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Don’t you think all the Ivy League and top colleges are like this, though? The kids largely got there through… striving! If you want a friendlier yet so less smart environment, that’s a large state school. [/quote]

no such thing as friendlier place/environment.  kids will be fighting/competing with peers for jobs, clubs, etc [/quote]

+1 There is more competition at large publics with fewer research spots per capita, less money for undergrad summer support and funding, and large classes at least the first year making it hard to get to know professors. Only the very top students get to work with professors or be TAs. 
It is much easier to be in a smaller school with big endowments allowing opportunities for every undergrad who wants them, and small classes allowing every student to find at least one professor to get to know well. Most prestigious summer opportunities available after freshman or sophomore year depend on LOR from professors. Those are easy to get when classes are smaller from the start.
The conversation about cutthroat and competitive does not apply to elite/ivy as much as it does to UCB, Michigan, GT other top flagships. There is a large group striving for top careers at the top publics yet one has to be top 25% to have a shot at getting into any MD, law, phd program, top 5% if you want a top grad program. There are not enough resources for all of the students who want MD/law/phD/top jobs. The clubs are more competitive at these places than ivies, and are needed more because there are not top firms recruiting on campus for all students regardless of club membership.
 
At lower ranked publics the percent of the student body aiming for top careers is smaller than at the top 5-6 publics, yet the resources are often similar at a Clemson, NCSU, UCSB compared to top publics. However now the opposite problem applies; the student who has high goals is one of the only ones who does, they struggle to meet peers with the same goals. They can easily get dragged down by the common thread that no one makes it to med school just aim for something easier in the health sciences but not a doctor, no one does research on the side, why would you want to stay in school for a phD? Their big dreams will be diluted by a sea of low-aspiration peers. 
For top students, being in an environment where almost all of your peers want MD, law, top IB/consulting, phd, is invigorating: there are resources for all and the school's reputations are such that almost all of them get it, as they hear each year when senior friends are getting multiple acceptances. It is much easier mentally to stick with a goal when you have seen many peers reach that goal, and even have data from your school indicating that goal is easily achievable for your average GPA. The difficulty in these elite/ivy settings is realizing the goal is MD anywhere in the US not a T5 med. Don't get sucked into chasing the very top when for most MDs the med school does not matter at all. Likewise T5 vs T14 law is not a significant difference for most law jobs. T14 or 3-5 slots just outside T14 happens for average students at elites; it is an achievable goal to focus on.

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics