Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who thinks it’s amusing that OP blithely assumes a very strong applicant will surely come out at the very top of a USC, NYU or actual #30, UT-Austin with its 80,000 undergraduates? Such confidence, OP!

This. People are not just their stats. Believing they are will inevitably lead to failure and disappointment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to be average or low end of a top 10 college or the very top at a lower ranked but still great school? I say the former for college satisfaction and for internships and job prospects after graduation.

The main problem with your question is that you seem to believe that there is a significant difference in the student populations at a T30 vs a T10. That just isn't true. You would likely rank the same at either.

+1

Am I the only one who thinks it’s amusing that OP blithely assumes a very strong applicant will surely come out at the very top of a USC, NYU or actual #30, UT-Austin with its 80,000 undergraduates? Such confidence, OP!

I beg to differ. I was top half to top third at top 5 undergrad and grad and did really really well with grad school apps (from undergrad) and jobs (from grad). I'd say it's better to go to the top program. No one knows how they are going to do in college. How can you assume you'll be the big fish?

Anonymous wrote:All valid points but everyone should know how to be a small fish in a big pond at some point in their lives. Most people will hit their “ceiling” at some point where they’re not the most academically or professionally accomplished person in the room.

Yes, you need to know what it's like, but I do not think college is the time for that. You can get so much more out of college by being big fish in a small pond. You will get the other when you enter the workforce. But even then, it's a choice. You can choose to work at smaller companies and many of us do after starting at large ones. Worked the first 6 years of career at two large companies (one over 200K employees in their heyday). Then transitioned to small companies and never looked back. Working for 200-1500 sized companies is so very different and much more enjoyable. You are more valued and have the opportunity to really make a difference. It's a choice, but many of us make it.

How will you know? I’ve seen smart kids bottom out or get into partying and average kids turn it on and become stellar. My kid is at an Ivy and won departmental award Freshmen year. He didn’t fell stressed - loved the subject…an area he thought he was his weakness. He’s pivoted to that area. He found out he was very prepared for the rigor and was top grade in most of his courses.

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to be average or low end of a top 10 college or the very top at a lower ranked but still great school? I say the former for college satisfaction and for internships and job prospects after graduation.

Doesn’t. Effing. Matter.

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to be average or low end of a top 10 college or the very top at a lower ranked but still great school? I say the former for college satisfaction and for internships and job prospects after graduation.

The main problem with your question is that you seem to believe that there is a significant difference in the student populations at a T30 vs a T10. That just isn't true. You would likely rank the same at either.

All valid points but everyone should know how to be a small fish in a big pond at some point in their lives. Most people will hit their “ceiling” at some point where they’re not the most academically or professionally accomplished person in the room.

Now I want a bumper sticker that says “always be the fish.”

Gap is small between 10 and 30, so better to be big fish. So tops in 30. But better to be lower half of MIT for engineering than tops at 250th ranked national university.

Anonymous wrote:Always be the fish. Always.

Did you miss an adjective in that statement?

Always be the fish. Always.

Anonymous wrote:Is it better to be average or low end of a top 10 college or the very top at a lower ranked but still great school? I say the former for college satisfaction and for internships and job prospects after graduation.

Always better to be at the top. I know a kid who was the top of the class at Univ of Alabama (in an honors program, I believe) and got accepted to Stanford Law. She did not go to a strong HS and might have struggled, or at least been overshadowed, at a T30.

Is it better to be average or low end of a top 10 college or the very top at a lower ranked but still great school? I say the former for college satisfaction and for internships and job prospects after graduation.