Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 not all kids feel the pressure.

Average at top 10. I would hate for my kid to go to a lesser school and have more pressure to perform there. If they get a few bad grades at a top school they will be fine. If they are at a lesser school there is no guarantee they will be at the top, no matter how smart they are, so if something goes wrong, it is a bigger issue.

Also, going to the top school they are theoretically surrounded by smarter kids (I know it doesn't always work that way). And this will be their friends and network for life.

For most schools, the hardest part is getting in. Go to the best school you get into (where you are happy and comfortable, which is a big deal also), particularly if you know you got in for your smarts and not because you are hooked.

^keeping it really, the 3.9X kids have much more prestigious paid summer internships

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.

Average at a top 10 is 3.7-3.85 GPA. These students still get in to med school and law school(even T14), and we know multiple engineering sophomores at a top10 who have around a 3.5 which is just below average there and they have paid internships secured for the summer. This elite school has data by gpa for many paths and even the lower kids have great outcomes. Part is because the professors’ connections are more likely to be at peer schools. The speakers the school brings in are from similarly ranked big name prestigious schools or from FAANG or hot new startups. The connection factors are why you go to a top school. If the kid is a 1500 average type ivy kid there is no guarantee they would be top5% at the lesser school anyway, and unless they are in a specific program that has access to a better network and summer funds(ie morehead-cain scholars) it is not likely worth the gamble