Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 14:56     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:Can DCUM get over itself? Your kid isn’t too good for Harvard just because you’re obsessed with grandstanding over grade inflation. It’s gonna be a rude awakening when you discover employers don’t give a crap and aren’t obsessed with the grades of these elite institutions.


No one’s even talking about Harvard except you. Maybe try the “Harvard Special Thread,” yeah?
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 14:54     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:Can DCUM get over itself? Your kid isn’t too good for Harvard just because you’re obsessed with grandstanding over grade inflation. It’s gonna be a rude awakening when you discover employers don’t give a crap and aren’t obsessed with the grades of these elite institutions.


You sound salty. Chill—it’s fine. No one’s hiring anyway. Actually, scratch that—everyone’s firing.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 14:47     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Can DCUM get over itself? Your kid isn’t too good for Harvard just because you’re obsessed with grandstanding over grade inflation. It’s gonna be a rude awakening when you discover employers don’t give a crap and aren’t obsessed with the grades of these elite institutions.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 14:40     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:If you are a smart, social kid who isn't into social climbing, Northwestern.
If you are okay with a performative (occasionally exhausting) social climate, Duke.
If you want to go into finance, from a private HS, and wear Patagonia vests and khakis and want to join a frat (even if Asian): UChicago

The others - I'd pass on.


Sorry but the above is so stupid.

Name-calling isn’t an argument. Do you have any counterpoints?
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 14:36     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:If you are a smart, social kid who isn't into social climbing, Northwestern.
If you are okay with a performative (occasionally exhausting) social climate, Duke.
If you want to go into finance, from a private HS, and wear Patagonia vests and khakis and want to join a frat (even if Asian): UChicago

The others - I'd pass on.


Sorry but the above is so stupid.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:58     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:If you are a smart, social kid who isn't into social climbing, Northwestern.
If you are okay with a performative (occasionally exhausting) social climate, Duke.
If you want to go into finance, from a private HS, and wear Patagonia vests and khakis and want to join a frat (even if Asian): UChicago

The others - I'd pass on.

+1
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:55     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I have met several of DC's friends at JHU who are premed. Seem like great kids who have a lot of fun on the weekends.

That’s when they study together.


someone with an axe to grind. it’s ok, your kid can try again for grad school
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:54     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Another thread in which people generalize huge groups of students. OP, every school has a bunch of different “types.”


Sure, but if you visit, you are likely to be able to identify dominant characteristics at these mid-sized universities. For example, JHU & CMU offers very stressful environments. Many kids at CMU rarely look-up as they are engrossed in their electronic devices.



this is some idiotic over generalization. jhu has massive grade inflation and has not been a grinder school for a long long time now


You don't know many pre-med students, do you ?

Regardless, the location is not too good from a safety perspective. Baltimore is neither nice nor safe.



and you have no first experience with most of the schools on the list do you? bmore around campus is fine with charles village. There are also young professional nightlife heavy parts of baltimore like fed hill, canton, fells point, and harbor east.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:51     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
If you are a smart, social kid who isn't into social climbing, Northwestern.
If you are okay with a performative (occasionally exhausting) social climate, Duke.
If you want to go into finance, from a private HS, and wear Patagonia vests and khakis and want to join a frat (even if Asian): UChicago

The others - I'd pass on.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:50     Subject: Re:Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:I have met several of DC's friends at JHU who are premed. Seem like great kids who have a lot of fun on the weekends.

That’s when they study together.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:41     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to send my kid to a pragmatic school with equally ambitious peers — a place where students work hard and play hard (not just coast on grade inflation). Would you say these schools fit that kind of profile better?



You don’t have to look outside ivies. Cornell fits every dimension. Grade deflation. Work hard play hard. Down to earth due to many in-state admits. Any person any study.
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:37     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:Rice is nerdy.


Very
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:35     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Work hard play hard: Penn, Duke, Dartmouth


I’m exploring non-Ivy options because of all the grade inflation and the constant chatter about it — not to mention the reputation for wealthy, overly polished students at the Ivies. I think the ideal balance would be a school with genuinely intellectual and hardworking students, but not ones who are overly nerdy.



Duke has more inflation than ivies by a mile
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:33     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to send my kid to a pragmatic school with equally ambitious peers — a place where students work hard and play hard (not just coast on grade inflation). Would you say these schools fit that kind of profile better?



Over 30% of Duke’s class has a 3.9+. Over 50% have 3.8+. Engineering is only slightly lower. They work hard but there is definitely inflation. They are ambitious, intense and also have time for fun. Northwestern is more academically intense with only slightly lower gpa, still inflated. CMU is far more intense and the lowest grades of the 3. Duke and Northwestern overlap with ivies as far as many premed/finance/engineering/prelaw, intensity and over-involvement outside of classroom and lots of time in the library/less time socializing than 25 yrs ago. They are not at all more “work hard play hard” than most ivies, and GPA is on the high end of ivies, less than all but the highly inflated Brown (40% 4.0)
Anonymous
Post 10/28/2025 13:26     Subject: Would you say that students at CMU, JHU, Northwestern, Duke, or UChicago tend to be more down-to-earth and hardworking?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I’m hoping to send my kid to a pragmatic school with equally ambitious peers — a place where students work hard and play hard (not just coast on grade inflation). Would you say these schools fit that kind of profile better?

There are no schools that are great. There are only great students. Great students are everywhere. Great students are made not by schools but by their families -
- have the money to educate your children and do not neglect and abuse them
- have functional, intact, loving and safe families. don't have more kids than you can give full attention to
- prioritize education of your children
- be very well informed about all the process, curriculum so that you are a source of guidance for your children
- always make sure that your kid has the support of a team of people that can take care of their mental, academic, physical, emotional, social well being. Make sure that they have balanced lifestyle.
- have tangible and achievable goals for them.


I agree with most of your points, except when it comes to the ratio of genuinely ambitious students pursuing realistic goals versus those who are there only because of prestige or helicopter parenting. Our kids are growing up in a completely different economic landscape. I just hope higher education still holds real value in helping my child achieve his goals. I’m tired of seeing people chase prestige for its own sake — a brand name alone doesn’t make someone successful. Money is not the only thing to lead a meaningful life.