Didn’t get into HYPSH but want the connections? Join a traditionally Ivy League frat like Alpha Delta Phi or St. Anthony’s Hall. Get a masters at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. With a Fletcher degree you can join the Harvard Club.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Harvard for undergrad (hated) and Stanford for grad (loved the west coast vibe). For my child who leans artsy, Harvard wouldn't be a good fit. Brown could be a dream. I need to learn about LAC.

I’m curious: What in particular didn’t you like?

Hate is a strong word, but I definitely wasn't happy. There were so many strange birds around me! I was convinced I made the wrong decision. Classes were top notch, but I did not make good use of my time there in terms of personally connecting with faculty or being inspired by anyone. I am not blaming Harvard for that.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Harvard for undergrad (hated) and Stanford for grad (loved the west coast vibe). For my child who leans artsy, Harvard wouldn't be a good fit. Brown could be a dream. I need to learn about LAC.

I’m curious: What in particular didn’t you like?

Earnest answer: absolutely yes, but probably largely because I'm an immigrant whose family came here with no wealth or connections, so while it may not be fair or logical, whatever cachet some people ascribe to the school name did help open up opportunities that would have been much less accessible to me otherwise. It mainly works for the first couple of years out of school, but getting someone to give you that first opportunity is usually the biggest challenge.

As one small example: I ended up working for a place that recruits heavily from a small number of feeder schools (including all of HYPSM). It's absolutely possible to get hired from other schools not on the "feeder school" list, but you either need a connection/referral or do a ton of extra networking. I didn't even know about the existence of this industry coming out of HS, so there's just no way it would have happened if I had gone to a less "prestigious" school. This is the same story for many of my college friends with similar immigrant and/or middle-class backgrounds who got jobs in i-banking, consulting, and tech.

If my kid got in to any of the 5 schools, I'd certainly recommend they attend it (or a school of similar reputation) as long as their interests aligned even moderately with the school's strengths. But I hope my kids have more "breathing space" in the sense that we have better resources, social networks, knowledge, etc. to help them than my parents did, and therefore they'll have more paths to success in life even if they don't win the college lottery.

I went to Harvard for undergrad (hated) and Stanford for grad (loved the west coast vibe). For my child who leans artsy, Harvard wouldn't be a good fit. Brown could be a dream. I need to learn about LAC.

That is just how people think in general. M is not for the faint of heart.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Replace the H with M or maybe S and I think you have it right. Plenty at HYP could not hack it at M...including mine!

Curious to know if you are from M, and that's how M people think about H in general.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Holy insufferable. I know a great kid heading for H...please tell me it is not full of people that are writing crap like the above post.

It is and that’s why I went to Yale. seriously , the Harvard kids were so smug and self congratulatory. Yale kids more quirky. Came down to that. And yes, it’s given me a lot of advantages. People see the degree and automatically assume you’re smart and competent.

So amusing that you think you aren’t as smug and insufferable as people from Harvard.

HSYPM grad. Became a physician. Everybody i personally knew applying back then at my particular college got into an american medical school! And as a group, we were far from straight A students. The cachet those schools have in, at least, med school admission is remarkable. The downsides: sciences classes were HARD, with very high expectations; you're competing with the smartest kids in the country, if not the world; premed attrition was VERY high....I'd say maybe 2-3/10 students who started college intending to apply to medical school actually did.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Replace the H with M or maybe S and I think you have it right. Plenty at HYP could not hack it at M...including mine!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Holy insufferable. I know a great kid heading for H...please tell me it is not full of people that are writing crap like the above post.

It is and that’s why I went to Yale. seriously , the Harvard kids were so smug and self congratulatory. Yale kids more quirky. Came down to that. And yes, it’s given me a lot of advantages. People see the degree and automatically assume you’re smart and competent.

This kid is a serious science geek and not like that. Hope they will be happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Holy insufferable. I know a great kid heading for H...please tell me it is not full of people that are writing crap like the above post.

You already know it is and can’t wait for that kid to be one of them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.

Holy insufferable. I know a great kid heading for H...please tell me it is not full of people that are writing crap like the above post.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I kind of feel like it should be HSYPM now, not HYPSM.

I think it should be just HSM. HSM shows up in the top 5 of most global rankings and contribute the most to academia in the US (+ Berkeley). Y and P are closer to Columbia and Caltech, the next rung of schools, more so than they are to HSM.

H is by itself, if you have to split the 5. SM are one rung down closer to the rest, can't match the perceived and real power H yields in the world.