Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not focus on the school with the best fit rather than the most prestigious school? Your thinking is flawed.

Is there really a "best" fit? Most well rounded kids would be happy and successful at a lot of different schools. I think this 'best fit' thinking is causing a lot of unnecessary angst for kids. It is best to let them realize that there are many great paths into their future. Not too different from people who never marry because they are waiting for their "one true love" to find them.

USA is probably the only country in the world where people talk about 'college fit'. it's a totally ridiculous concept.

What people outside/new to the US may not understand is that the US has far more colleges than anywhere else with plenty that provide a great education that they might never have heard of. There are far more choices than in other countries and college does not serve the same gatekeeping role that it does elsewhere. You basically can't become a senior government official in France without going to Sciences Po, but there is no equivalent here. And because the pool of academically qualified students for top university spots is so big, they look for seemingly esoteric non-academic factors to sort out their admissions. Being the hardest working, perfect GPA and SAT scoring grind will not guarantee admittance into any of the top colleges here. So everyone needs to consider whether they will really thrive at a number of schools with a range of admission rates. You might think its different and ridiculous, but your opinion doesn't change the reality.

i do think it's completely ridiculous and wasteful and that fact will eventually be reflected inreality. not because what think matter but because the scenario in which young adults in US have a 4 year vacation at the "right college fit" while young adults elsewhere either have an actual education or real jobs is not sustainable. eventually many US universities are going to go bankrupt, top schools will only admit those who can actually benefit from the coursework and the rest will get jobs after high school.

There's a great op-ed in the NYT on this right now. The man who developed the measles, mumps, meningitis, pneumonia, and hepatitis A and B vaccines grew up a farm boy in Montana and was going to take a job with JC Penney when his brother suggested he try to get a scholarship at Montana State. MSU has never had ambitions to be more than the 2nd best school in Montana. But, it provides opportunities for students of all kinds to grow and achieve in greatly unexpected ways. What's wasteful is tossing away the human potential of millions of young people who don't fit a narrow mold and score well on a single test when they are 17 or 18.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/opinion/sunday/university-montana-anniversary-tax.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why not focus on the school with the best fit rather than the most prestigious school? Your thinking is flawed.

Is there really a "best" fit? Most well rounded kids would be happy and successful at a lot of different schools. I think this 'best fit' thinking is causing a lot of unnecessary angst for kids. It is best to let them realize that there are many great paths into their future. Not too different from people who never marry because they are waiting for their "one true love" to find them.

USA is probably the only country in the world where people talk about 'college fit'. it's a totally ridiculous concept.

What people outside/new to the US may not understand is that the US has far more colleges than anywhere else with plenty that provide a great education that they might never have heard of. There are far more choices than in other countries and college does not serve the same gatekeeping role that it does elsewhere. You basically can't become a senior government official in France without going to Sciences Po, but there is no equivalent here. And because the pool of academically qualified students for top university spots is so big, they look for seemingly esoteric non-academic factors to sort out their admissions. Being the hardest working, perfect GPA and SAT scoring grind will not guarantee admittance into any of the top colleges here. So everyone needs to consider whether they will really thrive at a number of schools with a range of admission rates. You might think its different and ridiculous, but your opinion doesn't change the reality.

i do think it's completely ridiculous and wasteful and that fact will eventually be reflected inreality. not because what think matter but because the scenario in which young adults in US have a 4 year vacation at the "right college fit" while young adults elsewhere either have an actual education or real jobs is not sustainable. eventually many US universities are going to go bankrupt, top schools will only admit those who can actually benefit from the coursework and the rest will get jobs after high school.