Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 20:02     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane



Think this is a pretty good list.

Have kids at two of these. It's definitely not pressure free. Anyone going to Rice, Vanderbilt, Emory, and USC is grinding. As are the OOS students at UCLA, Michigan, and UIUC.

But they seem to maintain a healthy balance.

Would add Notre Dame and McGill in Montreal.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 19:52     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Case, cmu, tufts
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 19:45     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So no schools in the top 25 or so that are NOT pressure cookers? Really?


By nature of being the top 25, of course they are pressure cookers.


And the mindset of the kids that make it in are not related Ed.

You are looking for a unicorn.
Consider seeking healthy balance instead of prestige for your child. One leads to a more solid foundation.


Hi I would like a universally recognized elite college attracting the highest achievers in the world, and you need perfect grades/scores to even enter the lottery to get in but NO PRESSURE and also NO COMPETITION once there.

Next up, find me a house in perfect condition in a great neighborhood that’s super safe with great schools and short commutes, but UNDER MARKET PRICE.


OP here, and I hear you. Does it hurt to ask?
I don't think it's an inherently insane idea that a good school might also be prestigious, and also not a pressure cooker.


Beware of the opposite: Mid schools that are packed with unhappy, competitive students rejected from T10s.


Yikes which schools are those?
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 19:12     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:So no schools in the top 25 or so that are NOT pressure cookers? Really?


By nature of being the top 25, of course they are pressure cookers.


And the mindset of the kids that make it in are not related Ed.

You are looking for a unicorn.
Consider seeking healthy balance instead of prestige for your child. One leads to a more solid foundation.


Hi I would like a universally recognized elite college attracting the highest achievers in the world, and you need perfect grades/scores to even enter the lottery to get in but NO PRESSURE and also NO COMPETITION once there.

Next up, find me a house in perfect condition in a great neighborhood that’s super safe with great schools and short commutes, but UNDER MARKET PRICE.


OP here, and I hear you. Does it hurt to ask?
I don't think it's an inherently insane idea that a good school might also be prestigious, and also not a pressure cooker.


Beware of the opposite: Mid schools that are packed with unhappy, competitive students rejected from T10s.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 19:09     Subject: Re:nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:I don’t think any of the top schools qualifies for this description any more. Stanford, for instance, has crushed undergraduate fun. Some students and alumni have even started a website about it:

https://stanfordhatesfun.com/

But it’s not just Stanford. Essentially, the top campuses are filled with polarized groups of ambitious hoop-jumpers. That leads to misery. Not to be too grim, but there has been a rise in student deaths in all these schools, and the terrible mental health issues on many of these campuses are well-known.


Sounds legit.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 17:03     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


There is a difference between
extroverted/social (which can also mean bro culture) and not a pressure cooker of academic Type A.
There’s also significant overlap btw those 2 groups.
Not at "prestigious schools," as commonly understood. Those all are pressure cookers--but some also party.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 17:00     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:Schools like Brown that grade by pass/fail--at least in the first year--will be less pressure cooker.


Brown doesn’t do this. MIT does.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 16:57     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


There is a difference between
extroverted/social (which can also mean bro culture) and not a pressure cooker of academic Type A.


There’s also significant overlap btw those 2 groups.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 16:28     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


There is a difference between
extroverted/social (which can also mean bro culture) and not a pressure cooker of academic Type A.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 16:09     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:I hate it when someone says well adjusted. It's so pretentious and cringe.


Huh?

doesn’t bother me.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 15:53     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
I hate it when someone says well adjusted. It's so pretentious and cringe.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 15:45     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
UCLA is a major pressure cooker, as is Berkeley.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 15:26     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


Great list
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 15:04     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


Having attended one of these schools, I can attest that “fun” and “pressure-cooker environment” are by no means mutually exclusive.


And a lot of the heavy drinking is a way of dealing with stress/pressure. Not a great environment to have so many teens coping with stress through alcohol but certainly quite common.
Anonymous
Post 02/12/2024 15:01     Subject: nonpressure cooker/well adjusted yet prestigious schools
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You are living in the 80s, OP. Prestigious schools are now filled with grinders. No one else is getting in. Grinders don’t suddenly become laid back partiers once they arrive at college. Go take a walk around campuses. It is grim.


Of the selective campuses I visited, toured with multiple kids over the last 3 years, these seemed quite fun/social:
UCLA
Rice
Vanderbilt
Dartmouth
Michigan
Emory
UVA
USC
UIUC
Wisco
Wake
Santa Clara
UMiami
Tulane


From my experience I would agree that these are the fun schools. My DC is at one of them. By no means easy. Maybe OP should refine the request… pressure cooker schools that have a release valve.