Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:57     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You don’t get this from college, OP. These manners are cultivated over an entire childhood at home, by parents.


+1
And looking at a place like Columbia - it’s quite clear many of those students have had zero grounding in poise, class, or manners.


It’s not completely fair to paint Columbia by one brush, I’m sure the SEC schools, for example, wouldn’t like to be whittled down to their less than desirable contingent.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:53     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:You don’t get this from college, OP. These manners are cultivated over an entire childhood at home, by parents.


+1
And looking at a place like Columbia - it’s quite clear many of those students have had zero grounding in poise, class, or manners.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:29     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


Oh brother. They're the poor kids who get free or reduced tuition.


You’re gross.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:27     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


Oh brother. They're the poor kids who get free or reduced tuition.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:22     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
I've had the feeling that most of our tour guides have been work-study. A couple even mentioned it. It's been interesting since my kids are volunteer tour guides for their private HS, hopefully it makes them better.

I don't know how you can judge a most polished college. What are your criteria? 'Polish' is learned over a lifetime not quickly or magically when you start to attend a specific college. Are you asking which colleges attract the most polished students?


Agree it is a learning process!
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 14:15     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Emory, Rice, UChicago. Places with a lot of intellectuals.


Intellectuals tend to be too focused on their intellectual obsessions to worry about being polished. They’re the “nerds” and “geeks” from high school. They’re more interested in libraries and labs than exclusive spaces.


+1. I want the opposite guidance as OP. My intellectually motivated student wants to meet other people interested in libraries and labs rather than the social climbers. But often, these two types of students (the intellectuals and the climbers) do inhabit the same top universities, so I don't think it will be hard for either type to find their people.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 13:44     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


we had the weirdest, most bro guide at ND who said, "Kids here know how to speak to people, shake a hand. Go to a place like Stanford and you'll see: those kids don't. People here had the option of Havard or MIT or Stanford, but they came here because they know what's important."

wtf


sounds like a bitter Stanford reject, and I agree this never reflects well on the person doing it
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 13:31     Subject: College with most polished students

I've had the feeling that most of our tour guides have been work-study. A couple even mentioned it. It's been interesting since my kids are volunteer tour guides for their private HS, hopefully it makes them better.

I don't know how you can judge a most polished college. What are your criteria? 'Polish' is learned over a lifetime not quickly or magically when you start to attend a specific college. Are you asking which colleges attract the most polished students?
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:56     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


we had the weirdest, most bro guide at ND who said, "Kids here know how to speak to people, shake a hand. Go to a place like Stanford and you'll see: those kids don't. People here had the option of Havard or MIT or Stanford, but they came here because they know what's important."

wtf


I went to Harvard. I doubt we looked or behaved much differently than ND kids. However, I went to several frat parties at MIT, and...yeah. Many of those guys struggled socially. It was sometimes cute or charming, but the MIT kids were not, on the whole, a socially savvy bunch.


whatever. there's nothing LESS socially presentation than bashing other school's students on your tour. Three kids and I've toured a lot of schools, and that was the other tour where the guide actually called out another college. That's the opposite of polished IMO
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:54     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Ivies have brought in many FGLI students who are not polished. It's no fault of their own but they skew the class now.


Not so sure about that. Many LI kids are trust fund babies where their parents are extremely low income, no asset, and waiting for grandparents to die to get the inheritance. They are polished.


That doesn't sound very polished.


Just saying. People are abusing the system by faking a lot of things. These fgli often went to private high schools.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:51     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


we had the weirdest, most bro guide at ND who said, "Kids here know how to speak to people, shake a hand. Go to a place like Stanford and you'll see: those kids don't. People here had the option of Havard or MIT or Stanford, but they came here because they know what's important."

wtf


I went to Harvard. I doubt we looked or behaved much differently than ND kids. However, I went to several frat parties at MIT, and...yeah. Many of those guys struggled socially. It was sometimes cute or charming, but the MIT kids were not, on the whole, a socially savvy bunch.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:43     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


we had the weirdest, most bro guide at ND who said, "Kids here know how to speak to people, shake a hand. Go to a place like Stanford and you'll see: those kids don't. People here had the option of Havard or MIT or Stanford, but they came here because they know what's important."

wtf


Well, they clearly don’t always get it right! I have no allegiance to school, just saying they select. Not all do actually, some use for work-study and other things.
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:43     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:To me polish is having eye contact, strong verbal skills, confidence, etc. Zero to do with income level and doing that post about Ivies rude. I’ve seen plenty of spoiled rich kids that can’t hold a conversation with an adult or make a phone call. FGLI learned those skills young being leaders in their families.


So true
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:40     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


we had the weirdest, most bro guide at ND who said, "Kids here know how to speak to people, shake a hand. Go to a place like Stanford and you'll see: those kids don't. People here had the option of Havard or MIT or Stanford, but they came here because they know what's important."

wtf
Anonymous
Post 07/13/2025 12:34     Subject: College with most polished students
Anonymous wrote:Notre Dame selects strong ambassadors for tours, smart move, not all schools can or do.


All the schools do that or at least try to. Judging by our tour guide at Harvard, they don't always get it right.