[French Rage]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=12288.msg121038#msg121038 date=1434865634]
Knew it was my high school before I even clicked on the link.

Evidently you and I went to the same high school.  (BTW, the school also makes an appearance in another Cardboard thread: http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=11732.  Neither one is a particularly positive story.)

A nice response to this latest story is at http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/21/pf/colle...index.html (written by a high school friend of my sister).
[/quote]

It doesn't feel like it was that crazy when I was there (class of 2000).  But maybe it also comes down to family pressure.  Don't get me wrong, my parents wanted me to make the best of my situation, but there never any specific expectations as far as colleges went.  All these years later, though, the whole process is a blur.  You write a bunch of essays and compile recommendations and spend a few months doing all of those things, and then at the end you get your results, but in the meantime honestly it's hard to get a feel for whether you're doing it right or not.  It's worth it when it's all over, but the whole idea of these pieces of paper you send in having such a big influence on your future is a little much for a 17 year old when you think about it.

That said, as others have explained much better, what you put into your college experience is much more important than where you do it.  You can get into Harvard or Stanford and half-ass it and maybe eek out a degree, but the degree may be worthless if you didn't learn anything along the way.  Or you could get into brobdingnagian-large-state-school, spend your time taking the best classes you can, doing research, and really get to know your professors and other people who will matter in your career, and can come out of it in a great position.  Now maybe going to the former rather than the latter has more opportunities, yes, but you still have to be smart enough to take them.

Plus, these days, I would say it matters almost as much if not more where you went to grad school than undergrad.  Depending on your profession, you may have had much more of a chance to focus on the classes that matter in grad school, as undergrad has all of its liberal arts or distribution electives that, while useful in the long run, may focus less on what you'll be doing once you enter the workforce.  So even if you don't get into your dream school for undergrad, by making the most of your undergrad years you can be in a much better position when entering grad school; and really, doesn't where you get in when your four years wiser and have had four years to show yourself under more significant circumstances say a little more about you?

Also, no surprise story was originally reports by WaPo.  Not a bad TJ story in existence that WaPo can't wait to get on top of.

[French Rage]

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=12288.msg121038#msg121038 date=1434865634]
Knew it was my high school before I even clicked on the link.

Evidently you and I went to the same high school.  (BTW, the school also makes an appearance in another Cardboard thread: http://thecardboard.org/board/index.php?topic=11732.  Neither one is a particularly positive story.)

A nice response to this latest story is at http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/21/pf/colle...index.html (written by a high school friend of my sister).
[/quote]

It doesn't feel like it was that crazy when I was there (class of 2000).  But maybe it also comes down to family pressure.  Don't get me wrong, my parents wanted me to make the best of my situation, but there never any specific expectations as far as colleges went.  All these years later, though, the whole process is a blur.  You write a bunch of essays and compile recommendations and spend a few months doing all of those things, and then at the end you get your results, but in the meantime honestly it's hard to get a feel for whether you're doing it right or not.  It's worth it when it's all over, but the whole idea of these pieces of paper you send in having such a big influence on your future is a little much for a 17 year old when you think about it.

That said, as others have explained much better, what you put into your college experience is much more important than where you do it.  You can get into Harvard or Stanford and half-ass it and maybe eek out a degree, but the degree may be worthless if you didn't learn anything along the way.  Or you could get into brobdingnagian-large-state-school, spend your time taking the best classes you can, doing research, and really get to know your professors and other people who will matter in your career, and can come out of it in a great position.  Now maybe going to the former rather than the latter has more opportunities, yes, but you still have to be smart enough to take them.

Plus, these days, I would say it matters almost as much if not more where you went to grad school than undergrad.  Depending on your profession, you may have had much more of a chance to focus on the classes that matter in grad school, as undergrad has all of its liberal arts or distribution electives that, while useful in the long run, may focus less on what you'll be doing once you enter the workforce.  So even if you don't get into your dream school for undergrad, by making the most of your undergrad years you can be in a much better position when entering grad school; and really, doesn't where you get in when your four years wiser and have had four years to show yourself under more significant circumstances say a little more about you?

Also, no surprise story was originally reports by WaPo.  Not a bad TJ story in existence that WaPo can't wait to get on top of.