[dabigv13]

Same. I think we really need to stop glorifying pretigious colleges. I'm glad I went to Stanford, but I don't think my life would have been a failure if I went to a less competitive school.

The obsession with elite colleges wasn't healthy when I was in HS and I'm sure it's worse now. These stories only promote the narrative of how important selective schools are, and probably stir up a lot of resentment in people who think they should have gotten in.

But I'm sure the stories get lots of clicks because people are interested in college admissions since it's something many American families go through, and there are hot button lenses to view these stories through, particularly race.

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=16747.msg191287#msg191287 date=1491502775]
[quote author=dabigv link=topic=16747.msg191286#msg191286 date=1491502128]
Our school newspaper and local paper did stories on kids who got into Ivy's. Definitely does seem like these national stories are much more frequent of late, but I doubt it's the kids promoting themselves.

I think media consumers like reading these stories, probably for a variety of reasons, and CNN et al don't mind writing them.

When I think about it, it's hard to argue about kids being given attention to which colleges offers them and which offers they accept for academic reasons.  I mean, we pay a lot of attention here to which high schoolers pick which colleges for athletic reasons (which yes, may also have some academic bearing too).  It'd be great if they had a signing date and TV exposure for, say, the National Merit Top 300 too.
[/quote]

Personally I'd rather a lot less attention be paid to both those things.
[/quote]

[dabigv13]

Same. I think we really need to stop glorifying pretigious colleges. I'm glad I went to Stanford, but I don't think my life would have been a failure if I went to a less competitive school.

The obsession with elite colleges wasn't healthy when I was in HS and I'm sure it's worse now. These stories only promote the narrative of how important selective schools are, and probably stir up a lot of resentment in people who think they should have gotten in.

But I'm sure the stories get lots of clicks because people are interested in college admissions since it's something many American families go through, and there are hot button lenses to view these stories through, particularly race.

[quote author=French Rage link=topic=16747.msg191287#msg191287 date=1491502775]
[quote author=dabigv link=topic=16747.msg191286#msg191286 date=1491502128]
Our school newspaper and local paper did stories on kids who got into Ivy's. Definitely does seem like these national stories are much more frequent of late, but I doubt it's the kids promoting themselves.

I think media consumers like reading these stories, probably for a variety of reasons, and CNN et al don't mind writing them.

When I think about it, it's hard to argue about kids being given attention to which colleges offers them and which offers they accept for academic reasons.  I mean, we pay a lot of attention here to which high schoolers pick which colleges for athletic reasons (which yes, may also have some academic bearing too).  It'd be great if they had a signing date and TV exposure for, say, the National Merit Top 300 too.
[/quote]

Personally I'd rather a lot less attention be paid to both those things.
[/quote]