I can go on and on with this topic. The kids should be pushed to take the highest level classes that they can achieve in, learn in and still have some fun. The approach to take easy classes and get a high GP will backfire.
Hardest Colleges To Get Into for 2023
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this should be the philosophy. As parents, you know whether your kids are A, B, C students and/or AP or Honors or regular students. I think the kids need to learn how to push themselves (while still having fun) so they know what they can achieve if they dedicate themselves.
They'll have easier time at the college because they learn to work hard, be persistent and manage their time.
I see a lot of similar attitudes from students who want to coast in HS and also the parents don't want the kids to get stressed out. The key is to balance.
Agree. They need to challenge themselves as much as possible but I don't think mixing in an easy A here or there is a bad thing.
Not all. He had 5’s on all his AP tests but Caltech still does not give credit even with the score reported by the College Board.
I graduated from a Cedar Rapids high school with a 3.97 and a 32 composite ACT. I toured Stanford, Berkeley, Norte Dame, and more.
I just went to Iowa State because it was inexpensive and I could be a small fish in a big pond of students.
The substantive education you receive is virtually identical pretty much anywhere you go, outside of a few actually terrible schools.
Going to a fancy (read: expensive) college really just provides some connections/networking.
If your goal is to live comfortably in the Midwest, I see zero reason to attend an elite university.
Candidly, I see little value in attending the more expensive private schools here in Iowa.
It depends somewhat on career goals and where you want to end up, but ISU, UNI, and UI are all good enough to get you into the top echelon of job tracks if that’s really your goal. Also… if you aren’t planning on pursuing a marketing/business degree, where those connections are arguably more important, there is very little value add for the more expensive schools.
I really strongly believe in public universities.
Outside of a few specific career tracks, it’s really not that much of a value add to attend the high priced private elite school. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer (or any career track that requires graduate degrees), undergrad location matters even less.
I just went to Iowa State because it was inexpensive and I could be a small fish in a big pond of students.
The substantive education you receive is virtually identical pretty much anywhere you go, outside of a few actually terrible schools.
Going to a fancy (read: expensive) college really just provides some connections/networking.
If your goal is to live comfortably in the Midwest, I see zero reason to attend an elite university.
Candidly, I see little value in attending the more expensive private schools here in Iowa.
It depends somewhat on career goals and where you want to end up, but ISU, UNI, and UI are all good enough to get you into the top echelon of job tracks if that’s really your goal. Also… if you aren’t planning on pursuing a marketing/business degree, where those connections are arguably more important, there is very little value add for the more expensive schools.
I really strongly believe in public universities.
Outside of a few specific career tracks, it’s really not that much of a value add to attend the high priced private elite school. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer (or any career track that requires graduate degrees), undergrad location matters even less.
Agreed. Not all. It would surprise me if Cal Tech gave credit for a five on the AP National exam.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
There's some difference in support schools provide to students. Drake seems to be the best at that locally. DMACC enjoys providing strict guidelines and kicking kids out of class, but doesn't go out of their way to advertise supports a whole lot.
Simpson offers some unique programming with some nice aspects to it and some variable schedules. I could see that being a really nice way to do a degree.
But in the end, they'll all probably come out about the same.
For the most part, I agree with you. If you graduate with a great grade point, internships and activities from Iowa State there should be lots of doors opening for you.
Even the top employers love high achieving Iowa State grads even though you are competing many times with these top 10 or 15 school grads for jobs.
Some exclusions to this rule, imo: Economics - U of Chicago; Business Degree - Wharton undergrad; Engineering - Cal Tech, MIT, maybe Harvey Mudd
Back to the conundrum though - you still have to have a high school education, test scores and activities that would allow you to qualify for these schools.
Pre- med - go to whatever school you want to go to and take a lot of chemistry and biology. Get great grades, have little social life and study for the MCAT for a year to try crush the score.
I think this is -mostly- true.. for MIT, for example, their philosophy generally involves trying to break down students to build them back up, which means it’s very, VERY hard. Extremely challenging.
There can be value in that, and it can certainly help give someone a leg up, however it’s by no means a guaranteed way, or the only way, to obtain high-level jobs and careers. But it does open some doors that might not be open otherwise, especially if you want to do that stuff in and around Boston, which is sort of the regional affect.
But as an admissions officer there would say to kids, “MIT is A school, it is not THE school”. The admit rate is so impossibly low, if that were the only way to gain access to a fulfilling and successful career, almost literally nobody would have one.
Lists like this generate great exchanges of differing perspectives on higher education...there is one point that has to be made - Ted Cruz attended 2 of the top 5 schools on this list and look how he turned out.
Agree. Unless you're talking about cushy starting positions at Goldman Sachs et al where the elite college is pretty much a prerequisite, spot on. I've done a fair bit of hiring and as a result get solicited for help with resumes, cover letters, etc. from family and friends and what I always tell them is that, at least in my experience, it's the resume that gets you the interview, but it's the interview that gets you the job.
That’s interesting to me, when we visited there the son who went to Caltech didn’t like it nearly as much as the rest of us did, so if he was only going to get admitted to one, good it was Caltech.
Caltech takes a much different approach. They have three terms a year, much like the old ISU quarters. The first two terms for freshmen are pass/fail. For homework, they want you to collaborate and work with others since that’s what you actually do in jobs, research, etc. The exams are just so incredibly difficult, they are take home. Collaboration not allowed on those and they tell you what you can refer to as far as notes, books, etc. Abiding to that is part of the honor code.
I kind of have to disagree. While I firmly believe the actual education you receive is based more on the student then the university in most cases, the doors the elite schools open up are unparalleled. Between networking, prof connections, social clubs etc. Just having those schools on your resume is going to set you apart in most cases. I only know of a couple people who have gone to the truly elite schools (im not counting Michigan) and their experience is so radically different its like being in another world. It also teaches you to navigate those waters and in many ways acts as a guide to striking out on your own.
Also weirdly for med school if you have an odd degree it helps you out quite a bit. They love seeing engineers (the crush the physics portion of the mcat which is always the weakest score) or other degrees like foreign languages.
Elite prep schools open the doors to the Ivy's, Ivy's open the doors to the 1% life. No doubt. It's a different world, but it's also a different world that represents a small minority of college students in the broad scheme. High-achieving grads from quality public universities and non-elite privates obviously can still do very well for themselves even if it's not that 1% life.
Oh I totally agree with you. My most successful friend went to a small private school in michigan no one has ever heard of, graduated with a degree in philosophy and makes 7 figures at amazon. There is no one right path especially for the majority of students but those elite schools make achieving a high level of success much more attainable and in many cases somewhat inevitable.
I did some consulting years ago at a Connecticut prep school, it was among the top-20 in the country but towards the lower end. Place had ridiculous facilities, faculty who also taught at Wesleyan College, international study, the works. But when we talked to parents, the one thing they cared about more than anything was the Ivy accept list... what % of their grads were accepted at Ivy League colleges. And these were people who would just cut a check to cover the $55,000 annual tuition... for a high school. Different world.
No doubt. I think I was referencing some comments about wanting to stay in the Midwest after graduation. If you want to work for Goldman, Morgan Stanley, BlockRock, Blackstone, etc. then a Wharton degree or, believe it or not, a liberal arts or econ degree from Chicago, Harvard, Yale etc. goes a long way to getting your foot in the door.
That Chicago degree is gold. Has to be one of the highest paid bachelors degrees straight out of school
