Monday, February 14, 2011
Decide For Yourself
You know what annoys me? Actually, a lot of things annoy me, so it's unfair to ask that question. xD But anyways, it's mainly people who want to go to Ivy Leagues or prestigious colleges simply for the name. I'll ask around, and this one person will want to get into UPenn, but she'll know absolutely nothing about the campus or its strengths and weaknesses. You're searching for the wrong things. They're reputable because they're great colleges, yeah, but that doesn't mean they're the only ones out there. Just because they're famous doesn't mean they're right for you. People always ask me if I want to go to an Ivy, and seem amazed when I say that I don't know. I'd have nothing against finding a smaller university that, though not as prominent, has the same caliber of classes. When I go to college, it isn't going to be the name that attracts me.
And in addition, not to be mean (especially since this can't even apply to those of you reading this), but some one you that I overhear talking about wanting to get into Stanford or Yale... If you really do, you're going to need to spend more time on academics and less time at parties. And get at least over a 2100... Be realistic. Unless you have some crazy talent that I don't know about... You're just like everyone else out there; what makes you special so that they would want you?
Hell, what makes me special so that they would want me?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree with you, while at the same time feeling like I'm one of the people of whom you speak in this post. As awesome as it would be to actually get into an Ivy League, any Ivy League, I know that a few of them aren't right for what I want to do and who I want to be.
Getting into Duke, which mostly focuses on liberal arts, as much of an ego-boost as it would be, wouldn't make me happy. I don't want to go there because I want to go into biomedical research.
And also, I know that I've been saying how nice it would be to get into an Ivy League, I'm actually kinda scared to leave home and go live, however many thousand miles away it is. I won't know anyone at all(You know, if I actually do get in, which, is kind of a long shot, but one can dream).
And I know that the one that I really want to go to, of the Ivies, is Columbia. They have a good research program, and truthfully, I would love living in New York - my inner gossip girl really wants to experience life in New York, not from the eyes of a four year old.
And the really annoying part is, no one seems to really support anything I say lately about college. I mean, they're supporting, but it's not what they would do, if that makes sense. I know everyone's supposed to be different and unique and all, but the people who I have the most in common with, don't even want to do what I want to do. And that really makes me question whether or not I'm making the right choices and dreaming the right dreams.
My friends, who I've talked to the most about all of this, have always wanted to get into great colleges, the ones with the flashy names. But, apparently, the ones that I choose, or the reasons that I choose them, don't seem to be good enough for them. They want to go to Berkeley over Stanford because of the money or because of their parents. And I know that's not the only reasons, but it sometimes seems like it is.
I want to go to Stanford over Berkeley, despite knowing that I probably won't have a choice between either one, because of what I can get out of it. To me, it's not about the money or my parents. It's about the experience that I'll get out of going there. And Berkeley, to me, just isn't what I want. I don't want to go to a school that's smack in the middle of a not-so-great neighborhood, which is right next door to, it could be argued, the worst neighborhood in all of the Bay Area.
I feel more comfortable replying to your posts than writing on my own blog, mostly because I feel like here, it might not just end up in the black hole vortex of the Internet. Someone might actually read this.
If you get to the end of this, and feel like I took away five minutes of your time that you'd like back, then I am really sorry. But, if it makes the pain of losing those minutes feel any less, this did help me, feeling like I was talking to someone, and actually voicing stuff that I don't in school and in front of my friends, because I know that they don't care - I'm just the one with the weird ideas that they can't seem to understand or can't be bothered to try understanding.
Post a Comment