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> At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. I am not

> At the undergrad level, the ivy leagues are a place where you go to meet people rich, driven, well-connected students and their successful parents. I am not going to disagree with that, but it's not the only benefit. You should probably mention that if you want to go into research/grad school (especially for liberal arts), it pays to go to a school where the top professors and academics work. That said, there's also something I disagree with: > Larry Summers is going to give the same econ 101 lecture as every other college professor. As someone who goes to a subpar Computer Science school, I disagree. Tom Leighton explained Discrete Math better than any professors I've had. Sussman and Ableson, even in the 80s, were better than any lecturer I've had. Maybe it's because I go to subpar school, instead of a "good enough"/"good but not elite" school, but I can definitely see the benefits of an elite school in academics alone. Of course, this is all irrelevant to the rest of your comment, which I agree with. I also happen to be a first generation immigrant and almost everyone I met in the same position as me was clueless about the college process.

roymurdock 11y ago
I attended a decently selective private school for 3 years. I studied abroad at an elite university for a year. The quality of the lecturers was basically the same. At both institutions, some were fantastic and others were terrible. In fact, I had one professor at the elite school that was probably the biggest bullshitter of a teacher that I've ever had. I also enjoyed much greater access to professors at the regular school as they weren't always busy with research/speaking engagements/writing books. The quality of the average student was leagues ahead at the elite university. The exams at the elite university were much more rigorous. The end result was that I had to cram for a month for those elite exams, during which time I "learned" (read: memorized) a ton but also promptly forgot most of it after doing well on the exams. The lasting benefit of the elite university was meeting all of the really interesting and intelligent people who have become some of my closest friends.

roymurdock 11y ago

I attended a decently selective private school for 3 years. I studied abroad at an elite university for a year. The quality of the lecturers was basically the same. At both institutions, some were fantastic and others were terrible. In fact, I had one professor at the elite school that was probably the biggest bullshitter of a teacher that I've ever had. I also enjoyed much greater access to professors at the regular school as they weren't always busy with research/speaking engagements/writing books. The quality of the average student was leagues ahead at the elite university. The exams at the elite university were much more rigorous. The end result was that I had to cram for a month for those elite exams, during which time I "learned" (read: memorized) a ton but also promptly forgot most of it after doing well on the exams. The lasting benefit of the elite university was meeting all of the really interesting and intelligent people who have become some of my closest friends.