Indeed. As a child living in a mountain town in NH I had no idea financial aid existed. I was always told by my parents that I would never go to college becaus

Indeed. As a child living in a mountain town in NH I had no idea financial aid existed. I was always told by my parents that I would never go to college because they couldn't afford it. I believed them until a guidance counselor called a meeting with my parents where he laid out all the options. by then my GPA was quite poor due to not doing the work (it was always trivial to past tests w/o doing the homework, so why bother with it), so top tier was out. And, it doesn't matter. You get the education that you want, for the most part. I did independent study when a class wasn't offered, as did my friends. I'm sure there are substandard colleges (I've interviewed people that just weren't prepared for the field, and digging into their classwork showed why) but in general it holds. Go to the local gas station, talk to the clerk, and you very well be encountering an IQ that exceeds yours by a standard deviation or two. I was almost that clerk until that guidance counselor gave me a different future. And I know people from high school that are that clerk, and have formidable minds. Top school doesn't mean too much at all. Yes, kids who get themselves there by their bootstraps are to be admired. But the amount of support given to many there makes it pretty easy to get in at least one school. I never once had help with my homework from my parents - they couldn't do it if they tried (and, they didn't try). I went to school hungry, and didn't eat breakfast or lunch - no money for it. Last time I ate before/in school was 5th grade. I shivered all day because they kept the heat low and i didn't have sweaters to wear. I wasn't allowed to do extracurricular activities for reasons. And so on. That all says 0 about what I can do, know, think, feel, accomplish, except to the extent it taught me not to be held back by challenges. It says nothing negative about me, except that I was pretty unworldly when I entered the world at age 18. I changed that soon enough. I just snort, internally, when somebody feels the need to name drop where they graduated from. Means almost nothing. Did you do interesting research or something there? That means something. Did you learn and grow? That means something. Did you face hardship and learn those life skills? Etc. All that matters, not the name.