4 ms·

I ended up at a no-name school because I got a terrible financial aid package at an elite school that I'd applied to early decision. So bailed and went to a s

I ended up at a no-name school because I got a terrible financial aid package at an elite school that I'd applied to early decision. So bailed and went to a state school for almost free.

humanrebar 9y ago
Same here.
- mathattack 9y ago
  I can't find the link but I recall reading (via Freakonomics or Jeff Selingo?) a study that showed that once you control for SATs and income, attending an elite school doesn't confer as much benefit as merely applying to one.
  - gaius 9y ago
    Dropping out of an elite school carries as much if not more social cachet than graduating. "Harvard dropout" is an archetype for a reason.
Muuuchem 9y ago
Got paid to go to state school lets get it
- jboggan 9y ago
  Absolutely a great way to do it. I got paid to attend a great state school (above and beyond room and board), had several travel grants, and was sent to 20 countries and Antarctica! I've never had any student loans and it really helped me take some riskier career moves earlier on.
protomyth 9y ago
Hey, at least you got a response. I got no return mail, not even a rejection letter. 3 tracked mails sent, 3 money orders totaling $120 (a princely sum for 1987), and no return mail. It was like a torture session picking up the mail at the box everyday (I had a break between high school classes, so I was the mailbox keyholder). Luckily, I also applied at the state school and got a pretty good package. Would have been better if my high school had filled out the paperwork on time. Makes me wish I didn't spend so many months studying the SAT & ACT because I was worried that we didn't have the classes that would cover the material at my high school. Oh well, the local community college classes were only like $15 per credit hour for high school seniors (paid by the high school), so I started college as a sophomore. Gotta take the good with the bad I guess.
- wallace_f 9y ago
  >the local community college classes were only like $15 per credit hour for high school seniors One of the beautiful things about softwars tech is that it has offered people opportunities to self-teach and build a portfolio of their own credentials, by their own determination. This has given ordinary people the opportunity to build things that benefit others. On the other end of the spectrum, we have privileged rich kids attending Harvard, many of whom go on to work in finance or consulting, and who knows what they produce that is useful in the world. I would really love to see the idea that we need to open up on the limitations of world-class educations and credentials become part of the mainstream discussion. There is almost no reason the first two years of, which are often filled with gen-ed requirements often taught in laughably huge lecture halls by uninterested staff, not be open to everyone in the world. We need a new model that promotes this--Harvard classes should be open to everyone and that includes the tests and credits as well. And why not? The War on Poverty in America has spent trillions of dollars with little to nothing to show for it in terms of reducing poverty. Of all this money spent, one of the first things I would have done would have been to ensure everyone has the greatest opportunities available to them. There's no good reason to hold them hostage, unless you care about profit or prestige more than increasing opportunity and reducing inequality.

I ended up at a no-name school because I got a terrible financial aid package at an elite school that I'd applied to early decision. So bailed and went to a state school for almost free.

humanrebar 9y ago

Same here.

mathattack 9y ago
I can't find the link but I recall reading (via Freakonomics or Jeff Selingo?) a study that showed that once you control for SATs and income, attending an elite school doesn't confer as much benefit as merely applying to one.
- gaius 9y ago
  Dropping out of an elite school carries as much if not more social cachet than graduating. "Harvard dropout" is an archetype for a reason.

Muuuchem 9y ago

Got paid to go to state school lets get it

jboggan 9y ago
Absolutely a great way to do it. I got paid to attend a great state school (above and beyond room and board), had several travel grants, and was sent to 20 countries and Antarctica! I've never had any student loans and it really helped me take some riskier career moves earlier on.

protomyth 9y ago

Hey, at least you got a response. I got no return mail, not even a rejection letter. 3 tracked mails sent, 3 money orders totaling $120 (a princely sum for 1987), and no return mail. It was like a torture session picking up the mail at the box everyday (I had a break between high school classes, so I was the mailbox keyholder). Luckily, I also applied at the state school and got a pretty good package. Would have been better if my high school had filled out the paperwork on time. Makes me wish I didn't spend so many months studying the SAT & ACT because I was worried that we didn't have the classes that would cover the material at my high school. Oh well, the local community college classes were only like $15 per credit hour for high school seniors (paid by the high school), so I started college as a sophomore. Gotta take the good with the bad I guess.

wallace_f 9y ago
>the local community college classes were only like $15 per credit hour for high school seniors One of the beautiful things about softwars tech is that it has offered people opportunities to self-teach and build a portfolio of their own credentials, by their own determination. This has given ordinary people the opportunity to build things that benefit others. On the other end of the spectrum, we have privileged rich kids attending Harvard, many of whom go on to work in finance or consulting, and who knows what they produce that is useful in the world. I would really love to see the idea that we need to open up on the limitations of world-class educations and credentials become part of the mainstream discussion. There is almost no reason the first two years of, which are often filled with gen-ed requirements often taught in laughably huge lecture halls by uninterested staff, not be open to everyone in the world. We need a new model that promotes this--Harvard classes should be open to everyone and that includes the tests and credits as well. And why not? The War on Poverty in America has spent trillions of dollars with little to nothing to show for it in terms of reducing poverty. Of all this money spent, one of the first things I would have done would have been to ensure everyone has the greatest opportunities available to them. There's no good reason to hold them hostage, unless you care about profit or prestige more than increasing opportunity and reducing inequality.