A friend's son was top of his class. He convinced himself to go into CMU SCS program. He was a novice programmer with barely any background. I warned him away,

A friend's son was top of his class. He convinced himself to go into CMU SCS program. He was a novice programmer with barely any background. I warned him away, saying that he would find himself in unforgiving competition with people who had been programming seriously for 10 years or more and recommending that he choose a state school instead. He ignored my warnings. He lasted six weeks before changing majors. It really messed him up psychologically - he's got a serious inferiority complex now. I believe that, had he chosen from any number of other schools, he would be a happy CS grad and programmer today. It is difficult to go from the top of your class to the very bottom.