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> Everybody gets in here for a reason. Oh no doubt. But consider the criteria for getting into any top-tier school: teenage academic performance and extracurr

> Everybody gets in here for a reason. Oh no doubt. But consider the criteria for getting into any top-tier school: teenage academic performance and extracurricular participation between the ages of 14 and 17. And while top-tier schools are demanding and hold you to higher standards, they're not SEAL school meat-grinders. Your school, and several other Ivies, have a graduation rate in the high 90's... and something tells me those 2-6% who don't make it aren't dropping because it's too hard. Ultimately, your prowess on the job market is tied to your conduct as a teenager. That's weird, but I guess that's how things work.

cinquemb 13y ago
As someone who is apart of the 2-6% who dropped out of an Ivy (about a year and a half ago), I assure you it wasn't because it was too hard. The reasons are multi-faceted, and closer to wanting to get away from this pervasive air of "I realize we are extremely spoiled (so lets milk it for what it's worth and cba about anything else)". Been trying to find my way through the start up world in NYC for about a year (coming from the midwest), meeting amazing people and experiencing things with a perspective many would even be afraid to try because of fears that are so far removed from things like death. I haven't "made it" yet (not sure if I will ever feel like I will no matter what I do), but I am far from being spoiled (I've been sleeping on a couch for over a year, doing occasional freelance work, and helping out with friends projects, meeting founders of start ups, sitting in on university classess), have a good beachhead, content with where I am and what direction I am moving in.
Dewie 13y ago
I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was a teen - all I wanted to do was play music, but I was grounded enough to know that that wasn't a safe and reliable bet at all. Sure, I could have buckled down more and tried to get top grades in everything just in case it turned out that I wanted a profession were grades matter a lot, but at that point I might as well have ended up being a plumber who did really good at the local quiz nights. Thankfully, "Ivy League" is a foreign concept in my part of the world.

cinquemb 13y ago

As someone who is apart of the 2-6% who dropped out of an Ivy (about a year and a half ago), I assure you it wasn't because it was too hard. The reasons are multi-faceted, and closer to wanting to get away from this pervasive air of "I realize we are extremely spoiled (so lets milk it for what it's worth and cba about anything else)". Been trying to find my way through the start up world in NYC for about a year (coming from the midwest), meeting amazing people and experiencing things with a perspective many would even be afraid to try because of fears that are so far removed from things like death. I haven't "made it" yet (not sure if I will ever feel like I will no matter what I do), but I am far from being spoiled (I've been sleeping on a couch for over a year, doing occasional freelance work, and helping out with friends projects, meeting founders of start ups, sitting in on university classess), have a good beachhead, content with where I am and what direction I am moving in.

Dewie 13y ago

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was a teen - all I wanted to do was play music, but I was grounded enough to know that that wasn't a safe and reliable bet at all. Sure, I could have buckled down more and tried to get top grades in everything just in case it turned out that I wanted a profession were grades matter a lot, but at that point I might as well have ended up being a plumber who did really good at the local quiz nights. Thankfully, "Ivy League" is a foreign concept in my part of the world.