JG Hall wrote:Desert Fox wrote:Acing high school is a lot easier than college work.
Then why don't more people do it and go to better schools?
I went to a big research (ostensibly middling though probably perceived a bit better) university and I've got to say, in the 1000 level classes, people were idiots. Most of my friends from freshmen year were posterchildren for a mediocre mind. (Note: I didn't get into HYP; hell, I didn't apply to HYP. My debt-averseness was insane. I'm wasn't paying sticker for fucking Cornell, and I took the money and ran.) Example: I'm not good a biology. The way I took tests in AP bio was something akin to eenie-meenie. I didn't even open the book past the second week of school. And then I set the curve in a 100+ person intro bio class in college. I'm sorry, this is not indicative of my science abilities, but of the idiocy of my classmates.
Now I'm not saying that there aren't dumbasses at ivies. 50% of the class is athletes, legacies, and some URMs (blahAAblahdebateblahwompwomp). But that other 50%... well, if the people I've met in law school (and beyond) are any indication (and there's a chance that they're not, since I guess CLS attracts a certain breed), then they're way smarter than the people in my UG.
(Although there is something to be said for people who do well out of big schools. Chances are, they didn't go there because they did poorly in high school, at least SAT-wise. They probably took the money too.)
For many reasons, like debt aversion or even cultural reasons. In my suburban HS only 1 person applied to Ivy league schools. Middle class midwesterns want their kids to go to their flagship state school.
My point wasn't that there is no difference between top school students and everyone else on average. But that just gaining admissions to a top school doesn't make one a success.
College admissions are about what shitty clubs you joined, how well you wrote book reports from ages 14-17, and the SAT. Plenty of talents people are weeded out, plenty self select, but most importantly many lazy losers are let in.
I'm not saying there is no aggregate difference. But there are a lot of terrible fucking students at the Ivy league. Less than other schools, definitely.