balderdash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rh6qqsmxNs.

I think the best response is really just "Yeah, but who wants to go to University X anyway."

For instance, a professor of mine was rejected to Harvard's PhD program way back in the 60s. He went to UWisc-Madison instead, eventually got pretty established in the field, and Harvard offered him a job. He promptly turned it down. About 20 years later, they offered him a position again, this time tenured, and he turned them down again. I still think it's funny because he's always like "look, I have my life here now, and I'm not going to change everything just to go teach there. They had their chance."

If I get rejected from all the schools I applied to, I'm going to play a lot of songs in D minor, because it's really the saddest of all keys.

Yup, dinged.

It's surprising considering there are those who would argue that I'm already qualified to teach polisci.

Oh, snap.

Wow, this thread old, but have to comment...
 
However, I can't see myself fitting in with a cohort that consists of a bunch of third-generation top-tier college kids, trust-fund offshoots, and the kind of kids that the author of this article describes.
I went to a "lower level" Ivy -- I'll leave it at that to protect my anonymity), and I was a first-generation (though white) female student from a lower-middle-class family.
My experience of the community was not as you describe above. Many of my friends took out loans (I did, too), and some were working part-time to help pay expenses, and some were theater geeks, and some (of course) were more business-oriented. My boyfriend, though not a first-gen (though his parents went to low-tier state schools), came from one of the poorest towns our state. One of my pre-med roommates from a middle-class family worked hard as a waitress during the school year.
 
I don't think I had a single friend with a trust fund, though they certainly existed, as did third-gen students and students from rich families. But I also had friends from upper-middle-class families, and they were great, so-called "real" (see below), down-to-earth people. I even had a friend with a connection to the school via a parent, and this friend is the one of the most down-to-earth people I know. It's not as if these schools are cesspools of classism. It exists, as it does at all private schools, but it's not as oppressive as you would think.
Keep in mind these are research universities with multiple colleges, not small liberal arts colleges, which means there are lots of students, and all of them doing different things with their lives. It's very easy to avoid the "good old boys (and girls)" and make friends from all walks of life. It's also easy to avoid frat-life or its equivalent, simply because the schools are so large.
but that the kind of people the Ivy League accepts are mostly those who have been best conditioned to favor correct answers over interesting ones.
While many people I know did have good test scores and grades, I was accepted to an Ivy with a sub-1200 SAT combo, a C+ in a math course, and an excellent admissions essay. I'm also in the extremely practical and uncreative field of creative writing. Basically: I could not be further from the type of person you expect me to be, having gone to the school I did. I think you are right about prep high schools, but, while elite, those aren't colleges -- it's very different. I would say that my Ivy League education only further inspired and encouraged my creative endeavors, not stifled them.
make friends with REAL people,
 
Oh yes, you can only be a REAL person if you go to a non-prestigious state school. Just as only REAL Americans live on minimum wage in the midwest and are sure to read their Bibles before bed, while all the fake Americans live in NYC and Los Angeles with the gays and the atheists. I think you can make your point without implying that people who attended "elite" schools are somehow not "real" or worth your friendship. You don't strike me as the kind of person who would buy that social-conservative rhetoric, so why speak it yourself?
the box of an ivy
Not even close to a "box." How could you possibly make such a judgment about years of educational experience you declined? Have you forgotten that you did not, in fact, attend the school, and that you could have easily have had an equally (or even more) positive experience there? That you might have evolved artistically there, too? I had more intellectual and creative freedom and engagement than I could dream of in school, and my professors were more encouraging than ever when I came to them with creative endeavors. I really had a wonderful, warm, and stimulating educational experience at my "fancy" school. I don't doubt, however, that I could have had a similar experience and grown in similar ways if I had attended my non-prestigious state school, simply because I can't accurately speak for experiences I never had.
The point:
I agree with glasses's commentary. I think we can speak to the value of attending a non-elite school (there are many) without acting as if an education from an elite school is somehow deficient ("the box of an Ivy," brb, laughing forever), or that the students at such schools are not worth knowing for X or Y reason. JFC.

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

HAHA..OK. How do you know that "any resonable person with a JD would've just said they have a JD"? Do you have one, and can you speak for every JD or every reasonable person, for that matter?

I haven't disclosed my credentials, nor am I impressed by the arguments which claim to be 'the authority' by virtue of their credential; lots of JDs will agree or disagree with me, as many PhDs will agree with me as well. Focus on the arguments not the credentials, and when in doubt, do some research to verify my arguments. Poli sci grad students are trained researchers, right?

Someone asked you earlier. You gave a dismissive reply about how you were familiar enough with the topic. Any reasonable person with a JD would've just said they have a JD. So either you're unreasonable or you don't have a JD. And as much as I dislike the way you've gone on with this whole affair, I like to believe the best about people, so I'm going with the latter.

Someone asked you earlier. You gave a dismissive reply about how you were familiar enough with the topic. Any reasonable person with a JD would've just said they have a JD. So either you're unreasonable or you don't have a JD. And as much as I dislike the way you've gone on with this whole affair, I like to believe the best about people, so I'm going with the latter.

You want a LAWYER teaching ethics?

Now I know you're smoking crack.

Haha thanks dudes. It's been planned for about 8 months now, so I'm doubly anxious for admissions results. As soon as I know where I'm going, I'll pop the question.

It's funny, because she's been telling me off for being so anxious... little does she know...

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Haha thanks dudes. It's been planned for about 8 months now, so I'm doubly anxious for admissions results. As soon as I know where I'm going, I'll pop the question.

It's funny, because she's been telling me off for being so anxious... little does she know...

Haha thanks dudes. It's been planned for about 8 months now, so I'm doubly anxious for admissions results. As soon as I know where I'm going, I'll pop the question.

It's funny, because she's been telling me off for being so anxious... little does she know...

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)

Once I know where I'm going, I'm proposing to my girlfriend.

(Seriously.)