Prestige isn’t that deep!
Hi, I have been a lurker for my past 4 years and just created my account. This sub has been invaluable in helping me get into the colleges I wanted to get into, but I think one topic that felt a little weird to me was this idea of debating prestige. Like I’ve seen whole debates about “is brown or northwestern more prestigious“. or “ivy+ vs HYPSM”.
IMO the prestige of a school matters because of the opportunities that a name/school COULD provide, but it also isn’t the end all be all, especially if you aren’t into finance/VCs. Stuff like location, and outcomes of a specific program matter too. I certainly don’t think you can’t end up in a similar place going to Stanford and ASU (though the path will be easier for the Stanford grad). You are still going to have to work hard to accomplish your goals. JUST GO TO THE SCHOOL YOU WANT TO GO TO AND DO AS WELL AS YOU CAN!
But it isn’t ASU vs Stanford that you all are debating it’s statements like “Cornell is more prestigious than JHU because it’s an ivy “ or “Why would you choose Notre Dame over Vanderbilt?”. Like why so much hate? I understand wanting the best, but why do you think that this matters. Live a little instead of having online debates about why your school/dream school is “better” than another.
For reference this could just be me self selecting the posts I read because I chose what is known as a T10 over what is known on the internet as a T5 a few days ago. Let me tell you in real life everyone who knew me knew it was the right choice, but I know if I posted a collegeresults or something the kids would all say “Who in their right mind would choose a T10 over Yale.?“ For me it was about where I saw myself thriving and which had better outcomes for what I wanted to do and that happened to be the less prestigious one.
I think theres a point where debates about prestige stop being productive, and it has reached that point.
I think this is the point where I block Reddit and stick to instagram and TikTok to scroll lol! yall truly have helped me throughout the process, and I thank you for that! I realize this was a little rude, so sorry!