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MagnetMom
MagnetMom
September 21, 2009

Does it Really Matter Where They Go to College?

Posted in College and Beyond College and Beyond

Jay Mathews of the Washington post has a great article that pointing out that some of people's most admired greats didn't graduate from elite colleges, and that some didn't graduate at all.

In this day of crazy college applications, and for those of us with students in a variety of different colleges and universities, I'd like to remember that it's not where a student attends (or gets accepted) that puts him or her on a trajectory to the stars--it's their persistence, their tenacity, and their sheer intestinal fortitude.

While it's not time to throw away the college apps yet, it's a nice article to remember while writing the gazillionth essay on a person who inspired the most.

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Parent Replies to "Does it Really Matter Where They Go to College?"

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TeacherParent
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TeacherParent October 20, 2009
Re: Does it Really Matter Where They Go to College?
No more than it matters to don designer brand clothes or drive a fancy car. We have a very narrow definition of success in our society and that definition includes attending a 'name college' as well as wearing the right clothes and driving a high-status car.
If you buy blindly into that kind of thinking. The best book I ever read on college is The College Admissions Mystique and I recommend it to anyone who wants to consider colleges in a new light.
MagnetMom
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MagnetMom September 21, 2009
Re: Does it Really Matter Where They Go to College?
Amen, Healthy. I'd rather see parents take their kids to the zoo or the Farmer's Market than send them to some test prep after school. But I'm in the minority it appears. *sigh*
healthy11
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healthy11 September 21, 2009
Re: Does it Really Matter Where They Go to College?
I agree that the "race to get into the Ivy Leagues" is unnecessarily stressful for most families, and the feeling that you're a failure if you don't graduate from a "brand name institution" is ridiculous.

There is NO "sure fire formula" for success by trying to get your children into a particular preschool, to be assured entry into ABC elementary school, then selective XYZ high school, and finally into prestigious post-secondary educational institutions.

It's actually bothering me to see more and more parents on this site trying to buy "test prep" materials so their children can get into particular kindergartens or gifted programs in elementary school. I wish parents would focus more on things that don't come out of academic books, like teaching cooperation and respect for others, empathy, etc.
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