George Will's "The Last Word" on College "Acceptance"

[ChipStorm]

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Rick,

I went to a public school with over 2,000 students, so all that stuff is very foreign to me! I'm sure we have many prep school kids here who had experiences just like that.

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El D,

I went to a public high school too, also with about 2,000 students. Graduating class was 660.

But it was a public school in Montgomery County. We all knew the "Harvard count" from last year, and were wondering if we could beat it our senior year. We guys were pissed when they only took one guy (total dork) and about seven girls (including my girlfriend, whose parents were both, wait for it... Harvard alums). But all my friends went to top schools; it was just understood that it would happen.

This is obvious I'm sure, but there are a handful of public schools around the country, in these wealthy counties outside the major cities, that are on the top colleges' radar screens, and where the experience is a little more like a private/prep school.

My original point was that none of this really mattered or was that interesting at the time. It was a fun little competition with my classmates, and we gave each other unending abuse over who got higher test scores, blah blah blah. But every one of us was looking at college as a four-year paid vacation. It was competitive, but there was zero pressure about it.

I feel sorry for the people who feel burdened by the experience of being at one of these schools, because at that level, the only thing that can screw up your life is you worrying too much about it.

[MicroBob]

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most people were great at my school. lots of comraderie, goodwill, and support while still being highly motivated and competitive young people.

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This was pretty much how it was at my school.
I went to a public school, but it's in a smallish college town in Ohio so it's comprised of a lot of professor-kids.
I don't remember any real competition per-se.

We had some smart kids and everyone got along pretty much.
10 national merit finalists in my class IIRC.
Lots of perfect to near-perfect SAT scores and the like.

I wasn't in this top tier but was friends with most of them.

[7ontheline]

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I went to a fairly expensive private school, it was nothing like that here, they taught us more comradere, how to be decent people, and how to learn rather, than how to cater to the SAT and admissions douche bags, and a lot of our alumni went ivy league. But there were no chicks either, I think that has a lot to do with it.

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most people were great at my school. lots of comraderie, goodwill, and support while still being highly motivated and competitive young people.


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Apparently some fancy high schools didn't include spelling in their curriculum.

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[NT!]

I think if George Will only wrote about baseball and books and stuff he'd be one of the best columnists around. I mean sure he'd still get in a fair amount of hokey old-boy sentiment and some subtle digs at liberalism, but it's good to make fun of liberals sometimes.