More on restaurants soon, but meanwhile we have breaking news on the college app front. The LA Times reported yesterday that many kids did not get into their first-choice universities! I’m so proud that we have this level of intrepid journalism in our city. The piece, "College Rejection Isn’t the End of the World", states that many kids who expected to go to the Ivies are actually content at their second- choice schools. The article cites the example of a girl who had her heart set on Stanford, but is happy as a clam at Washington University in St. Louis. (A bit off-topic, but Wash U has a ridiculous name – no matter how Ivyish it gets, it’ll always be stuck with the "in St. Louis" because our country has two major regions named "Washington", both with similarly-titled colleges.)
But now there is hope for other kids who have been and will be rejected from their top choices. According to the Neurotic Parent Institute, there is now a whole new crop of institutions that have replaced the status of the Ivies and their peers:
1) Wesleyan is the new Brown.
2) Northwestern is the new Penn.
3) Vassar is the new Yale.
4) Bard is the new Amherst.
5) U of Indiana is the new U of Michigan.
6) Eugene Lang is the new NYU.
7) UC Davis is the new UC Berkeley.
8) Emory is the new Duke; Tulane is the new Emory
9) Bowdoin is the new Williams.
and, in a shocking development:
10) Pitzer is the new Stanford.
This is just a partial list. Consider American University, because in fifteen years it will be the new GW. Fordham, in the Bronx (which is the new Brooklyn, which is the new Manhattan) will be the new Boston College. And USC will become so selective that even Annenberg’s granchildren won’t be able to get in. The list goes on and on. (Readers have also frequently mentioned the elevated status of Tufts, but I won’t go there because it is another college with a silly name – Sounds like elephant parts…What were they thinking?)
This is all good for high school juniors. So many applicants will be applying to BU and Harvey Mudd that there might even be some spaces at Harvard and Princeton. Please let me know if I have omitted any beloved up-and-coming second-choice schools.
I’m a sophomore at Tulane right now, and I would say it was probably my fifth choice school (I had my heart set on out-of-reach California schools, even though I’m from Virginia). Of my close friends at school, no one had Tulane as their first choice. But, not only is Tulane the new (and better) Emory, it’s also the best college any of us could possibly be at. We all are madly in love with it, and couldn’t picture ourselves anywhere else. Even if the “I’ve-wanted-to-go-there-since-I-knew-what-college-was/I-could-say-[college’s name here]-before-my-own-name” school sends the small package of rejection and not the thick envelope of acceptance, like mine did, life does go on.
Sounds good, Joanna. So now the question is, what’s the new Tulane?
Note to NP: in my blog world, when somebody (random or not, and it seems like Joanna found ARS-FSBCT by googling “Tulane,” since she goes there–she must really love it) leaves you a comment, you answer back with a peppy, supportive response, which gets them to keep reading your blog.
How should I feel about Wesleyan is the new Brown? This post is too complicated for me.
Joanna, I’ve just been admonished for not responding to you. Your comments about Tulane were so compelling that we are considering a visit with CJ.
zhiv,
The new Tulane is University of Miami. And the new Wesleyan is Oberlin.
Are you trying to suggest that Williams College has no place for consideration and that Bowdoin represents the new Williams College? By what standard? These institutions are varied and attract divergent interests among applicants. There is no factual basis for your comparisons.
Are you trying to suggest that Williams College has no place for consideration and that Bowdoin represents the new Williams College? By what standard? These institutions are varied and attract divergent interests among applicants. There is no factual basis for your comparisons.
A. Holden – Congratulations! You will be pleased to know that your comment has been selected as a Question of the Week. It will be answered during the week of 6/2 or 6/9 on a new thread. You have also won a free dinner in the Bowdoin Student Union, where the food is decent, but not nearly on par with the dining opportunities at Williams.