Originally Posted by upallnight
this is absolutely true.
i may or may not have attended one of these 'ivy league' schools, and i can testify that what is amazing is the level of resources you have available to you...but whether you take advantage of the resources or not is largely dependent upon the individual.
think of your mindset at 18. having the best resources around you maybe increases the likelihood you'll take advantage of them, but there are plenty of people who didn't. i think it's more a factor of maturity than anything else.
if college were deferred 10 years (i.e., entering @ 28 instead of 18), i'm sure we'd all get a *huge* deal more out of of it.
keep in mind that some schools have prestige for their research. this often means that the undergrads are, comparatively, neglected. professors in these schools focus more on getting published & getting tenure than they do on the quality of their teaching. (sad but true. some of the most caring & best-teaching profs i had failed to get tenure; the ability to convey information to students wasn't a priority for the university.)
