FAQ Part 1

Q. Will it make a difference in my life if I can’t get into an Ivy League college?

A. Look at it from the other side: just going to an Ivy can’t by itself guarantee you a long, successful career. What does do that is you –if you are willing to take the risk of totally engaging yourself in your daily studies and activities to develop into a more curious, knowledgeable, and confident self. The secret? You can learn to do that in any college. Success does not rely on the elites only. While some US Presidents went to Yale, 98% of their classmates didn’t make political history.

As to having it made if your parents went to Harvard, a common enough thought, just know that those alumni’s children might or might not be successful. Far less than what you think, the college branding of your parents’ background has less to do with what you decide to do with your education and your life. If you’re really determined-- scholarly and ambitious and willing to turn your professors into mentors, you can make your own education pay off. After all, if you succeed at any college, you can usually be admitted to the best graduate schools. It’s they which lead you toward your chosen profession with the best opportunities for contacts.

Q. I am a second semester freshman, living on my own, but I am so disappointed with my college choice that I want to transfer. Where can I go?

A. You can’t transfer yet. But get yourself ready by doing all the following:

Go through the list of clubs, and pick 3 that you could care about. Go to the meetings, then choose the club that seems most interesting and be active in it.
Think of leaving your private apartment for now to experience the community of living in a dorm or fraternity. Make yourself get involved.
Pick one athletic activity - soccer, tennis, crew, or weight lifting – and commit to it 3 times a week. Make friends.
Get great grades: all A’s and B’s. Study hard. Look at your subjects as if they are worlds to explore; find something exciting about them. Talk to your professors in class or during office hours.
Make friends with your classmates and have lunch or dinner with them. Form a study group and make stronger grades and deeper bonds..

If you do all this, like some many freshmen before you who took this advice, you will find a family of friends and a way of belonging. Even though you will be able to transfer at the end of your second year, you might find yourself not even think of leaving.