I didn't go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton or any other Ivy Leagues you all might've heard of. However, I did go to two of the top schools in Canada, namely McMaster and University of Toronto (let's not argue about rankings though). Prior to going to these schools, I was quite fixated on their rankings purely for their name value and because I wanted to be acknowledged by others. Now, this post isn't to discourage you from going to top schools of your choice, but rather to highlight some reasons why you shouldn't obsess over them.
1. Fiercely competitive
These highly ranked schools obviously have high standards when it comes to choosing students they want. For instance, McMaster Health Sciences program was known to choose only 5-10% of the applicants, which means you are competing against top students from all over Canada in terms of grades and extracurriculars. This means, they are all damn smart.
Now, it sure feels great to make it into this well-renowned program, but the real challenge begins when you start your freshman year. Being surrounded by top students, it becomes inevitable that you begin to compare your level of intelligence with others, especially through grades. You will come across quite a few students upset they got an A and not an A+ in one course when you might've gotten a worse mark in several courses. Thus, being transparent with your grades might also become difficult because some students may judge others who have lower grades than them.
Moreover, students might compare their research experiences, volunteer work, internship/externship experiences, awards, scholarships with others and this comparison game may just never end until you get out of school. Because of this, there's a chance you might constantly feel inadequte and you might also end up downplaying your achievements as well.
If you are aiming for top schools, keep in mind that a competitive environment might be what you're getting yourself into.
2. Difficult to get good grades
Now there is a reason why these schools rank high on the list. They have solid programs with challenging courses, well-renowned professors, and overall high standards for academic success. You may not necessarily go down the route of applying to grad schools or professional schools (ie. medicine, dental, pharm, etc.), but most students do so after they complete their undegrad. This means that you need to have an excellent GPA in order to be competitive enough to get into these programs. However, as previously mentioned, highly ranked schools are places where it is generally more difficult to obtain the marks you want due to their high expectations. And the reality is that the programs you want to get into don't really care about which school you're coming from if you don't show a competitive GPA.
So don't obsess over the fact you didn't get into the school you wanted for undergrad, it may actually be a blessing in disguise.
3. High tuition thus greater debt
It's not set in stone for every highly ranked schools, in fact many of them have fees that are comparable to schools of lower rankings. But better schools have a greater likelihood of higher fees for obvious reasons. First, there is higher demand for the school and consequently there are students who are willing to pay an extravagant amount to get in. Second is they need profs that are generally very well-versed in their field to provide better education for students. I'd assume that it probably costs more to hire these guys than profs with lower qualifications. Lastly, the school will invest in a diverse range of programs, workshops, and opportunities which will keep them in the high rankings, and also they will invest money in research to encourage more discoveries and breakthroughs. Whatever the case, high tuition fees aren't good news for any students and it may create some anxiety as your debt piles up in greater amount.
Final Words
I want to emphasize that there certianly are good things that come with high rankings as well. But this post is more catered towards students who are obsessing over schools that are only highly ranked without considering other important factors (which I discuss in the other post). And these students are quite shocked by how different and difficult the school is once they begin their freshman year. Sometimes, there are unfortunate cases of students dropping out or taking extreme measures as well. Now, if you are set on going to top schools, I want to encourage you to do so with the mind that it will be challenging but worth the time. However, at the end of the day, it is ultimately what you make out of your school that will ensure good learning and education rather than the high rankings.
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