The poster is bashing great schools out of jealousy. Any kid getting a scholarship to a top 50 school has much to be proud of. For that matter, any school. Saying that if you don't go to an Ivy or a ND you are wasting your time has got to be the most ignorant comment yet. There are many factors that go into a college choice. Even as an eighth grader, you and your kid have an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. A Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State are all great choices for an early commit who has decent grades, but maybe not high honors material. Some kids love the big sports school atmosphere, and don't want to be too far from home as well. They have the best chance to find a major that suits them and not be overwhelmed with academics that are tough to handle given the D1 practice requirements. If schools like PSU are a waste, I'd hate to hear what the poster says about the boys going to Stonybrook, Hoftstra, Delaware, UMass, Denver, those kids are doomed for failure! Total garbage, poster should be ashamed of himself!
Penn St. isn't a waste - a scholarship is a scholarship. That being said, nobody with any shred of intelligence will say Penn St. is a better academic school then the likes of many Ivy's and Duke, Hopkins, Notre Dame, etc. If they do, they are a complete homer.
I don't know this kid, there could be a myriad of reasons why he chose Penn St. Maybe it's been his dream school, maybe he wants big time football, maybe his AI won't be high enough to get into the more academically rigorous schools. We won't know and honestly its the family's business, not ours.
The insinuation from the original poster was that this VERBAL commitment was something more; as if it some mythical extra special verbal vs. all the other verbals top kids give. It isn't. Either party can walk away before NLI signing. Period. End of story.
God help the kids who decide to verbal to Loyola or Towson, they must really be desperate!
Whats wrong with these schools?
According to one poster, If it's not an Ivy Duke or Hopkins, it's a waste of time!
I went to a very average school. A D2 lax school, and I didn't play Lacrosse. At 52 I run very successful business. I hear the Ivy educated Dr. next door leave for work at 5am. I get up a little later, take my son to school, come back do some work and then hit the gym. Not sure if an unbelievable quality life and financial stability trump an Ivy education? But I wouldn't trade my life for the Doctor's next door I can tell you that. By the way, my wife is home with our children while Doctor's wife goes to work everyday, she's an Ivy Educated Dentist. The nanny raises their kids. Lastly, my college roommate, he lives in a $7million home in Connecticut. Point is, so little is dependent upon where you go to school. If you think only people who go to the Ivies are financially successful, you're absolutely insane.
Great points. I think any school can be a good school if you take advantage of what the school has to offer and make the most of your opportunities. I think in todays climate it is more about where you go to grad school anyway. Every kid is different and each kid must choose the right fit for him academically, athletically and socially. Penn State is a great school with a great tradition and there are thousands of kids each year that would kill to get accepted. Good for this kid if he ends up there, but he does have a long way to go.
