Oh, No, It's College Acceptance Letter Time!

(CBS)  The most important lesson some college-bound students ever learn could be the one they're about to hear for free from our contributor Ben Stein:


Now is the dreaded time of year when high school seniors find out if they got into "the college of their choice."

In modern times, there are so vastly many more applications for admission to the really prestigious colleges - Ivy Leagues, Stanford, Duke, Chicago - that it is most unlikely that the applicant gets into that "college of her choice."

It is a disappointment, and one that some people never get over. One of the most talented and famous writers in America kept and framed her rejection letter from Stanford for decades after she was a literary icon.

But, I would like to look back on life from my vantage point of having seen so much of it, and tell those of you who did not get into "the college of your choice" - and your parents, who are probably the most affected by that rejection letter - that getting into that certain ultra-prestigious college really means very little in a lifetime.

Maybe nothing at all.

As far as I can tell, the men and women who have achieved the most in life in terms of getting to do what they wanted, live a comfortable life, and get recognition for it, did so pretty much without regard to where they went to college.

Yes, it helps a tiny bit to go to Columbia or Yale. But it helps a lot more to have good work habits, make a minute-by-minute effort to get along with the people you work with, and (most of all) to harmonize your goals with your talents.

The giants I have worked with in my life - Richard Nixon, Norman Lear, Bill Safire, Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Buckley, Goldie Hawn and many others - tried a number of different avenues to success and eventually found the thing that they were very, very good at, and did that with extraordinary focus.

Notice that of those people, only Bill Buckley went to a prestige college. The others did it by using the talents they were born with, not being afraid of taking risks and failing, making sure they were not prima donnas, and staying in the game until they got over the goal line.

No name on any diploma can mean as much as using what you've got in you from day one and using it with extreme focus, flexibility and inner mobility.

You didn't get into the college of your choice? Fine. Neither did most of America.

It won't matter a bit to your autobiography if you don't let it matter to you.

[Anitablogs]

I didn't know about your rich father when I heard the commentary, and now that I do, it still doesn't matter. My children are still young; 14 and under. But in four short years, one will go off to college. I live in middle class surburbia where the frenzy over colleges, and the grades and activities that will supposedly get you there, is rampant. A lot of people in my neighborhood won't buy what you said in your commentary. I was glad to hear it because in the case of one or more of my three daughters not getting into one of the "the best colleges," I'd like to feel comfort in knowing that success in not always contingent upon where you go to school. I wrote a post on my blog, http://btdas.blogspot.com/2010/04/what-do-you-want-to-be-when-you-grow-up.html, last month questioning my readers about the same thing. When I heard your commentary, I was happy to know someone else puts value in ones passions, and not just grades and social status.

[jmgray16]

To an extent that's true, especially for undergraduate studies. Though there are going to be 'universities' out there that have a reputation for graduating anyone. But at the graduate level, a Masters or Doctorate from a prestige university can mean a heck of a lot more than one from a lesser university. But all in all, people can get too wrapped up about what undergraduate school a person attends. If you don't make your first choice, take a year or two at community college (making sure the credits will transfer) and then apply as a transfer student. Enough of your contemporaries will have dropped/flunked out that you may be able to get in and save yourself a huge chunk of change in the process. If you are only going to graduate with a job that earns you $30-40k a year, why graduate with $100k of debt? That's just dumb.

[itgranny]

Try getting on the Supreme Court with a degree from University of Minnesota or Iowa State or some other "good" school but without the ivy league title. There are still a lot of snobs around.

[rocketjl]

Some good comments. The schools and the government now support having illegal immigrants in the system. The government will leave them in school until they do finish and if they have a money problem, Obama has taken over all student loans. If the illegal alien cannot pay back the load, then I guess Obama will do like he said and forgive the loan. Luckily, this will help an illegal alien to become a doctor. However, as an illegal alien they have to be deported. Bottom line: They are now a doctor and don't need the US. They don't owe any money. US citizens are not as lucky. Thanks Obama.

[thesevenveils]

The government has always handled student loans. Other private institutions do as well. If you had been reading the news papers or watch the news on TV for the last 2 decades you would know for the Federal Government, it has been problematic for graduated US citizens to skip out on their student loan obligations. Students from the medical and legal fields are most notorious for failing to pay off their school loans.

[k9doc1]

Ben Stein's commentary on college acceptance was absolutely one of the best segments I have heard in a very long time. It's all about personal responsibility, hard work, and doing the very best with what you have. These are values that are often absent in our whining, "it's your fault, and "you owe me" society today. You don't have to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth or go to an Ivy League school to be successful in life, work, and as a person. Keep the common sense coming, Ben!

[squeakof2006]

Sometimes, it's not about if you get into the school, for me, I got accepted to all 10 schools I applied to. I had to look for the best financial aid package, which they give you after you've been accepted.