Furthermore, I went to a top univeristy (in Australia), but was one of the 'searchers,' so perhaps you can go to an Ivy league school but obtain the benefits on your own terms.
Well, a top university in Australia is very different to a top university in the US. Not because they aren't good -- Australia's top unis are probably better at least than the Ivy League's worst -- but because they don't have nearly the same sense of elitism. I guess this is mostly because of the way selection is done by course rather than by university -- it's far easier to get into the least selective courses at Sydney or Melbourne than it is to get into the most selective courses at Southern Cross or Charles Sturt.
(Full disclosure: I went to Sydney, and now I work at a not-elite-but-not-bad university in the US)
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Furthermore, I went to a top univeristy (in Australia), but was one of the 'searchers,' so perhaps you can go to an Ivy league school but obtain the benefits on your own terms.
Well, a top university in Australia is very different to a top university in the US. Not because they aren't good -- Australia's top unis are probably better at least than the Ivy League's worst -- but because they don't have nearly the same sense of elitism. I guess this is mostly because of the way selection is done by course rather than by university -- it's far easier to get into the least selective courses at Sydney or Melbourne than it is to get into the most selective courses at Southern Cross or Charles Sturt.
(Full disclosure: I went to Sydney, and now I work at a not-elite-but-not-bad university in the US)