What are the defrence between a Polytechnic and a University?

It seems to depend on the country you're talking about as to what (if any) difference there is between the two. I thought it was the old name for universities, at least where I live. If I google the word "Polytechnic" I get a load of universities that come up in the results. But looking at Wikipedia, it seems that it differs between different countries as to what, if any, difference there is between the two.

So speaking to your first question, I can only assume that in your country (although you haven't said which country you're from) a "Polytechnic" isn't a University (it's whatever your country has just below University, but still "higher education"), or it's one with a lower standing among your country's universities.

Beyond that, I don't know.

I know in the US Polytechnic school that is a university - is a type of university - focusing their academics on science, engineering, IT and math - a technical school. Many are highly regarded - for example one of the top schools in the US - MIT.

So in the US if you graduated from MIT you would be regarded very highly. Only the top students get in.

University can have technical subjects, but typically are have more broaden programs.

But again this is what we see in the US.

I used to think that.

Being a top student is only a small part of getting in. You also have to be able to fulfill some part of their quota system on minority, sexual preference, interesting hair cut, correct astronomic sign, etc.

Where the hell are you getting that from?

Yes but you still have to have the smarts. They are not going to take you just because you are a gay native american with purple hair that can blow bubbles in a square format if you have a B average. Now granted this person may be chosen over some average joe that is like 90% of the student body that may have higher grades overall - but they are not going to take this person if they do not still have top grades/sats. They still can be picky on high grades and top students just they can pick a more diverse group with more diverse people that are also top students.

Having a kid that had gone through this college process - I learned quickly that if you have some things that are different than the average student make up - you can get more scholarship money and be selected at a school where your grades are just a little below the average.

My daughter got into a highly selective school with a good scholarship and at the last minute they threw in some more money to try to entice her - I honestly believe because she was a good softball player. It was division 3 so they cannot give you money for athletics, but they can give it for almost anything else - it can be so gray you really do not know how you got that scholarship. She was a good student in high school - but was not a highly selective student academically. Her guidance counselor said it was a stretch school for her - meaning might not get in.

She ended up going elsewhere that she felt fit her overall better. They also gave her a good amount of money - not as much as the other school but this school was less money overall. Anyway this school she got a leadership scholarship. They use these sorts to get a more diverse student body - which can mean students of color, sexual preference, ethnic background, they play the flute, you are from New England, you are overseas, you have blue hair - pretty much whatever they are trying to accomplish.

A female from New England studying in the sciences, plays sports - are some things that made her stand out (or at least I suspect) and give her a leg up at a small private school in Virginia - most of the kinds are from Virginia and other states around that area. Now her grades were right in line with what is considered "selective" - not highly selective - so she was able to snag a good scholarship overall.

The schools do not hide this - they do say they look at a variety of things when choosing students not just grades.

However, when you get into the very high academic schools - you do need the grades - but it is so competitive to get in, that you can still have the grades and not get in - so it helps to have some sort of something that helps build the schools diversity for what that they are looking for.

Personal experience.

I should clarify this average is the average grades of students accepted at a particular university - not as an average overall.

So for MIT the average gpa is 4.17. So you could get into MIT with say a 4.10 average so you are below the average for MIT, but still well above the average gpa.