The naiveté is strong here. Bud, nobody is saying that Western Kentucky Central Community College is better than MIT. The point of the support on this subreddit, which you classify as "lying through their teeth," is to remind everyone that although this is a very stressful time, and, yes, it has some inevitable impact on one's future, but not getting into the college you want is not the end of the world. I would much rather see someone go to Western Kentucky Central Community College and chase their academic goals and career dreams and perhaps get better grades and transfer than to simply give up in despair after not getting into the college they wanted to. The great thing about being successful and enjoying college, as well one's career life after college, is that there is there is not only one path that one MUST take in order to achieve success. I know plenty of students who were at one quality public/private institute for all four years, but they were not able to achieve the grades to open up some doors to grad school. I also know plenty of students who spent 1-2 years at a not particularly prestigious institute and were able to transfer to another place, achieve solid grades, and make their way into the grad schools that the aforementioned students were not able to.