<p>mncollegemom - I looked for it all different ways - St Thomas University and University of St. Thomas and Saint Thomas University, even St. Thomas College. I can’t find it on the NCES site. I found it’s info - [University</a> of St. Thomas – A private, Catholic liberal arts university in Minnesota — University of St. Thomas : Home](<a href=“http://www.stthomas.edu/]University”>http://www.stthomas.edu/) I mean, my daughter’s undergrad college with less then 700 students is on NCES. I like the NCES site because it has all the stats, including merit aid, grad rate, etc. for every college all in one place.</p>
<p>kathiep–well, I’m just a MN school grad so I could be wrong but when I couldn’t find it listed under your University of Saint Thomas link I just searched for MN schools and went to the last page listed and low and behold, there it was…amazing.</p>
<p>One of the things I find difficult is determining how a school is seen locally, and how that relates to it’s actual quality, when it is outside our area. Even within our local area, it can be difficult to parse out the various opinions. People on these boards can be helpful or not, depending on how they themselves view the institution and how diplomatic vs brutally honest they are willing to be.</p>
<p>Hey I’m a fan of lesser known schools, and LACs as well. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of Mt. Allison, the school I tout not infrequently on CC. I’m not attacking the school, I’m attacking your judgment about this major (and lack of evidence to back it up).</p>
<p>As a professor, and as someone who recruits students for graduate work, I can read a cv. And there is no way someone is going to tell me that a department is ‘very good’ when you have just five faculty, graduates themselves of not well regarded universities in their area, who don’t actually do any research. Hotbed of research is not necessary but preparing students for graduate school (a research degree) is. Inviting politicians (seriously, this sounds like a joke), and your student liking their major does not make the department ‘very good’. Compared to what exactly? </p>
<p>I was looking more for things like strength of course offerings, actual graduate placement rate, research opportunities (so someone has a slight shot at funded graduate school) or internship opportunities for students. Even things like the number of students majoring in this, or a particular approach they are known for would be useful. Or basically anything that sets it apart from the 2752 schools of higher education offering political science as a major.</p>
<p>It’s not the nuns I’m worried about.
But, yes, it is a very good reason if it’s important to the student and parent.</p>
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<p>“Marquette is a very well known school, at least to those who follow college basketball.” </p>
<p>Exactly.</p>
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<p>Absolutely agree. Pennsylvania must have the most colleges per square mile. Maybe Massachusetts has more. Every town in PA seems to have a college in it.</p>
<p>mncollegemom- Not everyone wants a Catholic school. In fact, many students/families do NOT. It certainly would not have been a choice for my kids. (the being afraid of nuns comment was aimed at me…)</p>
<p>I am one of the ones who sacrifices some diplomacy for being brutally honest. We all have our opinions about schools and like some more than others. I think it is one thing to suggest schools that might be a good fit and another to constantly try to shove a particular school or type of school (i.e. Catholic LACs in Minnesota) down everyone’s throat.</p>
<p>Yes, exactly. Familiarity often breeds the opposite of contempt – ah, I’ve heard of it, I drive by there, I know so-and-so who went there and he’s a decent guy, therefore the school must be pretty good. I actually have an employee who went to U of St. Thomas. He’s a very good employee, in fact one of my best. That doesn’t make it a particularly “good” school, though. Now, I don’t know why he went there. For all I know, he had to stay close to home, they gave him a scholarship – who knows and who cares.</p>
<p>MomofWildChild-I have recommended 2 different Catholic LAC in specific cases where they ARE a good fit given the information the OP’s provided. YOU chose to stalk me on this board and make comments that they are not a good fit because they have 97 year old nuns on campus–never mind that the 97 year old nun most likely holds at least 2 PhD’s…</p>
<p>the site has it listed as the University of St. Thomas, not Saint Thomas…with a 77% graduation rate,
yes - that is the ** 6 year** graduation rate.</p>
<p>One can argue that, outside of these forums, most people would find most colleges to be “obscure”, other than the school(s) that they or their immediate family attended (if they attended college or university), local (and possibly regional) colleges and universities, in-state public colleges and universities, and HYPSM.</p>
<p>Yes, some schools are known in the context of football or basketball, but sink back into obscurity in other contexts. (If you say “University of Alabama”, how many people will think “good college football team” versus “generous merit scholarships for high-stats freshman applicants”?)</p>
<p>mncollegemom- I assure you that I am not stalking you, and I disagree that the schools you recommended were good fits for the OP- or, at the very least that you had no reason to think they would be! St. Benedict Convent is where old nuns are sent to die. I was told that in no uncertain terms when I was on campus. I don’t care if they have 2 PhDs if they are in a coma!</p>
<p>One option if she is a poly sci kid is to think ahead as to where she might want to end up professionally (region, that is).
Obscurity is in the eye of the beholder. My cousin, originally from Oregon, went to Williams and graduated with a philosophy degree (about 1988) She moved to Seattle with that degree and had real trouble both finding work and getting into graduate school. “The Network” works well if you take your small LAC degree to the nearest large metro area or NYC in the case of Williams, but nobody had heard of it outside the East Coast. It just did not have the cache of even a major state flagship of any kind when applying to grad school (likely changed since then, but not necessarily). Some small schools do have a network for employment outside their region - an example would be St. Olaf which has an active Seattle contingent of alums just because there are so many Norwegians here. Davidson used to have that problem outside the South, I understand, and it’s not even obscure. </p>
<p>A northwest example might be Linfield College in Oregon which is very obscure nationally, but graduates business and nursing majors, and others who seem to go out and get hired in the Portland and Seattle areas - anecdotal, though, no data. The midwest version of the Linfield type school that come to mind is Valparaiso. </p>
<p>Disclaimer: This is not a rec for a school for OP kid, but just an observation of locally well thought of college or masters U that graduates kids to go get jobs in area vs stepping stone to academia</p>
<p>Yes, redpoint, somebody really should. That’s very astute. We are all so hopeful for our kids’ futures-- it’s almost a relief to have the good old USNWR ranking, ranking, ranking-- so we can lull ourselves into the sense of security-- get the kid into a top school and he or she is safely installed on a high socio-economic rung. If only things were so clear.</p>
<p>“Not everyone wants a Catholic school. In fact, many students/families do NOT.”</p>
<p>Agreed. My child applied to DePaul as one of several colleges in the Chicago area. If she goes, will she be able to access healthcare services appropriate to a young woman living in 2012 rather than the 15th century, without having to surmount barriers to evidence-based care? That is one of many questions I have.</p>
<p>OP - of course there are obscure schools where your child can get a great education with excellent merit aid. Heck, I have seen my alma mater referred to as “a half a$$ed fourth tier state school” on these boards. I received a great education and have had a satisfying career. No guarantees no matter where you attend college.</p>
<p>I am in the camp that the name on your undergrad degree doesn’t much matter after your first job. Many on this board feel differently. The vast majority of the schools discussed on this board are obscure to the general population.</p>
<p>Then the State where the college is located may very likely be more important than the religious affiliation. FWIW, DD is at a sunshine state public. Healthcare services on campus have up to a 4 week wait for non-emergency stuff - especially the kind of things she can plan. For this reason, many of the students will visit off campus clinics. If access is of great concern then the college should be near a metropolitan area.</p>
<p>As for the Catholic aspect…DD went to a Catholic high school, as did I. Back in 1974 my nun bio teacher had PPH come in and speak to us - it was an all female school. Fast forward…DD in 2006 - human biology course - no holds barred on the information given and the frankness of the discussion. This could not have happened in our public non sectarian HS. Why would colleges be any different?</p>
<p>Catholic colleges rarely seem to have ‘PC Speech codes’ in place. Check out [url=<a href=“http://thefire.org/]FIRE[/url”>http://thefire.org/]FIRE[/url</a>] they assist students whose free speech has been violated on campus. Deciding whether or not a non-secular university is right for a student and family is a personal choice. However, the blanket assumption that all religious campuses are stuck in the 15th century is either naive or just based on fear. </p>
<p>I guess it’s a good thing though…keeps those spots open for the unafraid.</p>
If your philosophical bent is so at odds with that of the institution, or you believe them to be operating in the 15th century, why would you let SnowD apply there? </p>
<p>If she goes, will she be able to access healthcare services appropriate to a young woman living in 2012 rather than the 15th century, without having to surmount barriers to evidence-based care? Hard to say- Romney planes to end Title X which funds family planning services for poor women.</p>
<p>There are Catholic schools & then there are * Catholic* schools.</p>
<p>For example some Catholic schools may try & follow the Popes edicts on homosexuality and birth control.
However a few years ago, a local Catholic high school performed * The Laramie Project* & while the local Catholic University does not distribute condoms in their health clinic, they allow students to do so on campus. They also have several support groups for GLBT students & while they don’t currently dispense birth control, Planned Parenthood is just a couple blocks away & students are reminded of their services & some majors are encouraged to intern at Planned Parenthood.</p>
<p>The Catholic school I attended was FAR from “conservative”. There were openly gay couples all over campus, I had several classes where gay students came and spoke on various topics relating the the gay lifestyle. The campus health service was “just” off campus so it didn’t compromise the Church’s belief on birth control. There were women on campus that got pregnant outside of marriage and they were not flogged, stoned or anything like that. Most of the political rallies held at the State Capital were organized or at least well attended by students from our Catholic school. </p>
<p>The problem here is there are a lot of assumptions made about various schools that are just not correct because they aren’t on a top 25 list somewhere.</p>
Every town in PA seems to have a college in it.</p>