<p>My dad keeps telling me to go to the best school i can go to, but I really want to go to a school that fits my needs. I need some reasons, but he basically believes that a better school will lead to be a better education which equals a better job. It's getting annoying, but hes kinda mad cuz I passed up ED opportunities since I wanted to leave my options open and there was no "favorite school" yet... help please lol</p>
<p>I agree. What's most important is the right match for you. </p>
<p>There are many excellent colleges and, for any college, name recognition and prestige do not necessarily equate with academic excellence. Academic excellence has to do with an institutions quality of teaching, availability of good mentoring and advising, accessibility and availability of professors, and whether or not education is a top priority of the institution.</p>
<p>The bottom line:
1. You dont have to get into the ivy league to be successful in life.
2. The ratings from the US News & World Report are misleading and lead to a marketing of colleges rather than illuminating true quality and educational value.
3. The college/university you graduate from does not determine who you are and your contributions to the world.</p>
<p>Consider this: <a href="http://www.educationconservancy.org/smallposter.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.educationconservancy.org/smallposter.pdf</a></p>
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he basically believes that a better school will lead to be a better education
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<p>But why does he believe those schools will lead to a better education? Could it be because other people do too? Try to get him to realize the prestige comes from perceived quality and not necessarily actual quality.</p>
<p>well he believes that going to a better school will help me land a better job and then make it easier to get into grad school</p>
<p>"well he believes that going to a better school will help me land a better job and then make it easier to get into grad school"
It will actually have the opposite effect (grad-school wise) if you're choosing between a prestigious, highly ranked school and a well-respected, lower ranked school that's a good fit. Grad schools care more about what you've done in undergrad and your experiences as a whole than where you've done it, and a high GPA is easier to achieve if you don't go somewhere with alot of grade deflation.
As far as a good job, he's right, but a prestigious degree will only extend so far as to get your foot in the door for an interview at a place that pays slightly better than the "lesser" college could get you. Beyond your first job out of college, it's all about your experience in the field and how well you interview.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>well he believes that going to a better school will help me land a better job and then make it easier to get into grad school<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>To some extent your dad is right. I was at a CalTech admissions info session about 6 months ago, and as part of the presentation they had a panel of local CalTech alums talk about their experiences and the value of a Caltech degree. And one of the panelists is a current professor at UCSD who sits on her department's grad school admissions committee. And she said that they normally did not seriously consider any applicants who got their degrees from colleges below the top couple of dozen in the field. Grad school admissions were so competitive and they had so many great applicants from top schools that they very seldom took any from the lesser schools. (Her point being that a degree from Caltech would get you looked at by grad schools).</p>
<p>Of course "fit" is important, but why not look for a school that offers you both a good fit and a well-known name? That way both you and your dad can be happy.</p>
<p>Is it too much to ask for both? I think you should look for fit and quality.</p>
<p>Definitely choose quality and fit. If it's prestigious, that's a bonus, but the bottom line is look for the school that fits your social, academic and personal needs.</p>
<p>Well, I think I'm turning into the extreme case for this, but I may be choosing the less prestigious, worse fitting school over the better one with a better fit. Why? Because I want credit for the AP classes I got 4's on and I want to graduate in 3 years. So I may take a dip in prestige AND fit to pick a school where it's cheaper, I can keep my credits, and I will graduate in 3 years (okay, and I can run track since Northwestern has no track team).</p>
<p>I say, pick the one you want when the time comes to pick it. Do analyze your acceptances, but don't bases everything on the "data". After considering you data, follow your heart/gut/wallet.</p>
<p>Having the chance to excel and be the so called "face of the school" can be very valuable. </p>
<p>A lot of people go to "prestigous" schools because they are scared to put themselves out there. They would rather hide behind a degree than prove themselves to other people through their own actions and abilities.</p>
<p>One argument I can think of:</p>
<p>Questioning your own ability, getting a big slap of "You are mediocre." academically in your first semester in college. </p>
<p>It happened to me, however if you can get over it, you will be better because of that hurdle.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>A lot of people go to "prestigous" schools because they are scared to put themselves out there.<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>I've run into a number people who chose just the opposite. One guy put it this way: "I got into MIT but I chose my local state school. Because I knew I was the smartest kid in my entire high school, but I also knew that MIT would be full of people who were the smartest kids in their entire school. I didn't think I could handle that."</p>
<p>So sometimes it's the people who choose less selective schools who are actually afraid to put themselves out there - afraid of the challenge. They'd rather be the big fish in the small pond than risk being a routine fish in the famous pond.</p>
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They'd rather be the big fish in the small pond than risk being a routine fish in the famous pond.
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<p>Definitely do not discount this. I went to state U despite being accepted at much better places and I didn't have to put too much effort into catching the eyes of my professors and I landed a paid research assistant post in my junior year and this was one of the things I leveraged to get into a top 5 school with funding and a fellowship as an MS. If I had gone to MIT, perhaps such opportunities would not have been available to me since I would have been extremely average and I wouldn't have convinced professors I was worth taking on.</p>
<p>During undergrad, a couple others transferred from MIT or similar places because they didn't like the pressure of being so average despite being amazing people (and they were amazing).</p>
<p>no argument is good enough.
the fact is that good schools are prestigious because they're good.</p>
<p>You could also look at it from this perspective:</p>
<p>If you know you want to get into a top-ranked graduate program, it's best to do extremely well in the less selective/challenging school so that you can gain admission at the prestigious graduate program. Most of the "prestigious" programs in CC are known for their superb graduate and professional programs.</p>
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If I had gone to MIT, perhaps such opportunities would not have been available to me since I would have been extremely average and I wouldn't have convinced professors I was worth taking on.
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But at a school like MIT, those sorts of opportunities are available to all students, not just the standouts.</p>
<p>Personally, I don't feel that being an average student at MIT handicapped me as an applicant to the top graduate programs in my field -- I had a below-average GPA for my major (and presumably far below average for the applicant pool in general), but I had outstanding research experience and publications. I do not feel that I would be a student in my current PhD program if I had gone to my state U.</p>
<p>grad schools care about your grades, recs and research experience, assuming you meet the gre cutoff. As long as your school isn't some really crappy one, you will be taken seriously. I worked in a graduate admissions office, and there's a ton of people applying from the top schools each year, I have never heard people I worked with say "wow, this guy's from MIT, or Harvard" because we get so many of these places. However, if you goto a very poor undergrad, I'll hear comments like "he's got all A's, but i've never heard of the school", and if your GRE at the same time is also not very high, they just dump your file in the trash.</p>
<p>Jckund, My S's best friend also didn't apply ED to his first choice school(Colgate), even though it would have increased his chances of admission. His parents, our dear family friends, were so angry with him. He, also, wanted to keep his options open. He did get in regular decision. I think if you're a strong candidate, you're a strong candidate. If you can get in ED/EA, when the top students are selected, you should be able to get in RD. There is something to be said about not having to wait until March to hear from your first choice. My D got deferred from her first choice and the wait to hear was impossible. She turned down the University of Michigan(she heard from them in early Dec.) to attend Villanova's business school. She went for fit vs prestige. (Although Nova has since risen in the rankings.) She had a job when she graduated.</p>
<p>While there is some truth that a more "prestigious" school can open doors for you, you have to be happy in what school you choose. I think a combination of those two can be achieved. MBA programs are NOT admitting right out of college these days. (I think I saw that you want to be a business major.) </p>
<p>You have to be comfortable with where you are going to spend the next 4 years. Fit is very important. You probably can't go wrong with your list anyway from what I've seen in past posts.</p>
<p>Jckund, My D chose fit over prestige in 2001. She turned down the University of Michigan(she heard from them in early Dec.) to attend Villanova's business school. She went for fit vs prestige. (Although Nova has since risen in the rankings.) She had a job when she graduated. I can't tell you how many people told her she was nuts.....at times we even said to her, "are you sure?" But, SHE was.</p>
<p>While there is some truth that a more "prestigious" school can open doors for you, you have to be happy in what school you choose. I think a combination of those two can be achieved.</p>
<p>OK - here I go again - the CC voice in the wilderness . . .</p>
<p>What the heck does an 18-year-old know about "fit?" I didn't have much of a notion of the type of individual I'd turn out to be when I was 18. I thought I knew the kind of social setting in which I'd be comfortable, but you know what? The more I stretched outside my comfort zone, the more I found that I could be comfortable in a lot of settings. Do you want urban or rural, big or small, preppy or bohemian? Well, you answers will largely be dictated by your experiences to this point, which you're going to college, in part, to expand.</p>
<p>It's a very, very unusual 18-year-old who has his life plans intact. If you're absolutely certain that you're going to be a concert pianist, then by all means go in that direction. But I honestly believe that the other 99% of us are best served by seeking out the best, most stimulating, most inspiring peer groups we can and seeing if we can't be comfortable among them, benefitting from their constant upward tugs on our goals and aspirations.</p>
<p>A young person looking for "fit" on a college tour is particularly influenced by peripheral things - the personality of the student tour guide who they'll never meet again, the look of the architecture, the coolness or geekiness of the small sample of students they pass by. The quality of the peer group, as measured by factors such as selectivity and retention / graduation rates, but also the quality of the campus newspaper and the level of student-initiated campus activity being advertised on flyers, gives a much more valid impression of the nature of the student experience there.</p>
<p>Incidentally, in looking for the right fit as a teenager, I chose a university that probably couldn't have been a worse fit. But it still turned out great and I loved every minute.</p>