<p>When you say a college is 'best', what does that mean? If I send my S to Michigan or UVa, does he get a better education (or better job) than going to UIUC or GaTech? What about Penn State or UVermont? We see the ratings and apply based on picking schools that tend to match my S's stats, but we're not sure what the difference is. </p>
<p>I don't know if he's 'giving up' something by not applying to the ' very top' public schools. I would LOVE an explanation. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Its all apples and oranges unless you are referring to certain programs or grad school. Just save the money and send your kid to your state flagship. OOS tuition cannot justify the expense of certain schools in my eyes.</p>
<p>I agree and disagree with you joev. I agree in that the program matters a lot. For example, if you have a degree in LAS from UIUC compared to a degree in LSA from Michigan, employers will certainly look more favorably upon the Michigan degree, but an engineering degree from UIUC or Michigan is competitive with engineering degrees from Stanford, MIT, etc. But in most cases, a degree from UVa or Michigan is FAR more impressive to potential employers than Penn State. When most employers see Penn State, they think mediocre applicant, state school, but Michigan and UVa are really on par with Northwestern, Cornell, and Penn when it comes to most employers.</p>
<p>Above all else, it matters what you do and how well you do it. There are any number of schools that will provide people with lots of opportunity. Michigan and Uva are fantastic schools, but if one goes there and floats through without a real sense of purpose or challenge in their studies, they are at a disadvantage to the folks who go to a Northern Illinois or James Madison (just choosing good regional schools out of a hat) and have their acts together. The empirical advantage I found to going to a top 10 "name" school was small but real - I went to a top 10 grad school as well and found my B plus/A minus undergrad grades were sufficient to get in me while the Penn State types really needed more towards the solid A - but again, I am not sure this is such a great advantage or is a sound basis upon which to choose a school, given the competing concerns of finances, personal preferences, athletic or musical or performance possibilities, etc....besides, from someone very established in the working world, getting too caught up in credentialism doesn't come off very well - competence counts - and there are lots of ways to acheive it.</p>