Colleges by Best Alumni Networking (Non-Ivies)

College Search & Selection
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<p>Please list, in your opinion the Best Colleges for Alumni Networking in the United States. I will then continue the list with a master list and we will continue discussing and debating the list. Clearly, schools like Harvard, Princeton, and Yale would be on the top of the list somewhere, but let's do non-ivies. </p>

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<p>Texas A&M
Penn State
University of Texas- Austin
Michigan
Northwestern
just to name a few</p>

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<p>UCLA, Vanderbilt, Stanford?</p>

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<p>It might be helpful to clarify what you think “alumni networking” means, how it could be measured, and why you think it is important. What would make one school’s alumni network better than another’s?</p>

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<p>Well I think part of the equation should be prestige of the school’s name and academic rigor (because for networking i Dont just mean “oh you went to __<strong><em>” “GO </em></strong>!!” (football schools that may not have good academics) However, a school like Michigan will be respected by many employers in cities all across the United States. Likely, many employers will have gone to Michigan or know someone intelligent who went there. So that is part of the equation, because I’m thinking from a very professional point of view. I guess I mean schools that have a national presence, great job networking, and social events, and developing contacts, etc" </p>

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<p>I’d say Stanford, Duke, MIT, U of Chicago and Berkeley, and maybe some of the larger and more academic state schools such as U. of Michigan.</p>

<p>No liberal arts colleges; I went to one and there is little if any alumni networking available, in part due to its small size.</p>

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<p>@HappyAlumnus Really? I was under the impression that some of the better LACs have great alumni networking because such a small group of alumni would look out for each other, and the better ones produce higher tier employees/employers. </p>

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<p>Woandering, I went to a top-10 LAC. I live now in NYC, and there is maybe 1 alumni event a year in NYC for the school, usually to watch sports at a local bar. That’s nothing much. There might be more in the geographic area where the school is, but the events are similar. Look at the alumni pages on LACs’ websites and there just isn’t much in terms of activities.</p>

<p>Compare that with the Ivy where I went for grad school. That school has its own clubhouse, hundreds of alumni groups and masses of alumni, particularly in NYC but all over the country and all over the world. At least in NYC I could make alumni events my sole social/professional development scene and I’d have something to do most every night of the week. For example, this week there was an event for alumni in my field; over 300 people went and it was great networking. The LAC has nothing to show by comparison.</p>

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<p>USC & Stanford.</p>

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<p>UW-Madison. St. Thomas in Minnesota. Notre Dame.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>I still don’t get it. What’s a “national presence”, and how would you measure it?
The most selective private, national universities and LACs tend to admit students from all over the country and the world. The Chronicle of Higher Education has a nice tool that demonstrates this. Examples:
<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=130794”>http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=130794&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=163286”>http://chronicle.com/article/Where-Does-Your-Freshman-Class/129547/#id=163286&lt;/a&gt;
I suppose Yale would have a more far-flung network of alumni all over America and the world than the University of Maryland does, but Maryland would have a stronger presence in … uh … Maryland.</p>

<p>However, if you are referring to on-campus business recruiting, you might get a different answer. According to one ranking, schools that are top-rated by recruiters tend to be big state universities (like Penn State or UIUC):
<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060”>http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anyway … I’m a little skeptical of the idea that well-placed alumni of some schools “look out for each other” in a way that translates to career outcomes that are measurably better than other schools can claim. If a recent graduate of my alma mater called me cold about job opportunities, or sent me an unsolicited resume, I’d probably wonder what was wrong with this person that s/he wasn’t going through normal HR channels. </p>

<p>The most tangible, recurring benefit I get as an alumnus is the college magazine I receive in the mail every month or so for life. In my household, we get 4 of them. I find that the quality of the alumni magazines roughly reflects differences in the intellectual and social atmosphere of the colleges. The best of them is full of interesting articles and well-organized news about alumni from my graduating class and other graduating classes. The worst of them is full of lists of alumni donations, ranked by amount. </p>

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<ol>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>USC</li>
<li>Notre Dame </li>
</ol>

<p>This isn’t my list or anything i just made a general list from things we’ve said so far. Make your list and people will add to it and make corrections as we go along</p>

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<p>NYU
UC/Claremont Schools
Rice
SMU
Vanderbilt</p>

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<p>Perhaps that is the result of the selection effect (admission selectivity) of the colleges. With higher achieving incoming students, there is a greater chance of alumni doing something interesting enough to write about in a magazine after college.</p>

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<p>^ The colleges producing both the best and the worst of our 4 alumni magazines are about equally selective.</p>

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<p>Wellesley and Washington & Lee both are known for the strength of their alumnae/alumni networks.</p>

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<p>This is s stupid topic…and your master iist is comprised of wha data? Good lord.</p>

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<p>Sorry typos…need new phone</p>

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<p>@GA2012MOM‌ People on CC often discuss “networking” as an aspect of choosing the right college. Take it how you want and define “networking” in a way that makes sense for you, but there is no doubt that many people find it important and I think it’s a quite interesting topic </p>

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<p>But you are asking people on cc…duh, of course they are going to say their school. Yep. That’s some accurate data. AZ aaaMaybe look at alumni donation percentages? My kids is among the top.</p>