Ok I live in Upstate New York (pretty decent colleges) and I don’t get why people are so worried about the name of the college! Ok if you get into Harvard, that’s awesome! However, what I’m trying to say that why are so many people worried about undergrad? So many jobs require masters, PHDs, etc. that now undergrad is equivalent to a high school degree! What frustrates me even more is that people always complain about how much debt they are in!
From my prospective and from many professors’ prospectives, we both believe that undergrad should be at a cheap and local school (Ok it may depend on where you live and if it actually has a good program!)
I’m just curious, what are your prospectives about this topic?
Great colleges - Union, Skidmore, Bard, Hamilton, etc!
It does matter where you go, IMO, though it doesn’t have to be an Ivy. You want a college that has outstanding teaching, a culture that values serious, rigorous thought, and a community of learners that cares about the environment, social justice, and the world at large. This can be found in both state and private schools.
It does matter if you go to a great college like those quoted above, or to a college that lacks in resources and where students so lack academic drive that half of them don’t even bother showing up for their final.
Oh yeah of course! But what happens if you believe that you are not mentally mature to leave. Like it happens! Don’t get me wrong but some people like to party!
Actually a study indicated that professors rarely send their children to local regional schools, preferring instead research universities or LACs (Google “Where do professors send their children”).
@SternBusiness
Well yes depending on your major. However because a lot of students are going to college, it I’d somewhat equivalent to a high school diploma.
BUT IF YOU WANT TO BECOME AN ENGINEER, then your bs degree would equal to a bs degree.
I disagree. Unlike your HS diploma your undergrad will not only be on your resume your entire life. More importantly a strong undergrad education (1) sometimes means you can get a good job without grad school and (2) helps to prepare you for grad school if that is what you want by honing in your academic/writing/research skills. If you look at where the top grad students take their students from, the numbers are often disproportionately weighted towards the better undergrad colleges.
If you’re talking about two opposite ends of the spectrum (Podunk Regional LAC, US News rank: unranked vs. HYSPM), then it does matter where you go. But if you compare the top state school grad to the top Emory/Duke/Chapel Hill grad, I think they’d have almost the exact same opportunities–one just got their degree for a lot cheaper.
