<p>Ok, I'm a senior and I've already received acceptances to seven colleges so far, several of which most of the ppl. on CC haven't heard of. I'm waiting to hear back from some of the more well-known and competitive schools I applied to, such as Case. To the schools I got into already, I received scholarships ranging from 8k-70k (nearly a free ride!) These are Tier 2/Tier 3 schools according to US News. Although I have a pretty low GPA (by the end of senior year it will only be around a 3.4 :( ), my 1350 SAT I score offset that. In some cases, my SAT was 200+ points higher than the 75th %ile of those schools, and that helped me garner all these merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If I do get into a more selective, Tier 1 school, but without any scholarship, should I even enroll there? I mean, I know that higher education is one of the best investments you can make for yourself, but this will put a strain on my parents. It's not like they'll have to starve themselves in order to pay my tuition for a more selective institution. But consider that they also have to pay my brother's Harvard tuition, which is $30,620 + room & board+ books/lab supplies+ personal expenses = over 40k a year!! They said that they were willing to pay any price tuition for me as long as I worked really hard and college and took advantage of all the resources available. But still, I feel guilty about making them spend so much when there were more cost-effective alternatives... :/</p>
<p>Does acceptance difficulty, bigger endowments, and prestige translate into a better quality education? Or would my future be just as bright if I attended a Tier 3 LAC and was successful there? At a higher ranked school I will have much more competition, and will have to toil hard to distinguish myself. But at a small, lesser ranked college, I'll get the best the school has to offer, be at the top of my class, and make a bigger impact on the life of the school.</p>
<p>Also, you know how the SAT I score is supposed to be a "yardstick" measuring your projected performance in freshman year? Well, if a scored a great deal above the range of a particular school, would I not be academically challenged at that school? And is it better to aim high or be a "super star" at a smaller, less prestigious school (that offers me great scholarships)? Please help!</p>
<p>At a public college, where a 1350 is in the 75th percentile it isn't a problem, because there is a bigger "tail" to the distribtion curve and there are plenty of 1500 and 1600 people who will challenge and add to your exparience. At selective schools it could be a problem, because if the 75th is 1350, the 99th percentile might be 1400, which is not that impressive today. You'd miss out on something. I'd go public</p>
<p>When most people on CC squabble about prestige, they are talking about Top-50 universities or LACs in the first place. In the case of quite a few Tier 3 places, education is not the same quality that it would be at a lower Tier 1 school. Obviously this doesn't apply to all, but if you got in to Case for instance, I would go there; it really depends on how you feel the school is. Case is generally fairly decent when it comes to fin aid anyway, so you are likely to get something, and it appears your parents can pay it off. If you plan on going to any graduate or professional schools, while it isn't of utmost importance like many people make it out to be, where you attended school certainly is a factor. As a random example, Stanford Medical School would certainly prefer a 4.0 out of Case more than a 4.0 from Fayetteville State University. </p>
<p>If your parents are willing to pay for it, go to the place where you want to - many people, myself included, would kill for the opportunity to be guaranteed financial security wherever we went. If your parents are willing to pay for your college education, go to the top college of your choice you get in to - you only have one oppurtunity. In the case of being a "superstar" at a Tier 4 school and "typical student" at a Tier 1, remember that people only care about how you do in college, not how you got there.</p>
<p>Pristige is VERY important. When you graduate, the diploma stays with you forever, and you dont want to end up at a good university that no one knows about.
Think about this..</p>
<p>You apply for a job with 10 other appplicants. The other applicants have school names that are really attractive. You have one that no one knows about. The result? The boss isn't gonna spend time researching, he'll just toss the application in the reject pile.</p>
<p>.
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The other applicants have school names that are really attractive. You have one that no one knows about. The result? The boss isn't gonna spend time researching, he'll just toss the application in the reject pile
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Or maybe if you went to Yale or Princeton he'll think you won't be willing to work har at his crappy job and will hire somebody from the U.</p>
<p>
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Or maybe if you went to Yale or Princeton he'll think you won't be willing to work har at his crappy job and will hire somebody from the U.
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</p>
<p>if you went to Yale or Princeton, why would you apply for a job you thought was "crappy"...?</p>
<p>And to answer the question, "prestige" is WAYYY overrated, I'm serious. It makes a difference, but not a ton. Do people honestly think that employers will automatically hire a Harvard graduate or that a Yale graduate has some kind of insurmountable advantage over a state u. grad? I would bet the most common response of employers is that they think these people are a bit arrogant, even if they're not, just because that is the expectation, and expectations affect our response to situations a whole lot.</p>
<p>"Pristige is VERY important. When you graduate, the diploma stays with you forever, and you dont want to end up at a good university that no one knows about.
Think about this.."</p>
<p>You seem to forget that most people here plan on going past a BA/BS degree. For someone employing a lawyer, they could care less if you got a BS at Yale and a JD at some no-name university, but certainly they would be interested if it were the other way around.</p>
<p>Just look in the archives, this one has been debated to death. To me, the bottom line is that it depends on what you want to do. If you want to be an elementary school teacher or a nurse, the prestige of a school will not matter. If you want to be a doctor, the most important thing is to go to a school where you can get a high GPA. If you want to be an investmentment banker, consultant or go to a top professional grad school, go to the best college you can get into. Some professions only recruit from top colleges and it's well documented you have a better chance at a top professional schools coming from top undergrad institutions.</p>
<p>.
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could care less if you got a BS at Yale and a JD at some no-name university, but certainly they would be interested if it were the other way around
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I think that a degree from Yale is still impressive, even if you then go to for example Temple law school.But the other way around is better for pure employment purposes. But for me, I would still rather have the Yale education, because it broadens you so much as a person. Law school is professional training, and is not aimed at the whole person. It's pretty narrow.</p>
<p>Pristige is VERY important. When you graduate, the diploma stays with you forever, and you dont want to end up at a good university that no one knows about.
Think about this.."</p>
<p>I had a good laugh at this comment. I'm in my 40's and can't remember the last time someone asked where I went to college (except here on CC of course), or for that matter, graduate school. </p>
<p>I've held executive level jobs and I have never had an employer hire me because I did or did not attend a certain school - I was hired because I had worked hard to gain the skills and experience needed to do the job. In my social life, I've never had anyone reject me or run away screaming in fear because I didn't go to a particular college. In fact, most people I've met really don't care where I went to college. They judge me on other things.</p>
<p>That's not to say that there's anything wrong with choosing a prestigious school - just don't do so because you think it is going to make or break your life. I guarantee you that once you get into the "real world," the name of the college you attended is usually a very minor issue.</p>
<p>carolyn, i respect yr point of view about work, but doesn't going to a great school enriche yr life in ways that going to the local state college doesn't. Do you feel that way at least a little?</p>
<p>
[quote]
You apply for a job with 10 other appplicants. The other applicants have school names that are really attractive. You have one that no one knows about. The result? The boss isn't gonna spend time researching, he'll just toss the application in the reject pile.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Um. There's also something called experience that factors into that. I highly doubt people in the real job world look only at the name of the school the person goes to and be like "Nope, I don't know this name and I don't want to look it up on Princeton Review for it's ranking! Rejected!"</p>
<p>Edit: And I totally support carolyn's post. :) Man, I'm so slow in posting.</p>
<p>I'm kind of sad that the adults here only talk about their schools in terms of how it affected their ability to make money. I feel that shows that they are not truly educated.</p>
<p>No, it's because you can learn the same thing at just about <em>any</em> good Tier 1 school if you have the desire to learn. There may be some difference in the way information is presented in certain fields (e.g. engineering schools more oriented towards theory than others and such), but for the most part the actual stuff you can learn at a college doesn't vary a whole lot. The SAT score of the person sitting next to you doesn't affect your learning ability very much. </p>
<p>While some LACs are more dicussion oriented, many of the "elite" universities are not, and you learn in much the same fashion as you would a state U. For many people having a lot of people in a class isn't much of a problem. It's more of finding a setting that matches you - some people can tolerate large classes, others may want small classes, and others yet may value discussion more than anything.</p>
<p>ohnoes, you seem to be saying that where you go undegrad means very little. Well, I was in non-honor English for a semester last year and it was terrible. They were nice kids but they didn't understand what the teacher was asking.</p>
<p>I have a required class this year as a senior and it is the worst class I have had in a long time. The people are just not very bright. Everything takes twice as long. :(</p>
<p>To me, the most important aspect of any school is your peer group. There is only one professor in most classrooms, so most of the learning is the exchange between peers.</p>
<p>Well, usually, if you are bright yourself, it doesn't matter if you go to a school in the top 10 or top 50. But tier 2 and tier 3 is stretching it, and I'm afraid you are gonna miss a lot of opportunities and interaction with talented people if you go to one of these schools. But that's just my opinion and i could be totally wrong.</p>
<p>Still, I suggest you go to a good tier 1 public university that won't cause a big strain on your parents, rather than a tier 3 w/ full ride.</p>