<p>I know they say that the people who matter, like employers, law schools, and all that jazz, know about what wonderful educations they have and how impossible they are to get into, blah, blah, blah...</p>
<p>But when it comes down to it, when I tell people I'm choosing between Middlebury, Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, Haverford, etc...and when nobody has a clue what I'm talking about, says something along the lines of, "Oh, that's a nice place," ordoesn't even congratulate me, it just bothers me, and makes me think of dusting off my Cornell waitlist letter.</p>
<p>I can take comfort in how intimate and great they are and all of that, but it just still gets depressing when I blank looks from Sophomores and the like.</p>
<p>Just was wondering your thoughts or if anyone has felt the same.</p>
<p>I wouldn't let it bother you, considering that places like Amherst are (by all objective measures; see some of my other recent posts) significantly better than any of the Ivy League schools besides HYP.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has a great reputation in CT, behind Yale's of course. If you try and go to the west coast it may be a problem, but other than that I would not worry about it.</p>
<p>the only opinions that will matter in the end are those of the people who highly respect those schools. if you're just telling everyone that you got into those schools to draw a "wow" or a pat on the back, then you'll always be unsatisfied, especially with the general public.</p>
<p>All the time. When I say I'm going to Bard, people say..."Oh...good luck, I'm sure it's a great school...". I've had people who that LACs were 2-year junior colleges. Someone told me I should go to UMASS-Amherst over Bard because it was more prestigious.</p>
<p>It does bother me a bit when people ask where my son is considering going, and I give them the name of a $45,000 year per school and they say, "Oh, where is that? I haven't heard of it," in a very polite voice. Makes me wonder if there's any point in paying all that money, since the name on the diploma is what he'll be left with when 4 years are up. (Along with all his fabulous memories, and great friends, and networking, and the ability to think critically.... but what's on the resume is the name of the school). I do think it affected my thinking when he was choosing between two schools. (He could go to Lafayette, which most people confuse with Lehigh, or Union which no one had heard of.)</p>
<p>Maybe that's why the Ivies have so much "snob" appeal, when you drop the name of an Ivy into a conversation, people know what it is!</p>
<p>Don't go to Cornell. Swarthmore, Wesleyan are above Cornell. If you really think about it, most of the world is uneducated, as is much of the US. I told some friends of mine in Asia (American School) that I got into Vanderbilt and they said Vander what? (Im not going there btw).</p>
<p>Is that saying Vanderbilts a bad school? Most people in the world really only know Harvard, even Yale and Princeton pale in comparison, then you get down to places like WashU, Northwestern, and people in other countries really haven't heard of it.</p>
<p>sometimes it bothers me, but then I talk to some of the people around here, and realize they haven't heard of cornell either. and don't know what the ivy league is. people here think notre dame is an ivy.</p>
<p>Don't feel bad, some people just don't have a clue about the colleges or the college process.... I was telling one of my parents friends that I was waitlisted at Harvard, she said got all excited and said " oh that is WONDERFUL!" then I told her, that that was pretty much the same as being rejected! She looked very confused!! :)</p>
<p>What others respond depends a lot on where you live. If you are from the northeast, then most will know all those great LAC's. If you live in the south or other parts of the country they won't. Where I live the only schools in the northeast many seem to know are Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Most go to the state university or go to big public universities. They only know the small LACs in the neighboring states that rank no where as high as the ones you mention.
For the poster who indicated they are deciding on Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Swartmore ect, these are great schools. If you are going to wind up working in the northeast everyone knows them. And, if you are going to apply to top graduate schools coming from these small LAC's will be an edge.
Anyone who tells you they have never heard of them is really not into academia. When you are at Harvard Law School or Stanford Business School or Yale Medical School one day, you will meet people who went to Middlebury undergraduate, Amherst, Bowdin, Wesleyan ect. Many of these people will have gone to Harvard, Yale or Princeton undergrad.</p>
<p>When I applied, I basically talked myself into thinking that I didn't care about prestige...I still don't, really, but now that everyone I know is asking where I'm going, it's becoming a big mental issue.</p>
<p>As far as fit goes, Middlebury is my favorite...I would assume of those it is the second most respected/well-known after Swarthmore, which I just really don't like for some reason</p>
<p>I am in the same boat. Just remember, you probably won't be asking most of these people for a job, so it only matters if you get a self-esteem boost from people who think your school is all that and a bag of chips. Personally, I don't.</p>
<p>By comparison you are going to world-famous schools. When I tell people I got into the University of the South, everyone says "the what?" which is a tad annoying after a while, but I also get a lot of satisfaction when someone's heard of it and they say "ah...that's a great school"...sure it'd be cool to say "I'm going to Harvard" because everyone knows all about Harvard, but I'm not sure the education I'll get isn't going to be as good if not better, so I don't really care.</p>
<p>I'm a free-floating, philosophical, 4/20 celebrating d-bag on the whole...chill about everything...but i'm inexplicably sensitive and self-conscious about colleges...might have to do with having an overachieving older brother (at swarthmore, but still), i don't know what</p>
<p>If the only reason you care is so that people will be impressed, it's probably for the best. If you are seriously considering changing schools just so people will recognize the name and be impressed, well, i don't know what to say.</p>
<p>I think it depends on who you speak with and where they live. For example, an earlier poster mentioned that no one has heard of Union. My son will be attending Union in the fall and I can tell you that in the Philly to Boston corridor (which, of course, includes NY), the school is very well known. In fact, it never ceases to amaze me how many people have friends, relatives, etc. that have gone to Union. I can also tell you that not only is it well known, but most folks I mention this to say something like, "wow, your son must be very smart, that's a great school."</p>
<p>I travel out west quite a bit and I know that folks who are from, say, Colorado (not eastern transplants, but people who grew up out there) have typically not heard of te school. As you move away from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, people tend to know ivies, big state schools and their own state's schools (in CO, they know Colorado College, for example, while folks in the east might give you a blank stare despite its excellent reputation). They simply do not have the same frame of reference. Most of the schools they recognize do not hold a candle to a school like Union and in grad schools and employers with real recruiters (either in-house or out-sourced), a Union degree woul be worth far more.</p>
<p>Go with quality and academic reputation (and fit, of course), not whether people on the street have heard of the school. There are many famous schools out there that are not very good.</p>
<p>It also matters if your employers have heard of the university, or lac in this case, and if they have a good impression of it. That's all that I would take into account because when you go out to get a job, they'll generally care less about how good your college experience was [compared to the name of the school and how well you did]. It's that way in some fields at least.</p>