<p>The OP’s son is interested in computer science (remember this from previous posts). He sounds like a kid who will go into one of the millions of IT jobs available in this country (probably not with a top name company like Google or Microsoft or a silicon valley type company). IT is as much of a “what have you done for me lately” field as one could possibly find. Brand name of his school for what he wants to do is pretty irrelevant. The important thing is what technical skills did he pick up, and what is he able to add to that with part time work and summer jobs in the IT field. Period. Let the kid go to school where he wants to go to school. If he is excited about it, he is likely to perform at a higher level when he gets there.</p>
<p>Sally, I agree. I am so hoping that there will be more change, but they are changing the colleges before the requisites in many cases. Look at the Yale Law school “Club”. Now the alums are of every ethnicity and color, but a disproportionate number of them still rule the Court, and the country for that mattter along with a select other school. There was an interview a year or so ago with one of the justices who pretty much ruled out the chance of anyone from Ohio State’s law school even getting a clerkship. Frank talk that I am surprised didn’t get more press and protest. Said it right out. </p>
<p>However, it is a sliver of even the top kids that make it into those slots anyways. For the vast, vast, vast majority of us, it makes no difference at all. And in most situations there are outlier. Those who are truly the top of the top, rise anyways. I was seated next to a woman during a function who I later found out is the president of Xerox, is on the short list for a cabinet position, and if anyone wants to look up where she went to school…well, let’s just say she has put some McKinsey, Baines, BCG folks in their places as they slink around her trying to get more work.</p>
<p>I say this as someone who works with McKinsey folks (all of whom are great, by the way, and who have varied backgrounds, from Ivies to state schools) … Despite what you read on CC, where everyone is supposed to bow to McKinsey / BCG and so forth, the whole point is that those companies don’t exist unless someone ELSE who has built an actual business hires them and makes use of their services. They’re beholden to clients, who may have graduated from East Wherever State U. Don’t ever forget that.</p>
<p>A college name does make a difference but that difference diminishes over time for most people.</p>
<p>As someone who has lived in various states over the years, I’ve worked on teams where most employees attend the same handful of mostly large state colleges. Penn State in PA, Rutgers in NJ, UVA/JMU/William & Mary in VA, Univ of Kentucky in KY, Univ of Texas in TX. </p>
<p>This phenomena lends itself to a common culture, shared experiences and familiarity. All 3 of these benefits help in the job search process and with on the job relationships on the least at a subliminal level.</p>
<p>Hiring people is risky. Hiring people who performed well at your alma mater, reduces the risk before even meeting.</p>
<p>I think most people who lived, went to college and then work in a single region are mostly unaware of these advantages but I’ve seen it clearly numerous times.</p>
<p>Elite schools have brand names that reach beyond a single state or region and so do the really big sports schools but that doesn’t always help you. Your boss may have been rejected by Princeton or Yale or put Michigan on a resume and apply to job in Ohio. You may not get a call back.</p>
<p>I was in the IT industry for years. Entry level IT jobs really do not care about where the undergraduate degree came from. The only type of IT jobs that care are ‘consulting’ jobs at the big accounting firms because they are generally snobby and have to show their clients that their entry level consultants are worth the big dollars.</p>
<p>Otherwise, IT jobs have to do with experience and skills.</p>
<p>Most of these posts are addressing a question the OP didn’t ask (but which gets discussed constantly on CC): whether and how much a college’s prestige with the general public matters. The OP simply asked whether it was a mistake to attend a college whose name was regularly confused with that of another institution that not only had significantly less local prestige, but also was in a different category altogether, not granting bachelor’s degrees.</p>
<p>I don’t think the name of a college matters much, but it clearly matters some, because (at least around here) people change the names of colleges with some frequency. Doing that costs a lot of money, and risks confusion, so it doesn’t happen on whim. Generally, though, I think the name-changes are aimed at recruiting potential students who, like the OP, may be pulled up short by a name they fear won’t be respected in the marketplace. But they are aimed at potential employers of graduates as well, seeking to confer more cachet on the colleges’ alumni.</p>
<p>Some of the recent name-changes in my vicinity:</p>
<p>College of South Jersey -> Rutgers-Camden University
Glassboro State College -> Rowan University
Trenton State College -> The College of New Jersey
The College of New Jersey -> Princeton University (OK, not so recent)
Philadelphia Biblical University -> Cairn University
Eastern Baptist College -> Eastern University
Philadelphia College of Pharmaceutical Science -> University of the Sciences in Philadelphia
Philadelphia Textile College -> Philadelphia University
Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts -> University of the Arts
and everyone’s favorite
Beaver College -> Arcadia University</p>
<p>I believe, by the way, that Pennsylvania is second to none in confusing college names. We have the oft-whined-about similarity of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania State University. The students and alumni of neither institution are happy about that. Then we have the sensationally fraudulent Indiana University (of Pennsylvania) and California University (of Pennsylvania).</p>
<p>The OP specifically said she was not talking about top colleges. With regard to a local college that shares a name with other a community college, high school, prison, or any institution that is better known with the same name, I have to say, yes, that confusion can occur. How much trouble it would cause or how it could reduce opportunities for such a graduate, I don’t really know, but I can tell you that I, personally would not let that come into the picture for a decision except as a tip factor with all other things equal. how much weight you want to give it, however, is something you have to determine. Is it worth $1000 to you? $10K? If it bothers you even a bit, you have to decide how much in terms of a dollar amount which can then quantify a feeling. A lot of niggling things bother me but don’t affect my decisions. If my DH had a nasty sounding last name, it would bother me, yes, but wouldn’t weigh into my decision to marry him or not. or to bug him to change it. But I’d be on board if he so suggested changing it. </p>
<p>So something can bother you, and if all things equal, you make another choice, or maybe you give a littlle…or a lot. It depends on how much. I wouldn’t have it count fo rmuch at all, in your situation, but that’s me, and there is no real right answer to this.</p>
<p>Edited to add that the Beaver College example of a name was something I was thinking about too!</p>
<p>Or the most confusing of all Cornell College vs Cornell University.</p>
<p>To the OP, I don’t think it will matter - the resume will say BA not AA. Will some people assume the community college when it comes up casually in conversation? Yes probably, and you’ll probably get tired of correcting them, but if it’s the right choice otherwise I wouldn’t hesitate.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There’s also Miami University (of Ohio). When I was in college in the Midwest, coming from the “real” Miami, I can’t tell you how many people asked me if I was from Ohio.</p>
<p>And there is Columbia College in Chicago. My son’s friend collects these colleges, I swear. He’s been to Cornell, Columbia and now Miami.</p>
<p>When Miami University was founded, Florida was a colony of Spain, and the existence of anything called “University of Miami” was more than a century and five wars in the future. And Cornell College was chartered more than a decade before Cornell University. In those cases, at least, what is now the larger institution caused the confusion by usurping someone else’s name. That’s hardly the case with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, which didn’t call itself Indiana University until 1965, about 145 years after the “other” Indiana University came into being, or Columbia College in Chicago, which started using that name about 160 years after the one in “the City of New York”.</p>
<p>Don’t forget all those (rather diverse) Wesleyans and Trinitys, or the extremely different Wheaton Colleges in Illinois and Massachusetts.</p>
<p>One of my Alma Maters spent serious dough to change its name to avoid the directional U stigma… That did not go well with the state flagship that somehow felt slighted, and it took a while for the name to take…</p>
<p>(University of Southwestern Louisiana -> University of Louisiana -> University of Louisiana at Lafayette)</p>
<p>At some point Tulane I think was also called University of Louisiana, bummer we don’t get legacy admission there :(</p>
<p>Let us not forget the gazillion schools with “Washington” in the name to honor our first prez or a relative of his. </p>
<p>Washington & Lee (but let’s not get started on the Ampersand Schools, like William and Mary)
Washington & Jefferson (double tap)
Mary Washington
Washington College
Washington University </p>
<p>Not to mention the universities in Washington State: U of W, WSU, Western Washington, U…</p>
<p>my answer is, it depends . for a professional career path (graduate school, etc), a degree from a well known school does open more doors.</p>
<p>This topic has been discussed ad infinitum. I just wanted to say that I love your screenname, myboby. Made me smile.</p>
<p>Ironically, I believe the college the OP’s son wants to go to is Cornell College (Iowa). So he could cash in on the confusion. :)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I used to work for one of these firms, and I recall making recruiting trips to Luther College in Iowa. Not a big name school at all. Although we did not make recruiting trips to directionals, if someone had the gumption to contact the firm to try to set up an interview, and had the right coursework and grades, they would likely get at least a first interview. I suppose there is a point far enough down the college ladder where you could not get an interview, but it is certainly not just top colleges send graduates to those firms.</p>