<p>So basically I am asking that does the name of your college stay with u forever? I want to be doctor, but whether I go to a local college or Harvard school of medicine for example, I will still graduate with my MD regardless. So in the long run, will it matter what college I went to? Like will big hospitals not hire me as opposed to someone who came from an Ivy League?</p>
<p>i don’t think it matters that much, an ivy school might help a tiny bit but you will still get hired if you are good, regardless of where you went.</p>
<p>You have to remember that college is more than just the name; it’s the experience. So, if you will have a better experience at Harvard, while also gaining the skills needed for a successful career: go to Harvard. If you will have a better experience, meet more people, and gain the skills needed at random university: go there.</p>
<p>This had been a reoccurring question on CC. I can tell you in the world of day to day work of physicians, the answer is a resounding no. It may be different if you are a researcher who publishes. Typically, the institution they work for can be very important when they submit proposals for grants.</p>
<p>Only three colleges matter: Harvard, Princeton and Yale. If you are a graduate of any of these three, you will completely, absolutely, assuredly benefit the rest of your life. At every turn, you will be given the benefit of the doubt (you are certified smart) and, in a push, favored over other candidates. I agree with the other posters in respect of any and all other colleges (including all other Ivies). But HYP are special and inviolate. You will surf on those names the rest of your life, absolutely guaranteed. Anyone who tells you different on this thread or on this board DID NOT GO to HYP and has utterly no clue (other than wishing, perhaps, they had). The feeling is simply so special, so unique, and so royal that you really do go through life on a different plane. Now, mind you, HYP does not guarantee success, but you are truly American Royalty when you leave from one of these institutions and – better yet – the rest of America knows you are. You may see on this thread the rogue HYP graduate who claims that the association did not or has not benefitted them, but they haven’t yet lived the fully cycle of their life and it will benefit them – unimaginably so. </p>
<p>People still give an slight, sometime unwanted, but always perceptible gasp when you say you graduated from HYP. Only those three schools, though. The rest could be Grand Rapids State for all the rest of the world cares . . .even, if I may say so, MIT and Stanford. Nice, but . . . eh.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input. I am very stressed right now as I am a junior and I need to start applying soon. I am an above average student with As and ECs but there r so many students like me who apply to ivy leagues so I don’t think I will get in. If I go to a local college, I will get my education totally free. I just wasn’t sure if going to a “good” college really mattered as much as some people make it seem.</p>
<p>Depends on your major. Engineering, accounting, computer science etc. it doesn’t matter since ABET and AACSB control the curriculum.</p>
<p>There are many parts of the country where you can forge more connections by going to the local state school or flagship than by going to a very top school.</p>
<p>Given that the OP is asking specifically about one’s MD degree, the best place to ask would be in medical school and medical residency related forums.</p>
<p>General school prestige often matters little when one is considering a professional undergraduate or graduate major or career goal. Where school prestige matters in this case, it tends to be department and major dependent. For example, HYP may have high general prestige, but are not generally regarded as being among the top four schools for computer science, nor among the top four schools for engineering.</p>
<p>no, go where you will be happiest.</p>
<p>Thx guys. My dad is so pushy on me going to the local college near my home. He says there r so many benefits to being near home and he doesn’t think I am ready to be on my own since I have never really been away from home before. I just don’t know what to do.</p>
<p>Where you go matters, in that, it’s the place many people meet their life long friends. Its the place where many people, including myself, met their spouse. My kids exist because I chose that college. For many it becomes an important part of their identity. It doesn’t have to, but it can. So, yes, it matters very much, but not in the way you seem to be asking. </p>
<p>It sounds like you have other issues, with your father, with going away. I would focus on these more if I were you. </p>
<p>Also, IMO that HYP is golden bit is all nonsense. The people I know who went to those schools are no more special that anyone else. If that is their attitude, like they are royalty, than it just means they are pompous **bags. Puh-lease.</p>
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<p>Are you referring to your undergraduate education (and what major), or your MD education (if you get in)? Remember that most pre-meds are lucky to get even one admission to an MD medical school, so they typically have little or no choice when it comes to choosing between different MD medical schools (whether they care about prestige or cost or distance from home).</p>
<p>If you are referring to undergraduate, then it depends on a lot of things. However, if you live in a place like Palo Alto, CA or Cambridge, MA, the “local [four year] college near [your] home” might not admit you either.</p>
<p>As far as the benefits of living at home, the most common benefit is lower cost when attending a school without financial aid, or a school whose financial aid is not sufficient to allow you to afford living on or near campus. However, students who live on campus as frosh do tend to have better graduation rates than those who live in other situations (living with parents, living in off-campus apartments, living in fraternities or sororities) as frosh.</p>
<p>What would he think if you went to a non-local school on a full ride (either need-based, or merit-based like the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-19.html#post16145676</a> or <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-2.html#post15889078</a> )? The answer may help you determine whether his motivation is money, or something else (parent(s) wanting to maintain control, which seems to be more common with daughters than sons).</p>
<p>Please read the premed section of the forum for discussion on the topic if undergrad school matters (wise voices say not, just gpa and mcat.) You are only a Jr, so no need to be stressing now.</p>
<p>But, your father should know that going away to school has many advantages. It is a protected way to get to experience another part of the country, and semi independent living. And for you to grow and learn how to do things for yourself. Learning to be independent is a good thing and good training for when you are truly on your own. The opportunity to focus and immerse yourself in your school community without your parents distracting you will be nice for you. Does he know thousands of other 17 and 18 year-olds are managing without mommy and daddy?</p>
<p>Heh, I hope it doesn’t matter that much. #safetyschool4dayz</p>
<p>No, it is what you do with your degree that counts</p>
<p>I believe you are asking the wrong version of the question.</p>
<p>The focus has been on if the choice of an undergrad school affects career outcomes … and I agree with most of the posters it is the student and their abilities and drive that will determine a person’s career. </p>
<p>However even if that is true that does not mean a student’s undergraduate experience will be the same at all schools … I believe there may be some schools or types of schools that will provide a more profound experience than others even if the lifetime earnings of the student come out to be exactly the same. </p>
<p>One example, I believe some kid’s experiences at LACs have been transformational … helping them discover much about themselves … (and may even have lead to less lifetime earnings). Would these have done fine at a big research I … I sure they would have … that does not necessarily mean as well as if they had attended a LAC.</p>
<p>We don’t get to live life twice so there is no way to test different outcomes from different decisions. I truly believe most top students would be fine at about 200 schools … I also believe that for most students there probably is a short list of schools (10 or so) which may provide a clearly better overall experience.</p>
<p>DanceorDie–if you can get a free education–do it! </p>
<p>If it’s not at an Ivy league college…NOT a big deal. Yes, people still nod knowingly if you say you graduated from a few big name colleges, but in the long run…it’s what you DO with your education that counts. And not having any debt is a huge plus for the rest of your life. :)</p>
<p>Thank u for ur answers guys! I guess it sounds silly but for a high schooler, applying to colleges is a big decision and I just want to make sure I don’t look back and regret going to the college I did.</p>
<p>Yes, people meet some lifelong friends in college and maybe their spouse, but that can happen at any college, and any college can become part of your identity. Being an alumna of my college is one of my proudest identities, but if I had gone somewhere else I’d no doubt be just as proud to be an alumna of that place, too. You forge a special connection to the school you attend for college just by dint of going there.</p>
<p>I’m in graduate school now at an Ivy, and I know a lot of students - from people who went to tiny LACs tucked away in their hometowns to people who went to Ivies. I have yet to meet a single person who regretted their decision of where to go to undergrad.</p>