<p>Everyone I have talked to says that it is important to go to a school that fits you. However, isn't also important to go to a school that has at least some prestige? Wouldn't going to a prestigious school increase employment opportunities simply because more employers recruit from big name schools? </p>
<p>So how important is prestige compared to feel in the long run?</p>
<p>The cream rises to the top. If you are smart and do what you love, you can make lots of money in any field, regardless of which university you attend. In the short run, an ivy league degree is worth more $. But in the long run, they even out. IMO, feel is more important. </p>
<p>A study was done by an economist at Princeton which studied the differences in salaries among ivy league and non-ivy league graduates. The two groups that were compared included one group of ivy legaue graduates, and one group of non ivy grads, who were accepted to ivys yet for whatever reason decided to attend a lower tier school. The study found there was no difference in salaries.</p>
<p>Well, if you go for prestige but are not happy with the school, you'll either have to transfer or deal with the situation. Usually, if one is unhappy, grades suffer a little bit.</p>
<p>If you go to a college that is a good fit, you'll more likely be happy and do well. If you do well, then grad schools and employers will take notice.</p>
<p>It is a personal choice, so you need to figure out if prestige is more important than a good fit at a college.</p>
<p>Here on CC some apply to schools that are very different but are ranked in the top 10-20...without considering how fit would affect their four years at a school. While other kids look for fit rather than percieved rank or prestige.</p>
<p>Personally, it would be difficult to go somewhere that is not a good fit, even if it had just prestige (and maybe good financial aid) going for it. But, that is just one opinnion.</p>
<p>There are thousands of colleges in the U.S., and a bunch more next door in Canada. Unless money is the overriding concern, you shouldn't have to compromise fit or prestige. In other words, if you look hard enough at the several dozen most prestigious colleges you can get into, there has to be a few there that fit you.</p>
<p>it depends the difference between the schools. Would going to boston college over brown make a big difference? probably not. would going to UT-Austin over Duke destroy you life? absolutely not. however, just because you fell in love with east stroutsburg university doesn't mean you should go there over cornell.</p>
<p>of course - the thing is - most people will apply to schools of relatively the same prestige level. if you're from texas and your applying to ivy league schools - you're likely applying to UT as a safety - and if thats the case, just go to the school you like most. No one who applies to East Stroudsburg University is applying to Johns Hopkins.</p>
<p>I'd say 50/50. In my opinion, chosing Harvard over Billy Buba U makes sense, not matter how much of a better fit Billy Buba U happens to be. On the other hand, I don't believe chosing Columbia over say Vanderbilt just because it is more prestigious makes sense if Vanderbilt is a clearly better fit.</p>