<p>Have any of you guys attended a highly ranked LAC and been frustrated with the lack of public knowledge about competitive LAC's? For example, I am going to Bowdoin in the fall. Bowdoin is a great school, and I know that it is a great fit for me. However, if I had chosen to go to a school with a similar acceptance rate, such as Cornell or Georgetown, my entire community would be super impressed and proud of me. However, everyone basically thinks I am crazy for going to this small school that "no one has heard of." Rationally, I know it would be stupid to pick a school based on public prestige, since I am sure that way more people know of the huge sports schools than Dartmouth or Williams or whatever. But it is still really frustrating...</p>
<p>Will this lack of "social prestige" impact my future career? Do other LAC students feel this way? I hope I won't be so self-conscious of my college choice when I go off to school next year...</p>
<p>Most people are woefully ignorant about colleges other than Ivy League and a handful of others. They may also recognize the names of schools in their state or region.They don’t learn more unless they need to, if for example they have a child who is a great student like you, and then they learn.
Employers, grad schools **do **know about Bowdoin.
A lot of people here on CC know about Bowdoin! Congrats!!!</p>
<p>Also, you can point out that is #6 on the list of National Liberal Arts Colleges.</p>
<p>Name recognition to the general public is tied to what they hear from division one sports or the media. Everyone has heard of the Ivy League . Does everyone know which schools it includes or why the term IV ( not the plant which covers walls)? Bowdoin is a sep faculae school. My best friend in medical school made me aware of that school when I asked him which undergraduate college he attended. I was unaware of Bowdoin or Colby/Bates for that matter. They are outstanding institutions ! Congrats on your acceptance!</p>
<p>I hope that you guys are right! I know that I perform better in a small, intimate academic environment, and I wanted to go to a school with an emphasis on outdoor activities and environmental studies. Bowdoin seems like a great fit, but I guess I’ve just gotten too wrapped up in the idea of prestige.</p>
<p>My son also goes to a great small school with a strange name. The employers and grad schools know, and your college experience will not care about the name.</p>
<p>I’d say the main reason LACs aren’t more well known is simply because they are small.
How well known is Holy Cross nationwide, despite having more than 20 D1 teams?</p>
<p>Some of it may also be due to the fact that there is little substantial research conducted at LACs. After all, look at the Claremont Consortium versus Cal Tech. There are almost 5X the number of undergrads at the Claremont colleges than Cal Tech, but because Cal Tech is such a research powerhouse, far more people have heard of Cal Tech, and know it’s a fantastic STEM school, than know about Harvey Mudd, whose research impact, is by and large, negligible.</p>
<p>I get so tired of these comparisons. Can’t schools be good for different people? And who is talking about those California schools? Bowdoin and similar small LACs are known for providing education second to none. OP, congrats, you are lucky. A fortunate few students get to experience the kind of personalized higher education that you will soon be experiencing. Who cares what uninformed people think?</p>
<p>OP, you should close the book on these posts and, instead, open yourself up to all the possibilities available these next four years. Quality is quality and you won’t get any better than at Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Forget about this and move on.<br>
Many Aprils ago I braved the disappointed expressions of friends asking, “You turned down Harvard for MIT? Where is that? I hope it’s good! Wow, Harvard! It’s great that you got into Harvard!”
Most people don’t know about many colleges.</p>
<p>The lack of d1 sports the reason for schools being unknown?</p>
<p>Who follows ivy league sports? LOL</p>
<p>Don’t worry about it. But just FYI, don’t think Cornell is as prestigious as Bowdoin because the acceptance rate is close/the same. Although bowdoin is competitive, admissions to Cornell is generally accepted to be more difficult.</p>
<p>If somebody does not recognize Bowdoin, or any other elite LAC, it is due to their ignorance, not the college’s lack of prestige. Any highly educated person, graduate school admissions officer/committee or corporate recruiter worth his/her salt will know and respect Bowdoin.</p>
<p>Alexandre, you severely underestimate the effect of regionalism in knowledge about various schools. Over the summer, my mother, a very well educated person by almost any standard, found out a friend’s daughter was going to Bowdoin and had no idea what it was. And why should she? Why should someone in Southern California, educated by one school that’s only prestigious among Jews, and another that’s 3,000 miles away from Bowdoin know anything about a school where, in 2010, only 37 Californians, most of whom were likely upperclass prep school kids, matriculated?</p>
<p>Very good point whenhen. Regionalism does play a role. Very few colleges or universities are well known beyond their region. I stand by my statement that graduate school admissions and corporate recruiters will typically know and respect Bowdoin (and other top LACs) a great deal. Clearly, not all highly educated people will have heard of Bowdoin, but many have. Either way, even if your mom did not know about Bowdoin, it would not take long to convince her that it is an incredible college.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is well known in the northeast. Look, an LAC is not an ivy school, which is likely part of the reason why you choose to attend one. People choose LACs for reasons other than prestige. If you wanted prestige, you would have chosen an IVY or similar school. That doesn’t mean Bowdoin is going to give you any less of an education.</p>
<p>My son is also going to a relatively unknown school, University of St Andrews, which is in Scotland. He passed up UCLA to go there. I did not agree with the decision.</p>
<p>I hate to tell you this, but it is my belief that name recognition is indeed important.</p>
<p>College to some extent is a brand name, and if you go to a Pomona College, a Grinnell, or a Bowdoin, or a Swarthmore, most people will not have heard of that school. Not every employer is an expert on college admissions, nor is every prospective father in law, or dating prospect.</p>
<p>That being said, if your school has good networking in the real world, you might do better than the kids from a well known school.</p>
<p>There are plusses and minuses to attending a LAC.</p>
<p>Your college name barely matters after your first job offer. What you learn in college and how you are able to present yourself, and your ability to learn & grow in a work environment are far more important than the college name on your degree. Students should go to the type of school that they feel will give them the best college experience. Bowdoin is a great school, go and enjoy yourself. You are lucky to be accepted there!</p>