<p>My parents are from a small town in the south where no one has ever went to an Ivy. My parents say as long as you have a degree it dose not mater were from.So do you have some tips on how to convince them that out side are small town (in the world of law or medicine) were you get your degree maters ?</p>
<p>I actually believe that how much you apply yourself in college matters more than the name of the school.</p>
<p>Except for a very, very, VERY small minority of jobs, it doesn’t matter really. It matters what you do not where you go.</p>
<p>And for law and medicine, the med school or law school are what matters. What matters most in undergrad for those two goals is keeping debt as low as possible.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could explain the circumstances of your situation in more detail as there is probabk a practical aspect of what you want that is not well described here.</p>
<p>My teachers tried to press this into the minds of the people in my classes this year because we’re all so caught up in getting into college: It doesn’t matter where you go, it’s what you do once you get there. An undergrad education is turning into a high school diploma-you need to further your education or experience in order to get to the desired position.</p>
<p>If your goal is medical or law school, I agree that your first priority should not be the college you attend. It’s much more important to keep your GPA up, your debt low and ace the LSAT or MCAT.</p>
<p>However, I learned the hard way that undergraduate institutions do matter for some purposes. For example, every single student who got admitted to the Math PhD programs at Princeton, Stanford and MIT in my year had studied math at a top 20 university as an undergraduate. (And it’s not just that the talented mathematicians are concentrated at the top 20 universities; it’s that the top professors like to trade their students and don’t trust an education from less selective universities.) </p>
<p>One of the most frustrating insights of my undergraduate years came to me in an “how to interview for a job in consulting” workshop hosted by the career development office of my small liberal arts college. At the end of the workshop, a student asked the presenter if his company had internships or entry-level positions for college students. His response: “Yes, but we hire exclusively from Princeton and Wharton.” </p>
<p>Now that I am affiliated with Stanford, I am being recruited by companies who would have not even read my application as a Bryn Mawr graduate.</p>
<p>To clarify on my previous post: a degree from an elite university (e.g. Princeton or Stanford) does seem to open doors. However, as soon as you go one step down in selectivity, any such advantage seems to disappear. For example, I have seen no evidence that a degree from NYU would be valued more than one from Michigan State.</p>
<p>While I don’t recommend going to a college that few have ever heard of, it’s not necessary to go to a top school in order to get into med or law school. </p>
<p>What college do they want you to go to?</p>
<p>maybe they’re afraid of costs? Are you low income? If so, and you have high stats, then attending a top school may not cost you anything.</p>
<p>What is your GPA and test scores?</p>
<p>What is your home state? you say that you’re from the south. Any of the flagships in the south are “good enough” to get into med or law school.</p>
<p>Your parents are right. Three decades of research shows conclusively that what you do when you get to college matters a whole lot more than what college you go to. It makes no sense to pay a premium to go to a college with a fancy name - the education will be no better, and the degree will be worth just as much.</p>
<p>Agree with the others here. It does not matter for undergrad. It does matter for a graduate degree but that is a different discussion.</p>
<p>Once you get your first job no ever asks from where you got your undergrad degree. That you have the degree becomes a checkbox on the app. What matters is your performance in the job. I’ve been hiring people for 25 years. It does not matter.</p>
<p>Themost,</p>
<p>If you truly are in the situation that you describe, you need to pay attention to your spelling and you need to use standard Englis grammar when you write. If you had written your post in Microsoft Word and used the spelling and grammar check features, most of the errors would have been corrected before you posted. These things really do matter.</p>
<p>Now if you made those errors with the full intent of giving yourself the appearance of being from the backwoods, that is another story. A bit more patience scrolling through this forum and you would have hit some version of this discussion and you would have had an answer for yourself and your parents. That answer being: It depends.</p>
<p>Some fields of advanced study and some careers require graduating from specific programs or institutions as b@r!um has pointed out. Others don’t. Once you know your own goals you will know how you need to approach this process.</p>
<p>English not Englis. This is what happens when I use the I-Touch.</p>
<p>Your parents are correct, it doesn’t matter where you get your degree as long as you do well in school. There are doctors and lawyers all over the country that are highly successful that did not graduate from an Ivy and there are plenty of Ivy grads that are not doing well in their careers too.</p>
<p>If you are considering medical school, you will have a better chance to get into med school if you DON’T go to an Ivy. Look on the pre-med pages here for more advice but if you want to go to medical school you are better off being a big fish in a small pond, meaning, find a school where you can be one of the best students, get the highest GPA possible, but also had a good pre-med advisory system.</p>
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<p>Yes, 95-99% of the time. But on that board you’ll also see that there are a handful, perhaps half a dozen schools, that do appear to receive some preference in med school admissions. And it’s my understanding that </p>
<p>I agree with B@r!um, that there are a very few schools that open doors and that a half a step down there is little to no effect.</p>
<p>I absolutely believe that what you do is more important than the school and that UG institution matters little, but I have to call it like I see it and this has been my experience as well.</p>
<p>My comments are general and independent to the situation of this OP, as they haven’t given any information about their stats, financial circumstances, etc., so I have no way to determine what types of schools they should be considering.</p>
<p>With the exception of the advice about med school, law school and the NYC financial world, most recruiting is done regionally so being at a very good college or uni in a particular region is never a bad decision if you plan on staying in that region. So without context to your original post, yes I agree with your parents with one caveat. If you have the resume to apply to HYP and you are interested or intrigued by these schools there is nothing to lose by applying. While those colleges do not give merit aid, they do grant very good financial aid which could make those school affordable.</p>
<p>You sound like a student with a lot of ambition, but one who may not have had the best education in your early years. If you are willing to work at it, I’d suggest getting some workbooks on grammar, spelling and general writing. Study on your own to improve your written presentation. Being able to express yourself clearly in writing will be important no matter what college you attend. If you have any desire to go into law, it will be critical.</p>
<p>I agree with your parents, for the most part. If anything, it may be important not to go to a college that is so competitive that you cannot shine academically, especially if you have plans to go to law or med school. Apply to a wide range of schools, but don’t turn your nose up at your state university or a smaller liberal arts college just because they don’t have the big name. An education is what you are after and what will enable you to succeed in the future.</p>
<p>College admissions is like poker – only you get to play several hands simultaneously. You will, hopefully, apply to several colleges in the fall of your high school senior year. Don’t throw away money on an Ivy league application if you are a B student. You won’t get in. But if you are a strong student (All A’s or almost all A’s) and have strong extracurriculars and strong SAT and SAT II’ scores (you need two or three SAT II’s tests), then it might be worth $50 to apply to an Ivy. </p>
<p>Here’s what your parents may not realize: for some students, some years, it may actually cost LESS money to go to an Ivy than to go to the state college down the road. </p>
<p>You won’t know that until you apply to a) Ivy and b) Home State and wait until April your senior year and then you can compare the two admission letters. </p>
<p>A lot of college hunting is like house hunting. Sure, it’d be fun to say you lived in the fanciest neighborhood in town – but, at the end of the day, a solid home with a loving family is a grand blessing. Don’t go thinking that only the gold plated faucets will make you happy.</p>
<p>What is really going on? </p>
<p>Are your stats high enough that you’d get admitted to top schools that will give you great aid (if you qualify)?</p>
<p>I think your parents may be afraid that applying far away to various schools will be an expensive app process resulting in acceptances at unaffordable schools.</p>
<p>how much are they willing to spend each year on your college costs? If they give you an amount, and you’re able to meet that goal by getting accepted to schools that either give great aid or merit scholarships, would your parents still object?</p>