<p>A girl from my school will be matriculating to Hillsdale next year. It seems to me that Hillsdale is more of a conservative school, and my friend herself applied because of the conservative presence on campus.</p>
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A 3.5 at MSU will garner more respect, job opprotunities, grad school options, and so on, then Hillsdale.
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<p>I think this is an absurd comparison, mostly because my friend didn't apply for the "job opportunities" and whatnot. She's more of a free-spirited likes-to-write-in-the-woods type (an exaggeration if you will). To be honest, I don't think specific post-undergraduate job opportunities crossed her mind all that much when she applied (then again, it doesn't for most of us Ivy League people) rather, it seemed to me that she applied because it was conservative, and it had a small LAC-ish feel. I know this is only an anecdotal example, but hopefully it does offer some perspective. Additionally, I'm not sure about MSU garnering "more respect" wrt to grad schools, since it's usually been the case that LACs do better than universities at graduate school placement.</p>
<p>And yes, her stats were fairly competitive. In fact:</p>
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Thank you fencers. Going by peer evaluation is foolish. Hillsdale has higher average GPAs and ACTs. My mom's friends son is going to grad school at Harvard. That would never have happened if he had gone to MSU, but is perceivable going to an ultra conservative LAC.
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<p>I believe that was a plus for Hillsdale that drew my friend away from UGA and other in-state schools. I forgot our conversation, but it seems like grad school's a tipping point.</p>
<p>"Kalamazoo college is not at the national level. That's absurd.
UM, yes. MSU, yes but moreso for their athletics than academics." -
A2Wolves6</p>
<p>Ridiculous comments: KCollege IS known at the national level for academics and is consistently mentioned amongst the Oberlins, Kenyons and Grinnells as a national LAC... And no, MSU is NOT known more for athletics among academics. In your book, maybe, but not in those who really know academics.</p>
<p>I am not sure I understand the debate that's going on here. Hillsdale is a fine school. I would say it is comparable (in quality) to Alma, Albion, Calvin, Hope and other smaller Michigan LACs. Comparing any of those schools to Michigan State doesn't make sense as MSU is a very different type of university. There are a couple of quotes I found interesting however.</p>
<p>"My mom's friends son is going to grad school at Harvard. That would never have happened if he had gone to MSU, but is perceivable going to an ultra conservative LAC."</p>
<p>1MX, I am not sure I understand your point. Harvard graduate schools accept students from hundreds of universities. Harvard Law school alone admitted students from over 250 universities last year, including Alma, Calvin, Hillsdale, Kalamazoo College, Michigan State, the University of Michigan and Western Michigan. From your quote above, you make it seem like students from MSU have no chance of getting into Harvard graduate schools. You seem to connect a schools's consertivism to its success at placing students into graduate school. I am not sure I see the connection.</p>
<p>"Hillsdale is a fantastic school with no racial biases and complete inclusion for all (generally speaking.). In fact, I would bet the farm that there is less racial disharmony at H.C than at MU, Wayne St., or any other Mich school. In fact, I would go so far as to make that statement for any college nationwide."</p>
<p>Fencersmother, I am not sure I can agree with that statement. Hillsdale is almost exclusively 100% white and 100% American. Last I checked, there were fewer than 10 minority (Afrian, Asian, Hispanic/Latin, Native Americans) students and fewer than 25 international students at Hillsdale. It is quite possibly the least diverse campus in the state of Michigan.</p>
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Hillsdale isn't a bad school, never said otherwise, but it does not have a national appeal beyond it's (for a college) extreme conservatism.
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KCollege IS known at the national level for academics and is consistently mentioned amongst the Oberlins, Kenyons and Grinnells as a national LAC...
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Agreed. Sorry Wolves, stick to the big U's.
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...there is less racial disharmony at H.C than at MU, Wayne St., or any other Mich school.
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Haha...it's real easy to have racial harmony with near-zero diversity. One of the stories H and I like to tell is about a friend we had at Michigan who grew up in Hillsdale. A great guy, but we had never met anyone so sheltered. He used to joke about having lived in "Homogenized Hillsdale." So, coming to diverse Michigan was good for him, but he was in a state of shock at first. He admitted he'd never met a Jewish person, and acclimating to ultra-liberal Ann Arbor from ultra-conservative Hillsdale...well, it was almost comical for us to watch that process...lol.
Yes, good academics at H College, but the demographic is an extension of the town. Actually, it is what it is, and that environment is right for some and not for others, just like every other college out there.</p>
<p>Fencersmother, I've also heard very good things about Hillsdale. My weirdo is considering it because she does lean conservative and wants the classics/great books type of education. (I also wouldn't be surprised to see her run for office someday and the contacts would be great -- but that's pure speculation on my part.) The only potential drawback would be distance, but . . . How remote is the campus, if you don't mind my asking?</p>
<p>"you make it seem like students from MSU have no chance of getting into Harvard graduate schools."</p>
<p>And that would be quite an absurd thing to think. The Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard, Theda Skocpol, earned her B.A. from Michigan State before earning her PhD at Harvard.</p>
<p>Michigan State sent between 20-29 grads to Michigan Law.
Kalamazoo College sent between 5-9 grads to Michigan Law.</p>
<p>Schools that sent fewer than 5 grads were not listed. There was no mention of Hillsdale or other Michigan LACs, so they presumably fall into this category.</p>
<p>The Hillsdale kids I know would never go to UMICH. They are hardcore conservatives and don't want to be near the debauchery. Not a fair comparison. Most kids going to grad school from Hillsdale could have gone to UMICH in the first place, if that is what they wanted. Not an accurate comparison.</p>
<p>Well, that's a pity, considering that Michigan's law and medical schools are both among the most highly rated (Top 10 or so) schools of their kind nationwide.</p>
<p>"Well, that's a pity, considering that Michigan's law and medical schools are both among the most highly rated (Top 10 or so) schools of their kind nationwide"</p>
<p>but not everyone wants to be a doctor or a lawyer. I would venture to guess that the population at Hillsdale with those interests is very, very small.</p>
<p>zoosermom - Umm, no. You go to a LAC(generally) if you plan on getting a further degree, like business, med, or law. Perhaps I am wrong, but at least for LAC's as a whole send a ton of kids to grad schools. Some more academic, and some more workforce oriented, but a lot.</p>
<p>"zoosermom - Umm, no. You go to a LAC(generally) if you plan on getting a further degree, like business, med, or law. Perhaps I am wrong, but at least for LAC's as a whole send a ton of kids to grad schools. Some more academic, and some more workforce oriented, but a lot."</p>
<p>Here's a shock for you: there are further degrees that aren't medical or law!!! How about that? And potential business school students aren't going to law or medical school, either. My response was very specific to the statistics for law or medical school. Not to graduate school as a whole.</p>
<p>I was suggesting(shockingly) that more people than average would go to schools like Med or Law(especially law with the politicism present), or business, and so on.</p>
<p>I wasn't saying they all did those things, but that they would logically be more likely than most.</p>
<p>" was suggesting(shockingly) that more people than average would go to schools like Med or Law(especially law with the politicism present), or business, and so on.</p>
<p>I wasn't saying they all did those things, but that they would logically be more likely than most."</p>
<p>And I was saying that at a small school like Hillsdale, having less than 5 people in one specific law or medical school isn't indicative of anything. I'd be curious to know how many go on to become ministers or other professionals, though, and didn't find any data. Although I didn't look very hard.</p>