<p>(I'm trying to phrase this so others could be helped by this thread too)
My personal situation is-
-As you may have already figured out I am trying to transfer out of my current school.
-Money, this time around, is a major issue.
-I have been accepted at bigger name recognizable schools that are very expensive (Iowa OOS)
-I have been offered a gigantic scholarship, almost free, to a school that does not have the best reputation in my field (Business) (The school is University of Toledo)
My question is;
-When it is time to get a job will I be better off having a degree from Iowa than Toledo
-As stated in my title I understand rankings are not everything but where do you draw the line?
-Have any of you had experience making this type of decision?</p>
<p>(I will cross post this on other forums)
Thanks a lot in advance.</p>
<p>I think I just answered my own question with a quote,
“It’s what you can do that should count when you apply for a job, not where you learned to do it.”
Is this true or just wishful thinking?</p>
<p>I would say that if the difference in money is big, definitely go to the cheaper one. As long as it’s not the difference between Harvard and U of Phoenix, who cares?</p>
<p>In business, school matters more than in most fields, but it’s the terminal degree that matters. Go to the affordable school as there’s not a giant difference between your choices and shoot for a top MBA.</p>
<p>People in most businesses hire you for your skill sets, not for where you went to school. Go to the school you can afford, if that is the major issue, and make sure you get the experience and skills you need. Looks like University of Toledo is a good choice!
edit: If money is not the major issue, go to the school that you feel will give you the best experience. I am a firm believer that the important thing is the educational/social experience itself, not the outcome. I don’t send my kids to school just so that they can get a job; I send them to the place that will help them grow as individuals and have an intense social and learning experience.</p>
<p>Thank you for the responses thus far. I feel that if Toledo is willing to give me a free education then they care enough about me as a student to care if I succeed or fail.</p>
<p>From the standpoint of not living in Ohio or Iowa, they both have equal reputations, so go for the money. You’re not talking about, for instance, the difference between Dartmouth and Toledo.</p>
<p>For entry level jobs, being a top student at Toledo is more than adequate. Save your pennies for that MBA six or seven years down the road.</p>
<p>(Or, since you’re obviously an analytical kind of guy, what specific benefits do you expect the extra $$$ at Iowa would purchase? Parents may provide some perspective, but this is a question you really need to answer for yourself.)</p>
<p>Ha ha thanks guys. This is different for me. I have always been the friend that would eat at home to save money when my friends are going out to eat. I would still go with them but I would have more money in my pocket at the end of the night That’s just how I am. Business minded I would like to say ha ha.
I have been sucked into the aura that Iowa puts out toward the perspective student. They make it seem like paradise.
I know I will receive a good education at either school if I put effort into it (hasn’t been a problem in the past, don’t see it being one in the future)
Thanks so far for the responses.</p>
<p>Somewhere2012, I don’t have any wise words, but if you need assurance… My work group composes of people come from these schools: 1 Iowa, 2 Standfords, 1 Duke, 2 from a flagship somewhere, 1 Georgetown, 2 from directional colleges and yours truly from a 2999th school in terms of college ranking. My director went to a directional state school; his boss, our VP, went to LSU; her boss went to our state flagship. And this is a Fortune 500 company, not some mom and pop shop. Try to get the most out of the opportunities available to you at your school and maintain a high GPA, you’ll find your way in the world.</p>
<p>To many people ( including in our family-far too often) the association between a diploma from a prestigious school = success/$ is a fait accompli. In my professional life, I have always found that individuals who attended "incredible schools but lacked social skills and emotional intelligence did not seem to be as successful as people who graduated from state universities or colleges outside of the top tier. Agree with many of the prior posts-it is what you do with your education-create a vision for who you want to be and inspire others to “come along” with you.</p>
<p>For an older student or a person who is working full time, any accredited college that is close enough to get to and affordable is great.</p>
<p>When I see the question “Where do you draw the line?” I am not thinking about the OP’s scenario. (U of Toledo is fine!) I am thinking, “What is a college that a freshman really should not attend?”</p>
<p>For a freshman moving to a college to start a four-year bachelor’s degree, moving into a dorm in a new city, I think there is a line to be drawn, but perhaps more social or cultural than educational. A Chicago student has posted here on CC about being a freshman the University of Wisconsin Parkside. The students there are mostly from very close by (Southeastern Wisconsin). </p>
<p>The Chicago student has noted that he has found his first semester first year core courses to be less than rigorous/inspiring, but kids with strong high school prep might find that to be the case at many public universities - I am not holding that against UWP. It is an accredited college and I am sure that some of UWP’s majors offer rigorous and inspiring upper level courses and I am sure that degrees from UWP are worthwhile. But I don’t think the Chicago student should have gone there. He reports there is little campus life and the students are insular. </p>
<p>When all of the students are from nearby, you find your fellow freshmen less open to making new friends (because they have many friends from high school and they meet the friends of those friends) and you find your fellow freshmen going home on weekends - the “suitcase school” scenario. (The Chicago student chose UWP to a great extent because of its low cost to him. He is planning to transfer out.)</p>
<p>Just my two cents on the title to this thread. ;)</p>
<p>Actually, you are talking about a well regarded business school, at least at the graduate level, when you talk of Iowa - if its undergraduate school is equally well regarded, this is more of a choice than many suspect:
Economist North America Ranking 2003
Rankings Schools Country
1 Kellogg USA
2 TUCK (Dartmouth) USA
3 Stanford USA
4 Fuqua (Duke) USA
5 University of Chicago USA
6 Columbia Business School USA
7 Yale USA
8 University of Michigan USA
9 Darden
(University of Virginia) USA
10 Johnson
(Cornell) USA
11 UCLA Anderson School of Management USA
12 Stern (NYU) USA
13 HAAS (UC Berkley) USA
14 Sloan MIT USA
15 University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign USA
16 Schulich School of Bussiness (York University) Canada
17 Fisher (Ohio State) USA
18 McDonough (Georgetown) USA
19 Mendoza (University of Notre Dame) USA
20 Goizuetta (Emory University) USA
21 Olin (Washington University in St Louis) USA
22 McCombs (University of Texas - Austin) USA
23 Tippie School of Management (University of Iowa) USA
24 Carnegie Mellon USA
25 UNC (Kenan-Flagler) USA</p>
<p>Iowa is a top 25 undergrad business program. It’s a national research university whose reputation, while maybe not being Wharton or Dartmouth, will still carry much further across the country than will Toledo’s. Iowa also has a large, well spread out alumni base which shouldn’t be underestimated.</p>
<p>You’ll be attending a residential, national research university with strong connections to the Chicago area rather than a local commuter school.</p>
<p>It’s worth the extra money unless your family is seriously strapped financially. There’s more to your four years of college than simply attempting to maximize some illusory matrix of cost/reputation. At Iowa, you’ll attend a strong business college and enjoy a real college experience. You can’t put a price tag on the latter.</p>
<p>Lenny, the OP said money was a major issue. </p>
<p>What makes you say that there is not a real college experience at Toledo? How much time have you spent on the campus? Been to any basketball games there?</p>
<p>The OP said that with the scholarship he received, Toledo would be almost free.</p>
<p>How much debt do you recommend the OP should take on in order to go to Iowa? Of course debt will require that he get a job very quickly after graduation so he can start paying it off. I wonder how this will delay his buying a home…</p>
That’s just how I am. Business minded I would like to say ha ha.