There is a micro-local aspect to recognition. For example, we have a nearby public college in NJ called Stockton State. A typical student might work full time and commute or might be a slightly older student, working and going part-time. As a local area employer, we have a better history of hiring from Stockton than the local “less selective” and expensive private college in our area.
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How far a long way off from college are you? So much changes every year…with programs added, and programs dropped. Any research you do more than a couple of years out…might not apply at all.
So actually…this is all hypothetical thoughts??
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And kids change remarkably. A young woman we know whose parents were concerned about her drive, energy, ambition when she was in the 8th grade… ended up in one of the service academies, is a model of leadership, physical fitness and intellectual engagement (degree in engineering… this was a kid whose parents worried that the advanced math track was going to “burn her out” when she was 12).
So extra money never hurts-- but extra worry doesn’t always pay out!!!
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I’ve seen this a bit in high school, so definitely agree. It’s a single data point, but one young lass entered 9th grade in our lowest “regular” math class, but went on to be a math major because when it clicked, it clicked and she loved math.
It also happens from younger ages. One of our sons was in the lowest reading group until 2nd grade. We knew he was “slow” from toddlerhood on - he didn’t even walk until 15 months and had to do speech lessons because by 4 years of age he couldn’t say half the alphabet. We were assuming he might not be college material, but were determined to see that he had a great life. And now he’s our doctor.
Others tend to be less extreme, but kids can change a lot through their school years.
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Include scholarships in the list of things that change yearly. Schools that would’ve been a slam dunk for large merit changed quickly for S20. He was disappointed for one school in particular.
If your kid has the stats, getting into an Honors College can really help make a better experience at a large state flagship. Not all honors programs are equal.
There are a lot of hidden gems out there. A lot of them depend on which major or profession your student is interested.
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One thing I would strongly recommend is that you set a hard budget. There will be schools that will suit your student, no matter their situation at multiple price points. Unless you have unlimited funds, it avoids the “how can you pass up brand X?” phenomenon that digs individuals and their families into a hole. There is a robust industry trying to convince you that there’s a unicorn out there, and that you should pay anything to capture it. It’s a myth. There are no unicorns.
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Agree with setting up a budget. Agree there are no unicorns. But there is a meaningful difference between patching together a major at XYZ college where you’ve got mostly adjuncts, the tenured professors are about to or have already retired, and when you tell your advisor “I need this course but it’s been canceled for next semester” the answer is “maybe you should transfer”, vs. attending a well resourced college which has faculty in the areas you are interested in.
A college either has a nanotechnology lab or it doesn’t. A college either has (and maintains appropriately) an archive with original material for whichever period its history department focuses on- or it doesn’t. A college either has performance spaces, animal research capabilities, adequate computing facilities, etc. or it does not.
Stop pretending that every single institution that calls itself a college create the same output. Many cannot. They have nice food courts (outsourced, so they don’t cost much to run) and nice dorms (built and owned by private companies, again, don’t cost much to run) but do not invest in their own infrastructure-- either physical or intellectual.
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I was with you 100% until that sentence. I haven’t claimed that here or anywhere else.
What I’m saying is that there are plenty of low ranked schools where a student can get an excellent education at a reasonable price. There are also plenty of highly ranked schools where a student will be sitting in big lecture halls, spending a lot of time with TAs and paying a lot of money.
That’s a FAR cry from what you stated above.
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Seems to me, though, that you can get a good education for around $30-35K annually or much less. You can spend more for sure, but I don’t think it’s necessary at all. We were willing to go that far for college and that opened up many smaller private LACs, but we were definitely not willing to go to $60-65K.
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Agree. But the devil is in the details…and an “excellent education” for a fourth grade language arts teacher may not be the same as an “excellent education” for an epidemiologist, which is not the same as an “excellent education” for a political speechwriter. That has nothing to do with big lecture halls…big or small, mediocre is mediocre. Which I think is what the OP is asking.
You’re attempting to put words in my mouth, intimating that I’m saying there’s no nuance in the college selection process. I am not and I’d appreciate it if you’d stop suggesting that I am. 
Our family cares about fit over name recognition.
Our kids attend/will attend a regional school that is well known, as you might expect, regionally. Here’s the tale of the tape:
Tuition, Room & Board: In-state ($24,000) / Out-of-state ($41,000)
Acceptance Rate: 75% - 80%
Freshman Retention Rate: 90%
Satisfaction Rate: 96%
Six-Year Graduation Rate: 82%
Average Class Size: 25
Classes Taught by Professors: 98%
Faculty With Doctoral or Terminal Degree: 76%
Undergraduate Degree Programs Offered: 76
Top 10 for college food.
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I also first heard of Juniata from the CTCL book but also saw them on a list of colleges that rank high in students that go on to get a PhD. Since my D23 is interested in possibly pursuing a PhD in the sciences that moved it up in consideration. Added to that, her primary interest is ecology/environmental science and ES is the 2nd largest department at the school. That was a good sign that the program is a real strength. It’s a strong contender for her.
I like the college lists at the collegexpress website. I think they are helpful in bringing up colleges with strengths is certain majors.
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I continue to appreciate everyone’s comments. Any potential college list is just to see what kinds of possibilities are out there at what might be an affordable price range for our family, as we have no intentions of going into retirement savings or house equity for our child’s education. We realize that a college might be significantly more selective, expensive, or otherwise different by the time our child is ready to embark on a college education, thus there are no attachments to any list created. And as others have commented, things that might be potential issues now may completely disappear by the time college comes around. Additionally, high-schoolers are well known for being opinionated on where they would like to go to college. 
So right now this is an exercise in possibilities and how to prepare for those, but I will be taking action on several of the recommendations in this thread.
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If there were only 100 colleges in the US, being ranked 99 would be pretty low and no one would consider it. “It’s the second worst college!” Well, that same college is ranked 99 now and it’s a good school. It shouldn’t really matter that there is only one ranked lower or if there are 3000 ranked lower, #99 is still #99, still has the same majors and same professors.
Half the grads from Yale are in the bottom half of the class. Bet they still get jobs, into grad school, into med and law schools.
Rankings and numbers don’t tell the whole story.
This all presumes the ranking methodology aligns with what the interested student cares about.
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If you’re going to work straight after a bachelor’s, then college name helps. If your plan is grad school, then you need the grades, especially for med school. A Yale grad with C’s in science won’t get a med school interview anywhere.
This depends on the major and the job. For some it might. For others it might not.
The bigger question is, which college name matters more? My son had an opportunity to stay at his alma mater for his MS or go to Stanford. There were logistical and cost reasons not to switch institutions, but…it’s Stanford. I queried the engineering forum to see how much of a disadvantage he’d be in if he didn’t switch. Multiple engineers chimed in to say there was no clear consensus. About half the companies they’d worked at favored Stanford grads and half favored grads from his alma mater.
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So here’s an example:
Why is the University of Arkansas ranked #162 vs Auburn or Oregon at #99? Or Alabama at 143? What’s the difference in the education for an undergrad?
And would it matter if you were trying to get a job?
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I don’t think the numbers matter a hoot TBH, esp among anything outside of the Top 50 or so (if the employer cares).
What can matter is geography if local businesses prefer hiring from known colleges based upon previous hires or even alumni bias.
Where I live many folks consider Penn St to be the best school out there. (NOT U Penn). If they have graduates applying from Penn St vs Arkansas, Oregon, or Alabama they’ll pick Penn St, but not because it has a higher number. It’s just a known. I would expect the opposite in Arkansas, Oregon, or Alabama.
But there are also many employers who just want to see the “college degree” box checked.
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