Is a name-brand college worth extra debt?

College Search & Selection
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<p>Pretty close. It’s not for a decision making process as the decision has already been made. </p>

<p>The reason I am asking is because most of the people from my small state school say I shouldn’t go name-brand school because I’m not going to learn more and it won’t do anything for my career. All I’m paying for is a flashy name.</p>

<p>However, the people I know that have gone to such schools, all engineers mostly from MIT, say that I should definitely go and that once you’re in, money is not a concern (within reason, of course). They say people just treated them differently right from the start. They were treated with more respect, often more than they thought they deserved. And you just can’t make industry connections like that anywhere else. Plus a bunch of other reasons I’m sure you’ve all heard many times before.</p>

<p>I figured the people that went to top schools probably would know best. But I also realized that all of the people from the low ranked school have always been in such schools. And all the people from top schools have all of their degrees from similar schools. I don’t actually know anyone that’s been to both and therefore I have never actually had an unbiased conversation.</p>

<p>That’s why I posted this thread. I wanted to see if people really are that partial towards the places that they went to.</p>

<p>And ucbalumnus, that’s another reason I didn’t want to name schools or majors and asked that the thread not turn into a debate. Because I didn’t want to sound like I’m bragging or start up some “prestige wars”. In fact, I nearly created a new account just for this thread, thinking something like this might happen. I should have gone with my feelings on that one.</p>

<p>My apologies to all that I’ve offended. And thank you all that replied. Your input is greatly appreciated.</p>

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<p>It may depend on the particular student’s personality. If you’re an introvert uncomfortable with promoting yourself in interviews and hate to “bother” professors, then you’re likely better off at the name brand school where just having gotten in gives you the benefit of the doubt with someone you have just met for job or internship interviews.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you’re an extrovert who just loves to meet people and sell yourself and your ideas, you could get the best opportunities in a large state school where you will stand out from the crowd more easily.</p>

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<p>Jerski, as I noted above, I did both although in a different field. I did not find the brand name helpful with jobs, connections, or anything career related. My undergrad degree(brand name state school if you will) and ability to speak another language was more helpful in all those categories. I have a relative who did not get a brand name engineering degree and they are doing very well. The brand name has been best for impressing people at cocktail parties and has not helped much past that. I did pick up some great life experiences there but the price tag was not worth it. feel me to send me a private message if you;d like more details as I am one of the people who has done both.</p>

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<p>ucbalumnus implied this discussion relates to a MS in EE at Stanford. I have a MS in EE from Stanford, and believe the school did make a significant difference in both future jobs and my life. I don’t mean just the brand name. Stanford is the heart of silicon valley. There are a large number of quality job opportunities for EE grads, and many desirable companies have a heavy recruiting presence on campus. As I posted in another thread, my job search consisted of only handing out my resume at campus career fairs. Nearly every company I gave my resume gave me an opportunity to interview, including flight + hotel + car for out of town. I felt the the name of the school had a large impact on getting my foot in the door for interviews. However, after that point I felt that personality and technical knowledge during interviews became far more important than where I went to school. </p>

<p>While at the school I really enjoyed the quality of teaching, friendly and great atmosphere on campus where students are doing interesting and amazing things, countless opportunities for research or just about anything else, and general life The entrepreneurship attitude & programs at Stanford and meeting many who have made amazing accomplishments was one of the key factors that led me to start a website, which became a greater source of income than my day job in engineering. I doubt this would have happened if I went to school elsewhere. So for me, the school was easily worth it.</p>

<p>I say “worth it” even though I didn’t pay a high tuition. A “brand name” college does not necessarily mean extra debt. Stanford does not charge undergrad tuition for families making under $100k/yr (and other criteria, such as not being international), making it less expensive than state schools for many students. I was a coterm, so I’m not sure of their financial aid policies for grad students. I believe they offer a no tuition program for grad students where students can take up to 10-credits (low course load, 45 credits required for MS) and work part time as a TA or RA.</p>

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<p>In the OP’s case, the only thing that really might matter is his terminal degree…his grad degree at Stanford. </p>

<p>My older son’s elite PhD school is all that will matter, not the fact that he went to a flagship for undergrad. </p>

<p>My younger son will be in med school in August. Don’t know if his med school will matter or his residency. His final choice of med school is very well ranked. I’m hoping that he ends up with a top residency. In the end, no one will care that he went to a flagship U.</p>

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<p>I don’t know if I agree completely that one’s graduate school is more important than their undergraduate school. I’ve heard (from my sister who attended Stanford for her MSEE) that you only get a legacy boost if your parent did their undergrad there, so that says to me that your undergraduate school carries some significance. My sis (and her husband) both said they thought it was easier to get into graduate school (both attended name-brand undergrad schools).</p>

<p>Personally, I know that my school mattered when I was interviewing for jobs. One of the interviewers commented on it on the evaluation form (I wasn’t supposed to see it, but it happened to be on top). And that was for my third job (ie, not right out of school, but years later).</p>

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<p>My sis (and her husband) both said they thought it was easier to get into graduate school (both attended name-brand undergrad schools).</p>

<p>??</p>

<p>How would they know? They didn’t try it both ways. (and someone with a MSEE should know that she can’t make that assumption after having only tried it one way.)</p>

<p>Anyway, my older son got accepted to every PhD program he appled to, but he knows that doesn’t mean going to a flagship makes it “easier to get into graduate school”. lol</p>

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<p>* I’ve heard (from my sister who attended Stanford for her MSEE) that you only get a legacy boost if your parent did their undergrad there, so that says to me that your undergraduate school carries some significance*</p>

<p>Your sister may also be wrong about Stanford’s legacy admissions. Since that didn’t make any sense to me, I looked it up. According to* Stanford Daily:*</p>

<p>*The University Undergraduate Admission Web site defines an applicant as a legacy “if at least one parent or stepparent received an undergraduate and/or graduate degree from Stanford.”
*</p>

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<p>Another to try to get to the question you seem to have would be to ask students who transferred between schools of these two types.</p>

<p>SecondToGo transferred from a state flagship ranked about 100 to a top 20 school … and found differences in the both the academic and social lives between the schools … with some pros and cons to each school. These differences could be school specific or even cohort within the school specific but others are almost certainly structural differences between the two experiences.</p>

<p>PS - IMO no school is worth a lot debt</p>

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<p>There just are too many variables. It depends on your personal finances and what you want to get out of it. Some large state schools are not hard to get into in general but may have a couple programs that are regarded as the best in the country by recruiters and extremely competitive. So if you’re instate for the University of Minnesota and money is a big factor and want to major in chemical engineering, you might want to choose Minnesota over Yale.</p>

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<p>Depends on one’s career goals, especially whether one’s career line is prestige-sensitive. </p>

<p>If one wants to do business consulting or investment banking, maybe. If one wants to do law, it’s another matter but it would then be a question of brand-name law school.</p>

<p>But, if one wants to teach K-12, no.</p>

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<p>Based upon my own experience,</p>

<ol>
<li><p>No.</p></li>
<li><p>Attended a state university for a BS Computer Science.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>But there are MANY other factors that go into this type of decision!</p>

<p>Going to a name-brand school would not have helped me in any way. The debt simply would have prevented me from making large asset purchases, and I wouldn’t be able to own a 3BR 1600 sq ft. luxury condo a few blocks from the Inner Harbor today. Also, it wouldn’t have helped me network either because my service (rank, branch, duty positions) matters more than the name of the school I went to in the defense sector.</p>

<p>Instead of asking yourself is a name brand college worth the debt, ask yourself this, “Do you have a feasible and actionable plan?” You know the facts. Envision where you want to be in 10 years. Now think out the steps you need to take to get there. Now backwards plan. Go through the steps from where you want to be in 10 years to where you are now - this gives you a timeline perspective. And at every single decisive point, consider what “may” happen - plan contingencies and work those issues. Think how you may deviate and what you are going to do to get back on track. If you can’t get back on track, do you have alternates? Again, are those feasible and actionable? I would suggest you have a friend - one that isn’t know to feed you ******** - to play Devil’s advocate. No one goes through major life decisions and paths alone. Your biggest assets will be those who can best advise you along the way. They understand your strengths and your weaknesses far better than individuals on an internet forum.</p>

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I think that a top school is “worth it” in the same way that it’s “worth it” to buy a great, classic suit or an expensive car that will last forever: it’s only worth it if you have the money for it.</p>

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<ol>
<li><p>It’s not worth it (if you have to take on considerable debt).</p></li>
<li><p>I attended private well-known name-brand schools for both my undergrad and grad degrees. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>My reasons are as follows… people I know who are successful in their field are successful because of their hard work, talent, and perseverance, not the name of the college they graduated from. I had friends graduate from less elite colleges but go on to very successful careers because of their skills, brains and work ethic. I also have friends who graduated from elite colleges and went nowhere because they were not very motivated.</p>

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<p>I guess it depends where. Other than a few really top schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton and maybe a couple of others), the answer is most definitely no. I think the only important criterion is the school is not a place you’re embarrassed to say you attended. Thus, it’s okay to say you went to Tulane, U of Illinois, Grinnell. It’s not okay to say you went to Southern Illinois, U of North Dakota, and Ol’ Miss.</p>

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<p>As everyone else says, it depends. On your finances, on your major, on your planned career track.</p>

<p>Also depends on what you mean by “prestige”; does it mean the college has a ranked football team?</p>

<p>I went to a state college, and constantly remind my “prestige school” employees and applicants about it.</p>

<p>I know three guys who have key roles on a very well-known late night talk show in NY: The Technical Director went to William Paterson in NJ. Cam 1 went to Richard Stockton in NJ. The host went to Ball State in Indiana.</p>

<p>To me, the only things that ultimately matter is what you know and what you’ve done. If you get a better opportunity to know & do at a state school, go there.</p>

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<p>Depends on the debt. It’s not the name brand, it’s the opportunities and resources that the university will provide that’s important.</p>

<p>First of all, as has been stated about a million times on these fora - state college does not equal non-name-brand. There are many public universities (UT-Austin, Penn State, almost all of the UCs, UVa, Bama, Ole Miss, Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin-Madison, Minnesota…) that are more well-reputed than some pricy private universities (High Point is good example). They have large libraries, great career offices, motivated and accomplished students, great professors, great research going on, and lots of money. They also offer social opportunities that smaller colleges and private universities don’t (you can go to completely filled football games and tailgate at Bama, Penn State, UT-Austin or Michigan…not gonna happen at Columbia, Harvard, or Princeton). To some students, that’s really important and they want that social aspect in college as well as the intellectual/academics.</p>

<p>If a student could go to the University of Washington with no debt or, let’s say, NYU with $50,000 of debt, I would suggest University of Washington, for example. If the student was comparing UW no debt with Pomona, though, and only had to borrow about $30,000, I would say that depends on the students’ desires and wishes as well as future plans. It could be worth it to go to Pomona, or it could be better to go to UW.</p>

<p>I have attended both…sort of. I went to Spelman College for undergrad, a small, good LAC that requires some explanation for about half the people who ask. I go to Columbia for undergrad. I can see major differences in the resources and things that Columbia students have access to - amazing internships, great alumni networks, lots of money, great career education and services, 20 libraries (the Columbia undergrads I work with were astonished that my undergrad only had one library), better residence halls. And a great student network. These kids are going to do respected things after college and all of their college friends are now their network. But I always say that although Columbia was my dream school in HS, I’m glad I didn’t come here for undergrad…too stressful, and the social environment isn’t what I would’ve actually wanted. And some of the things they have aren’t necessarily better.</p>

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<p>Are you serious?</p>

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<p>Joblue: I’m partially serious. I guess the answer also depends upon where you plan to live after college. If you are going to live in Fargo, then the U of North Dakota is a fine choice. Similarly, if you want to live in Jackson, Mississippi, the Ol’ Miss would be acceptable. If, however, you plan to live in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, these schools would not be the best picks.</p>

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<p>…but then neither would U of I, Grinnell, or Tulane necessarily. They also have regional reputations.</p>