15k in scholarships from a California private is not too shabby, 20k would probably sell me… 15 is still attractive though for those schools. Tough choice. What are the various ratings for her major? Is there a standout among her choices as far as major specific rankings?
@thumper1 We would also fund her as you did if that ends up being her best path so we did not discourage her to apply to the schools and see what merit aid she could get to help out. And I agree with @socalmom007 15K is not too shabby. 
Our kid’s second choice was a college that gave her a HUGE merit award…HUGE.
We sat back and let her make the choice. It was the right choice.
@thumper1 Thats great to hear!
Oh good, you can afford to pay for the privates. Super. Then really its really all about what is best for your child and family.
If you want to help pay for grad school, then that is also a consideration. That was a consideration for us, but not every family looks at things the same way.
It sounds like no one really thinks that for employment/internship opportunities it matters where you go for undergrad Thats ok with me! I was just wondering if anyone had a compelling reason to lean one way or the other that should be considered. It sounds like most school choices are made for other reasons, financial, academic,personal choices which is actually nice to know.
My daughter did accepted student visits at her top choice…one of who hnwas a large OOS flagship (the second choice) another was SCU. We let DD make the choice…schools were $about $45,000 difference in price…I’m not kidding…for us per year.
She chose SCU. I never asked her why until we were on the olane on the way out there. She said…when she did her acceoted student visit at SCU, everyone seemed to know everyone…lots of people saying HI to one another, lots of interactions when students saw one another on campus.
At the other school, they had arrranged a very wonderful private scholars day for our kid…because she couldn’t attend their regular one. She spent the day with two fabulous student ambassadors. BUT she said…when they walked around…they never never seemed to see anyone they knew. No one said hi to them.
And that was her reason for picking SCU.
To be honest, she was an engineering major, and either school would,have been fine.
But we were happy with her choice. It was a great undergrad school.
You might want to read those threads. It is a very personal decision. UCs are an excellent instate options.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1956080-to-parents-of-full-pay-private-college-students-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1957065-what-do-you-get-from-ivy-league-schools-that-you-arent-getting-from-top-state-schools.html#latest
I don’t think that’s at all what people are saying. Depending on the student and the specific situation, it might make a difference. Making a general statement that it doesn’t make any difference is as dumb as making a general statement that it does make a difference.
@BelknapPoint Hi there. I’m sorry but you seem very bitter for some reason. Each one of your comments don’t help they are just negative and angry. I don’t get that at all. If you don’t want to be nice please just don’t answer. We are all here to help each other.
@Ballerina016 Thanks for links. I will take a look.
I really don’t know how you’re getting bitterness and anger through my typed words, because that’s so not where I’m coming from. Perhaps your frame of reference is skewed. My consistent point, which is a direct response to the question posed in your thread title (see, trying to be helpful), is that it would be a mistake to try and use generalities when each student and situation is so complex and unique. Your post #25 kind of made me do a face palm, because it was obvious to me that you just didn’t get the point that I was trying to make. I’m sorry if the word “dumb” offended you. I teeny bit frustrated? Yes. Bitter and angry? Not even close. You asked for opinions and advice on a public internet forum. You should expect to hear some responses you don’t agree with, but for the most part everyone here is genuinely trying to help.
Edited to add: it appears that you have an older daughter who is an upperclassman at Cal Poly. What has her experience been in contrast to her friends at private schools, as far as access to internships and job opportunities?
I totally agree with @BelknapPoint’s statement
If your D was looking to do IB or Consulting, where she goes to school will make a difference. A Communication major is broad. Depending on what she wanted to do , for example if she were looking to to television or film, then she would probably be better connected and having a stronger network coming out of USC than she would coming out of Santa Clara.
My D attended a school with a really strong and deep network (but she never had the need to reach out and use it). If and when she is looking to make a move, she knows that her network will definitely, get her to the door, but it is her body of internships and work experiences that will her a job.
I also strongly agree with @Gumbymom, that no matter where she attends, if she is not taking advantage of the services provided by career services, job fairs and the alumni network. The only thing the network may be able to do for you is get you to the door, it will be up to you to get yourself through the door.
One of the reasons that some schools get opportunities, because depending on what an employer is looking for, they can make a recruitment trip to a place where they know they can get a lot of candidates to fill their niches @blossom.
If you have the money and it is not going to be painful for you to pay, let your D ultimately decide what is best for her
I completely agree with all of you that ultimately it is my daughter who will be responsible for making her way. I never once meant to imply that this would not be the case. I understand that a student can go to one of the most well known schools and never network or do anything with that connection. I was not implying that the school would be responsible for her outcome. My main question was about networking opportunities with employers through a private vs a state or UC, and do most employers care about where the undergrad came from. I now see that most schools seem to have ample opportunities for the students (of course, those who network and apply themselves). I also agree that depending on the degree a certain school or location may be a consideration. She has always been the one who would ultimately make the choice, we as parents are just trying to help gather information for and with her. I thank you all for your input. I really appreciate it.
@BelknapPoint Thank you for your response. Regarding Cal Poly, it was an excellent experience for my older daughter! It had plenty of job fairs and internships available. My daughter didn’t have any immediate friends who went to a private school so I don’t have any information on that. My husband and I also did not attend college so we also have no experience with this at all. Cal Poly was my daughters one and only school, she never wanted anything else so that choice was always easy for us. Although she applied to a few UC’s and other states as back up, she did not apply to any privates at that time by her choice. Therefore we really did not look at or in to them.
Thank you for providing that context. I think it will help people responding to understand where you are coming from.
Cal Poly SLO has one of the best placement records. I really doubt job offers are going to be better from LMU or Santa Clara
^^
I agree with that. SLO is very well respected…very respected.
Really, for job placement, it really won’t matter for her career goals or for most career goals. At this point, it really just matters what your DD and family want and can afford. I’m a big fan of both SLO and SCU, and can see why people love both of those schools. Being from southern Calif, I know many who loved LMU, too.
For 99% of careers, it doesn’t matter which school you go to. I think the only career where school name really matters is for those who want Wall Street jobs.
If your daughter is planning to go to grad school, employers will most likely be looking at where she went to grad school more than where she went to undergrad. Also, different employers look for different things, and different interviewers within the same company look for different things. I often preferred the student who worked his or her way through the state school and whose resume showed a strong work ethic; I had colleagues who almost always preferred the Top 20 school graduate.
In addition, depending on the company that she works for, she may end up doing grad school on the employer’s dime.