<p>I think that choosing a school if it is very prestigious is an excellent reason for choosing a school.</p>
<p>The name of it will be on your resume for the rest of your life and even perhaps in your obituary, so you’ll be associated with the school perhaps for your whole life- long after the grades that you earned no longer matter, long after you’ve forgotten most of what you learned there, long after you’ve lost contact with the friends you made there, etc.</p>
<p>Caveat: my view applies only to schools in the top 10 or top 20- the very prestigious. Conversely, I don’t think that’s necessarily a good idea to choose a school based on relative prestige- e.g., if your choices are between #52, #87 and #95 in US News rankings, it may not make sense to choose #52 since its added prestige over #87 may be minimal and not worth the cost. </p>
<p>Please read “David and Goliath” by Malcolm Gladwell and the chapter on “Caroline Sacks”. It talks thoroughly about how “good students” can fail miserably in those top Ivy League colleges due to “relative deprivation” (a sense of inferiority to the top of the class). While they would have had ample resources and gained self-confidence in less rigorous institutions, they choose to go to these prestigious universities (even if the scholarship is not stellar) and risk dropping out The smarter your peers, the dumber you feel; the dumber you feel, the more likely you are to drop out of science. “The “penalty” Sacks paid by choosing a great school over a good school is that she reduced her chances of graduating with a science degree by 30 percent” Creating universities full of “only geniuses” sounds good on paper but apparently, it does incredible damage to those at the bottom who get their confidence shattered by the ones who seem so superior. </p>
<p>Greetings. I am a new member and this is only my second post. I believe I provided a little info that might be helpful in my first post-
<a href=“What is the most impt factor in selecting a college? - #616 by isaacyinn - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/20745-what-is-the-most-impt-factor-in-selecting-a-college-p42.html</a>
I would like to add a little more- First of all I think one should be completely honest that name brand does make a difference. However, the question is at what cost? Ex. If a Student A attends a top ten school (based on some news magazine) compared to Student B and both apply to the same job/grad/medical/post grad program, etc…Well, I can honestly say that that type of thinking NEVER works. There are never two individuals that have the EXACT same profile with ONLY a difference of a single factor such as which school they attended. On the other hand, if Student A attends a school ONLY due to the name brand and it is a horrible fit (too big, students not wanting to collaborate, faculty only thinking about grants and not caring about their teaching evaluations, etc.) while Student B attends a school that he/she feels is a good fit despite any name brand it WILL SHOW in their GPA, Letters of Support, strength of student, faculty, staff network, confidence, QUALITY extra-curricular activities and laboratory/faculty sponsored-mentored internships, etc. The MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR for choosing a school/college/university is the FIT (which includes brand name but also weather, size, etc). IF a student is comfortable and feels supported at an institution including where to get support when things go wrong (and they will go wrong) those are the students that succeed in college. I have taught and mentored students for over 15+ years and feel I have a strong sample size to make this statement. </p>
<p>The decision of choosing the right school is very confusing and can be extremely stressful. The best advice I can give is to learn as much as you can about the school (from the students that go there if possible) and be as honest as possible on your application. Ex. Your personal statement is not a place for you to talk about your wonderful accomplishments but rather think about it as a place for you to express your personality and an opportunity to explain any areas that you feel you are not as strong in AND most importantly how you overcame or are overcoming AND what you learned from it. Once you do this it is now out of your hands. This is a good thing. IF a school decides you are not a good fit then that should be seen as a positive as you do not want to go to a place that does not want you, correct? </p>
<p>Now, IF one is denied AND still feels they are a good fit and there was SIGNIFICANT information that you did not include in your original application almost every school has an APPEAL PROCESS. I do not think a single school advertises this as they would be overwhelmed with appeals. IT is TRULY designed for those very few individuals that honestly feel they are a strong fit and they have additional SIGNIFICANT information. In general, the process is usually a single letter that contains the information and must be submitted a VERY SHORT time after the denial. I hope this helps. Best of luck and remember it is less important how it looks getting to your goal than just getting there. </p>
<p>The information above is incorrect. It simply isn’t true that “almost every school” has an appeal process. Many selective colleges have a waiting list. If you were rejected, writing a letterappealing the decision is NOT going to enable you to leapfrog over all the people on the waiting list to gain admission. </p>
<p>Well I think that prestige/name is a factor that ranks high when choosing a college, for students these days. The reason is simple: Getting employed is becoming harder than ever. Students graduating have to compete not only domestically but even internationally. So the mindset is such that going to a prestigious university will lead to secure employment, even though this is not necessarily the case. </p>
<p>As a high school senior, who faced 3 rejections, 2 wait-lists, and 3 acceptances (UCLA & UCB costing >$30k and a safety school w/full ride which I will be attending), I am slowly starting to understand the truth. College does not make you, it’s what you make of college. </p>
<p>Prestige is a factor, if there are other factors that sway in that direction, anyway. All else being equal, including money, why wouldn’t prestige tips the scale? Seems unrealistic and silly to allege otherwise.</p>