<p>There are two colleges I would like to talk about:
Tulane University
Southern Methodist University (SMU)</p>
<p>Do they know them? Do they think this is a decent school.</p>
<p>I found a comment about SMU, is this true?
[quote]
Honestly, college is supposed to be fun. SMU is high school all over again, and NOT in a good way!
By the way, if you're from California or the East Coast, here are two hard, cold facts:</p>
<ol>
<li>SMU is only well known and prestigious in Texas and parts of the South. The rest of the country either doesn't know much about SMU or doesn't consider it a prestigious academic school. The people who do know about SMU in California and the East Coast affiliate SMU with the George Bush library, and since most of these people hate George Bush, you can imagine what they think about SMU, and what they think about YOU for going here.
<p>I know of Tulane and SMU. Tulane is a very solid academic school, much more selective than its rankings suggest. I don’t know too much about SMU. The few kids from my prep school that end up there every year come from wealthy families, but they’re not particularly intelligent. I’m sure its a good school with great professors and high-achieving students, but its not exactly a top choice amongst Northeast kids.</p>
<p>I’ve heard of Tulane and SMU, although i know nothing of the former other than it’s a ‘good school.’</p>
<p>SMU doesn’t carry strong prestige in California and i doubt it’s well known here. (I think similar points could be made against Tulane.) Outside of Harvard, and maybe Stanford, most schools are only regionally prestigious (with some exceptions.)</p>
<p>Also, from what i’ve heard, SMU is considered a USC reject school. If i had to compare it to other, similar, California schools, Chapman would come to mind; maybe LMU, or Pepperdine as well. I wouldn’t be surprised for some of these schools to have a fair bit of overlap in their applicants.</p>
<p>Also, i heard SMU’s fraternities are in mansions. That last state exhausts the whole of my knowledge about the university. I’d imagine most Californians know even less about it.</p>
<p>siliconvalleymom:
No, I just want to see reputation in those places. It seems like many Northeastern people go to Tulane and Californians go to SMU. So I would like to ask.</p>
<p>You keep asking opinion questions about these schools. Are you also doing your own research? Our superficial input doesn’t matter. One knows a football team, another doesn’t like New Orleans. </p>
<p>Have you looked at course catalogs to see if the classes offered and professor strengths meet your interests? Checked study abroad, finaid, specialty programs there and looked at what the expert media reflect about the academic quality? (That’s not USNews, NYT, etc- they just blabber.) </p>
<p>If you want super name recognition, choose a state flagship. Everyone know the names of the 50 states. None of the schools you have been mentioning are a magic ticket.</p>
<p>lookingforward:
Yes, I did. I saw that they are either good at business, and/or they have accredited CS program (Which both I wanted) Based on my own research, they both are very good. However, I am trying to see how famous are they, because some people tell me things about my choices, and usually they tell is reputation. So I would like to ask.</p>
<p>I have to ask many times the same question because I want my trip to leave my city worth it. If SMU = LSU = Tulane, I would rather go to LSU because it is free for me. All three have good academic programs.</p>
<p>IF you have done the real research, and could be satisfied at any of several programs, then your question should be: which has the programs that are better known, across the country, for CS and might more easily help me land internships and then a job. Ask it on the CS or engineering forum.</p>
<p>SMU and Tulane are better academically than LSU but if you can go to LSU for free that would probably be your best option (assuming full pay at the other 2 schools)</p>
<p>What is reputation? Each college has different strengths. A school with minimal lab facilities could be super for humanities. You are asking about reputation when the core issue is rep for computer science - !</p>
<p>lookingforward:
I see. Based on my research, some people said that engineers don’t care what college you graduated from, but whether it is ABET accredited.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice.
barrk123:
Yeah…I think so too.</p>
<p>ABET is not necessary, but just a shortcut to evaluate CS (and other engineering) programs. There are some top schools are not ABET accredited. CS (and other engineering) jobs require job skills. So it is important to look at class catalog to see if they have what you (and employers) needs.</p>
<p>However, for CS (only), that they care very little about ABET programs because it is more math oriented.</p>