<p>An interesting paper for your reading pleasure…</p>
<p>[Who</a> Needs Harvard? - Magazine - The Atlantic](<a href=“http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/10/who-needs-harvard/3521/]Who”>Who Needs Harvard? - The Atlantic)</p>
<p>“… college is/should be a time of growth. Many students enter college with one goal in mind and emerge wanting to do something quite different.”</p>
<p>Agreed. That is actually a good argument for looking for a strong placement office. Typically they have services that allow students to research opportunities in their own major as well as contemplated new major. If summer jobs or co-ops can be arranged to validated their aspirations, all the better.</p>
<p>Great topic! Our neighbor’s son went to a local school for IT. The dad works in the field as well, and supposedly vetted the academic elements of the department prior to the son deciding to attend. However, ultimately the school’s career office was a major disappointment, and so was the lack of recruitment on campus. The young man had wanted to get a job after graduation, but now must go to grad school instead in the hope that more education will help him land a position. Yes, the economy is a factor in his not finding employment, but word on the street is that another local school does a better job of placing their IT students.</p>
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Ha - I thought this thread would be about - kid decides to go ot college on the opposite coast (or anywhere far from home), kid meets a mate there, kid marries and settles there, parents now rarely see kid. Ditto if they get a job in the area of the far away college upon graduation. :(</p>
<p>(Fortunately this didn’t happen with my kids 
)</p>
<p>The campus career center is just one of multiple resources a graduating senior will have; it certainly does not have to be the sole or primary resource for a job hunt. </p>
<p>My d’s college career center was incredible in the help and support it gave her in terms of building skills for job hunting (all sorts of workshops on interviewing and networking skills, a connection with an outside mentor in her field, etc.) – but they didn’t place her in a job. As far as I know, she never got anywhere with applying for jobs via campus listings.</p>
<p>On campus-recruiting might be important in some industries, and it’s certainly a good opportunity for those who get hired that way – but it is not the way the bulk of new grads get jobs. Networking & prior work experience and skill development play a much more important role. </p>
<p>I certainly think that the quality of the campus career center and its resources is one factor to consider – but if a college is weak in that respect, the career advice and skill-training that my daughter got can be replicated elsewhere – (just do an internet search for “career counseling”). In some cases, it may be preferable to get those services locally rather than through the college – if, for example, your kid definitely does not want to remain in their college town and wants to return home after college. </p>
<p>I actually think that a lot of students are essentially handicapped n their job hunt by the attitude that the college career office is going to do it all for them. For example, those students may limit their job search to applying for jobs that are listed there, rather than taking using internet resources to seek out other opportunities. </p>
<p>Anyway, the idea that students must either progress to grad school or rely on on-campus recruiting for a job is a very narrow mindset, in itself rather limiting as to the opportunities available to college grads.</p>
<p>@Arbydan…GREAT article! It really hit home. Last spring our D did choose a less selective school from her list of acceptances (although still very reputable). My husband and I always said it would be our kid’s decision, and we would not interfere in the process. In the end, she simply felt a better social connection at the one she chose. Articles like this one are reaffirming. I agree with the author’s study which finds that really bright kids do well at ivys but do equally as well at other schools. What is the saying – “The cream always rises to the top?” :)</p>
<p>It will never happen, but such a shame the US colleges do not provide what UK colleges (have to) provide. They document, record and post all the outcomes, in quite a lot of detail. It is a fabulous resource for comparing and choosing colleges. You can search on major and/or school, and see employment rates, and more specifically employment rates related to major. You can even ask the system to rank the schools on the basis of employment rate:</p>
<p>[Unistats</a> | *Search best UK universities, make university comparisons and see student satisfaction ratings and UCAS points](<a href=“http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/]Unistats”>http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/)</p>
<p>My son, who is in his second year of college, keeps trying to tell younger students at his former HS that they cannot plan for four years but should plan for six or eight. They think he’s a little crazy, but his thinking is very sound. He always has known that his education would not stop after just four years. He’s always wanted grad or law school, so academically, he has been preparing himself for that. </p>
<p>Many kids do not have a clue about visiting the career center and asking about opportunities beyond graduation. I guess that’s what parents are for?</p>
<p>A student may not necessary get a job through it’s career placement center, but by looking at firms that recruit on campus would give someone an indication of how strong a school is for a particular major. As an example, best tech firms recruit at CMU, but not necessary banks. This would tell you which school is stronger at CMU. </p>
<p>Because of budget cut, many companies are trying to be as efficient as possible when it comes to recruiting. They want to get the most bang for their bucks, they want to go to schools where they could get the best and most candidates. A school like NYU will always get more attention because of location. As remote as Dartmouth is, a lot of firms would still recruit there because quality of school and its strong alumni base. </p>
<p>After life, may it be graduate school or job, is not the only criteria in selecting a school, but it is something to consider. Four years ago there was a sigh of relieve when D1 got into college, and we didn’t expect 4 years to fly by so fast.</p>
<p>One reason D chose the school she attends is because the location (NYC) gives her the internship opportunities (she has had 2 so far) in her field of interest. She considered transferring to another school with comparable academics, but a major reason she is staying is because of the location.</p>
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<p>This IS a good reason to choose a college, but it’s also important to look at schools that recruit on the college campus.</p>
<p>Also, this works very well when the student’s interest doesn’t change. DD went to school smack in the middle of the Silicon Valley…an engineer’s dream. BUT she will not be pursuing a career in engineering (unless something changes in the next TWO years). Still the location and the strength of the program made this a good choice.</p>
<p>This post-college focus is why schools like Northeastern University in Boston, with strong co-op/internship and study-abroad programs, are the new model for the modern-era university. </p>
<p>Students are exposed to so much more real-world application of their university education and experience while still in a position to reaffirm or change their direction. They get to “try out” their major and see if the field is what they thought. They graduate with a year or more or work experience, often leading to that crucial first job. They broaden their viewpoint and gain global understanding with significant international and foreign language exposure. And they are in a better position to put some real-world slant on immediate post-baccalaureate education.</p>
<p>My D chose this university over some others more highly ranked, with her eye on a holistic educational experience and her life after graduation, to include the co-op program, campus recruiters, networking in Boston and the greater Northeast, and the robust college town environment that big city provides. She is thrilled and happy to be there - the fit she was looking for. </p>
<p>Highly-ranked and one of the top up-and-coming universities in the nation, the rankings and SAT/GPA entry requirements climb every year. It’s been discovered. There are more colleges like Northeastern that offer students a non-traditional yet perfect fit.</p>
<p>I brought this subject up on another thread and agree that in this economic climate we need to look ahead to life after college. While I think that career centers are important for business majors who want to be placed with companies that recruit on campus, most kids outside of that major will not be finding jobs through the center. My D a Psych major who graduated in the “bust of '09,” which is what they affectionately call the year she graduated, found her offered job rescinded because of cutbacks, headed to law school, hated law school and dropped out, spent time at home (along with many of her friends who had no jobs) and 280 online applications later, found a great job in the city she had originally hoped to live in. How did she get this job? </p>
<p>Many people ask her and she laughs and says, “my college ALUMNI NETWORK!” It was serendipity that one day in exasperation she happened to look at her college’s career center web site and saw a posting in NYC. After D1 got the job, the HR person told her that she pulled D1’s resume because she had gone to the same college and had never before posted on the career center site but felt like doing it that day. LUCK + connections = job. This was the only time D1 had looked at the career center site!</p>
<p>I can’t emphasize enough getting to know your alumnae. Find the local chapter, attend a cocktail hour, meetings, etc. Discover if alumni stay primarily in the area of the school or spread out throughout the states. D1’s college alumni tend to gravitate to the east coast, D2s go everywhere. My nephew who went to USC says most kids stay around CA. </p>
<p>D2 goes to Michigan and it has one of the largest alumni networks in the country. When she recently did a med school interview, her interviewer had gone to UMich and they instantly had a rapport and a very relaxed interview. They shared a laugh about being in the same dorm as freshmen. Where D1 went to school, although it was in the south, a large number of the students were from NYC and she now has a huge number of friends working in the city and she is using them to network towards another job. These friends work in asset management and banking and personally walk her resume into HR, which speaks louder than an online application.</p>
<p>Face it, today most kids will apply for jobs ONLINE, not through the career center, and it will be difficult to rise above the pile on the HR person’s desk unless they can find a human connection at the other end. D1 is paying it forward and continues to place her friend’s resumes on the HR persons desk, who has now become a good friend.</p>