OSU Full Ride or Swarthmore? Parent's perspective would be greatly appreciated!

Parents Forum
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<p>Briguy already knows that I think OSU Honors would be an excellent choice if that what family finances dictate. Having said that, these two reasons don’t make much sense:</p>

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<p>I don’t know a Swarthmore student who didn’t have a campus job. Whether it’s being a Writing Associate, or giving admissions tours, or being a lab assistant, or working in the library. I think that is probably a plus, not a minus to the college experience. It’s certainly not onerous. </p>

<p>The study abroad thing is just not correct. Study abroad is fully included in the net price at Swarthmore. Swarthmore pays the full price of the most expensive study abroad programs in the world (my daughter’s was MORE than Swarthmore tuition, room, and board because it inluded airfare from NYC to Buenos Aires to Beijing to Shanghai to Bangalore and back to NYC), plus they give you a check for airfare if it’s not included, plus they give you a check for incidentals. All you pay is the same $13,000 a year. You don’t pay a dime extra unless you want to buy souvenirs for your family. You can do either a semester or a full year at any of several hundred programs. I don’t honestly know how you could “do more study abroad” than is already included in the Swarthmore price.</p>

<p>Anyway, whatever you and your famiy work out, don’t look back. You’ve got a great opportunity either way and you should jump in to either one with both feet running.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone. About the jobs: I actually don’t really have a problem with working (I have a job now) and I find that it helps me manage my time. I also know that Swat tries to keep the FWS contribution to a minimum so that students can concentrate on studies. I’m actually looking forward to hopefully doing some admissions-type assistance wherever I end up.</p>

<p>Also ID, I guess you’re right about the study abroad aspect of financial aid. ;-)</p>

<p>Sorry if I keep going in circles…my parents are doing their best to show me that OSU makes the “most financial sense” at the moment and I guess I’m trying to do my own analysis as well.</p>

<p>Brian</p>

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<p>Briguy, if your parents aren’t familiar with Swat or LAC’s in general, they may be looking at “price per degree” or “price per units.” A lousy way to evaluate, imnshvo. Price per experience, price per opportunities, matters a lot. Unless you’re planning on spending your life in Ohio, I can guarantee you that a Swat degree will make it easier to get some job interviews, etc. Positive presumptions will be made about you even if not entirely deserved, given Swat’s reputation among the cognoscenti.</p>

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<p>Or, to put it another way, if it was my S or D who was between Swat and OSU, it would be the rare circumstance of me exercising parental fiat absent a compelling argument to the contrary: they’d be going to Swat. Hang the expense. 20 years from now, the incremental cost won’t matter.</p>

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<p>That’s absolutely absurd. tOSU is very similar to Penn State with a huge alumni network and alums who take care of their own. Not to mention it’s a helluva lot more well known than Swat.</p>

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<p>No doubt Swarthmore is an excellent school. But don’t go there for its widely known reputation. I’ve been a university professor in 3 different states (two top tier universities): east coast, midwest and west coast. Until I started visiting CC, I had never heard of Swarthmore. I’ll bet I could meet 50 potential bosses right here in my county (a large west coast county) who have never heard of it. OSU, on the other hand, is widely known, and happens to have an excellent program in my field. Not saying it’s “better” than Swarthmore as an undergraduate experience for you, I’m just pointing out that it’s not as widely known as you think. If the fit doesn’t seem perfect for you, then it may well not be worth 13K per year in your eyes. If that extra expense means that you’ve really got to hustle for summer jobs and on-campus jobs, vs traveling or volunteering or whatever each summer then that is something to consider as well. Good luck to you!</p>

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<p>Pfft. OSU is more well known for Woody Hayes and its football team than its academics.</p>

<p>Get away from Ohio and among high-end employers, a degree from Swat is going to make a lot of people sit up. Just as I have a friend who got her degree at Harvard and got interviews (and from them jobs) she never would have gotten without them.</p>

<p>Just because someone never heard of Swat until they got to CC doesn’t mean anything…at least about Swat. A lot of people in the street have never heard of Williams, Reed, U/Chicago, Tufts, Wellesley, Smith, Middlebury, or Wash U/St. Louis, either. And so?</p>

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<p>I’d amend my earlier post about exercising parental fiat about sending my D/S to Swat over OSU. Implicit assumption that D/S was a high-achieving student for whom fit was important. I believe in fit to the core of my being; I also have come to understand that some students will have more or less the same qualitative experience no matter where they go to college. It depends on the student you have.</p>

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Wow. Never heard of Swat?</p>

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<p><<unless you’re=“” planning=“” on=“” spending=“” your=“” life=“” in=“” ohio,=“” i=“” can=“” guarantee=“” you=“” that=“” a=“” swat=“” degree=“” will=“” make=“” it=“” easier=“” to=“” get=“” some=“” job=“” interviews,=“” etc.=“”></unless></p>

<p>Add Illinois to the list. I hired people here for twenty years and never heard of Swarthmore.</p>

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<p>This is amusing. Newsflash–Swarthmore is not the center of the universe! </p>

<p>Seriously, if you’ve only been aware of state unis or say, Engineering schools, or if you’re not from the east coast, why would Swarthmore be on your radar?</p>

<p>Don’t be insulted, Swatties—I had never heard of Rose-Hulman or Harvey Mudd until I started investigating techie schools for my sons, but they are fantastic schools and well known to people in the field.</p>

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<p>“Some” jobs interviews through Swarthmore alums or more job opportunities and MUCH larger alum network through OSU. Wow, that’s a tough choice. Swarthmore has its advantages. That’s not one of them. </p>

<p>Briguy,</p>

<p>I’m back on the road. Best of luck with your decision.</p>

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<p><<pfft. osu=“” is=“” more=“” well=“” known=“” for=“” woody=“” hayes=“” and=“” its=“” football=“” team=“” than=“” academics.=“”>></pfft.></p>

<p>It always amazes me that great football and great academics can’t co-exist on CC. It’s a big school. Surely the resources that are applied toward football are not taking away from the academic resources.</p>

<p>When I attended tOSU and I am sure it is still the case, I found there was a big group of students who hated football and sports in general. I knew students who preferred <em>gasp</em> Michigan football. The library was still packed on football Saturdays. Not everyone on campus is dressed like an offensive coordinator - many people only care about the academics. Others, like myself, wanted a well-rounded experience that maximized all the school had to offer.</p>

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<p>When I was at UC, I didn’t attend a single football game or frat party. Some stuff exists, but not for serious Conservatory students!</p>

<p>To be sure, I wasn’t looking for a well-rounded experience.</p>

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<p>Few folks seem to focus on the nagatives of Swat other than cost and “lack of name recognition.” There are other major negatives and positives as well.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Limited choices in majors: Compare what is offered at a big state univeristy vs. Swat. I would bet that OSU might have as much as six times the number of majors! For example,at Swat there is no engineering, no geology progam, no business program etc. This may or may not appeal to you,but it can be a deal breaker.</p></li>
<li><p>Limited number of courses in each major: Check out any major of interest, and I would bet that OSU offers many more courses in that major when compared to SWAT. In fact, you can even take some grad courses This also can be a big deal depending on your needs.</p></li>
<li><p>SWAT is tiny: Everyone knows your business there. This can be good or bad depending on the situation.</p></li>
<li><p>As I have noted before, 13K extra per year is nothing to sneeze at considering that over 50% (if I remember correctly) of all Americans who reach age 50 don’t have a networth of $60,000.</p></li>
<li><p>Better overall miscellaneous facilities: I would bet that facilities such as gyms, numbers of computers etc are much more numerous and up to date at OSU than found at Swat. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Positives:
Strong teaching: Swat and other LACs are known for having faculty that can teach and who all speak English well. This can NOT be said for large state universities.</p>

<p>Closer student-teacher interaction: Although you can have some close student teacher relationships at OSU, I wouldn’t bet it on. At Swat you will surely have more of that.</p>

<p>OSU is BIG: Being big has both positives and negatives. You are simply a number. You need to be a bit more aggressive about your education, getting questions answered etc. It is all doable,but you do need a bit more agression in order to meet your goals.</p>

<p>Neutral factors</p>

<ol>
<li>research: I think that research opportunies will be about the same at both schools. However, because I don’t know for sure regarding each department, I would recommend checking this out.</li>
<li>Ability to get into professional and grad schools: Again, the name of the school really doens’t matter much. It is the grades, scores and recommendations. I guess one might argue that with closer faculty student interaction at Swat, you might get better recommnedations. However, this is a “maybe.”</li>
<li>Intellectual student body: I do agree that the average student at Swat is probably more academically prepared than that of OSU.HOWEVER, there are plenty of top kids at OSU. I guarantee that you can find the same type of intellectual stimulating kids at OSU.</li>
</ol>

<p>Unknown factors:</p>

<p>Course demends: I can’t compare the quality of courses or their demanding nature between both school. They probably use the same books,but who really knows what is covered in each course.</p>

<p>Employers who recruit at school: I don’t know anything about this situation. I would bet that more employers come to OSU,but I could be wrong about this.</p>

<p>Military scholarship: I don’t think that Swat offers any ROTC or similar programs that OSU has. This may or may not be meaningful,but it is a way to attend college cost-free.</p>

<p>No Jewish studies or Hebrew: This may be bizarre but Swat offers many language offerings such as Arabic and all types of ethnic studies. For example, they offer Islamic studies, Black studies, Asian studies, and even Gender and Sexuality studies etc. However, there is no Hebrew or Jewish studies,which is a bit strange for a school such as Swat. Many schools that do offer this wide range of ethnic studies also have some form of Jewish studies,which leads me to believe that they aren’t as “diverse” as some would argue and might even have a biased population.</p>

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<p>Hi Briguy-A few things that you should also keep in mind about the Presidential Scholarship. OSU sets it at the full cost of attendance, including books, incidentials, trips home etc.-I think around 25,000/year, if I remember correctly. If you move off campus as a soph or jr, it costs much less than full room and board in the dorms–you still get the same amount. If you buy books online, you still get the full amount–so you actually end up pocketing a large amount of money each year. The award is also good for 4 years, and because of generous credits for AP classes, it is very easy to graduate after three. OSU lets you carry over that fourth year of eligibility for Grad school, med school, law school, if you continue at OSU. If you don’t want to go to grad school there, you can use it to have an easier time during jr or soph years and do semester abroads where you take classes not in your major.</p>

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<p>Taxguy,
Swarthmore is actually one of the few LACs that do have engineering, and it’s a well known and accredited program.</p>

<p>Their Hebrew offerings are limited, but they do have a “Hebrew for Text Study” sequence.</p>

<p>Although there are, I am sure, more courses listed in OSU course catalog, Swarthmore actually has a fairly extensive list of courses. Most students have a problem of not being able to fit the classes they would like to take into their 4 years at the school, not the other way around… But if there is a class you want to take at Penn, that is an option as well, and some students take advantage of it more than others.</p>

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<p>Yes , they do have some engineering,but it is limited. They don’t have the number of broad based engineering majors that I am used to seeing such as Aerospace, Civil etc.</p>

<p>Yes,they do have arrangements with other colleges to take courses. However, this means that the student has to leave campus and commute to the other school in time for their next class, which is not always an easy feat.</p>

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<p>Just wanted to weigh in on being “just a number” at OSU- My son’s at OSU in honors engineering and I doubt he feels like a number. The profs and TAs in his core courses know him and he’s very comfortable. If he wanted to melt into the background for a particular course, he could take the non-honors version.</p>

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<p>Am not a swattie and have no dog in this race, but was admittedly surprised that someone in academia, at top tier schools, one in the NE, had never heard of Swat. I do think the LACs suffer somewhat from regionalism and, without big sports teams to be seen on tv, perhaps suffer from less advertising opportunities (with the exception of college mailings to students and the occasional character on TV wearing a college tshirt). That said, I have loved Harvey Mudd, and its name, since HS days (and I was in the NE), and bought a tshirt when older s looked at it. I do get some funny looks from time to time.</p>

<p>Maybe we should start a thread about schools we shoulda heard of but weren’t familiar with. I didn’t learn of Rose Hulman 'til my S was looking at colleges. Didn’t know of Centre til a friend’s dau went there. But the top LACs and Us ,many of those seem to have name recognition… except poor Rice. It still seems to struggle…</p>