<p>is anyone else really questioning the purpose of going to a "prestigious" school? am i the only one who is getting over the whole brand name school syndrome? i have a really good link to post with an article, but CC will get angry. PM me if you want to read it?</p>
<p>You'll enjoy this thread:</p>
<p>Internet dramaz. Fun stuff.</p>
<p>haha i am sure there are some really stereotypical CC kids wanting to prove they are better than everyone on the forum lol</p>
<p>I've been told over and over again that college has no bearing on success. Even teachers have told me this ha! Nevertheless, I want to do it to see if I can match up with others at that level. It's more personal than the whole prestige-seeking experience.</p>
<p>i can defiantly understand that, i mean i'm applying to some of those schools too, but i just help but think that the whole system is a little f-ed up</p>
<p>It depends on what you want to do with your life...in some areas, it does matter...for others, it doesn't at all.</p>
<p>because some of us are sick of public education (<em>raise hand</em>)</p>
<p>is it so wrong to want to go to school with the smartest people/teachers in the country? </p>
<p>sure there might be that life changing biology teacher at _______ state univ., but it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to find than the one at a more prestigious university, dig?</p>
<p>More prestigious schools have tougher admissions standards. Tougher admissions standards leads to a student body full of intelligent and driven students. Being around intelligent and driven people is why I want to go to a prestigious school. It is so much more beneficial for your future if you are in an environment in which you are constantly being challenged and debated intellectually. You learn so much from your peers. People miss the point when they say that you can get a great education at most schools; this is true, however, it is allllll about the student body and the people around you. 99/100 people would be more motivated if they were surrounded by driven geniuses than people who could care less. It makes it much easier to challenge yourself. Sure, all schools have intelligent driven people, but as a result of the tougher admissions standards to more prestigious schools there is a much higher concentration than at your average university.</p>
<p>IlikeDice,</p>
<p>That's assuming that there aren't publics on par with privates. The top UCs, Michigan, UVA, etc. all clearly are going to offer you more than a token great professor.</p>
<p>And seriously, unless you're at a LAC, your chances of meeting a "teacher" are pretty low. Most professors at research universities are professors first and teachers second (in my experience.)</p>
<p>keep in mind that when I say public education, I leave out the top UCs and the top public universities in general.</p>
<p>UCLAri brings up a great point, but those top publics are also considered "prestigious" and are thus seen as "bad" by some people.</p>
<p>I think, however, that UCSD offers a student even BETTER departments than UCLA or even Cal in some cases, yet gets far less press.</p>
<p>Not that I think that UCSD offers a better experience overall than my alma mater or sister school, but it's hard to argue against its research credentials. But I doubt that most people on this site would jump at the chance to go there over, say, UVA or Emory.</p>
<p>I apologize for talking so much in this thread, but I agree with you UCLAri. I am actually applying to UCLA, Berkeley and UCSD (In-state ELC student).</p>
<p>But I consider those top top public universities, and therefore prestigious. Even if UCSD is very very underrated.</p>
<p>Ah, but the more important question is not whether UCSD IS a top public, but whether people on our fair site would be willing to attend over another, more "famous" school.</p>
<p>
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is anyone else really questioning the purpose of going to a "prestigious" school?
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<p>Abanks hits it right on the head. Here's an extremely simplified version of how it works.
1) "Prestigious" schools generally have tougher admissions standards than mediocre ones, eliminating (most of) the non (or not as good) performers from their student body.
2) Students at these prestigious institutions use their acceptance at said institutions to signal their intellectual horsepower and aptitude. Sure, it's an imperfect method but absent any other objective metric(s), it's used by recruiters who
3) in turn, use a school's prestige as a screening mechanism. Like anything else in a business, time, money, and personnel to recruit qualified employees are limited resources. Why waste time, money, and personnel going to Average University (which generally accepts something like 60%+ of their applicants) only to find that the candidate pool is largely unqualified and undesirable? Instead, it is much better to go to Elite University where the candidate pool is largely qualified and desirable.
4) Extremely selective companies/firms will choose to go to Elite U to recruit as their yield will be much higher there.</p>
<p>And this is just one reason why prestige does matter. Others include more stimulating learning environments, membership in networks of well-placed alumni, etc. Granted, it won't make you or break you... but to discount it outright is a mistake.</p>
<p>Prestige matters. The most prestigious schools tend to have the best resources, the best students, the best educational quality, and the best recruiting. Its not about the name, its what the name offers.</p>
<p>slipper1234,</p>
<p>So you're saying that if Steve Jobs had gone to Harvard instead of Reed, he'd be the richest man instead of Gates?</p>
<p>I kid, I kid.</p>
<p>Or do I? :confused:</p>
<p>Wanting prestige in order to impress somebody on the street by dropping a name is the wrong motivation. Wanting prestige so you can be surrounded by intelligent and driven people in a stimulating academic environment and also be highly recruited and well-connected upon graduation SHOULD be a driving force when applying to schools. I see no problem with that. Once again, I agree you can get a great education anywhere. I doubt there is a huge difference between basic American History at Harvard and at Joe Schmoe State. They probably use the same textbook, but it is not the knowledge of American History that makes you a success in life, it is your ability to think analytically and network with successful and driven people and that is where prestigious schools, as a result of their higher admissions standards and therefor stronger student body, gives you a HUGE advantage. If you took the same class with the same professor at Joe Schmoe State and at Harvard you would get a lot more out of it at Harvard as a result of the people you are learning with (as a result of intelligent debate in and out of the classroom, competition, etc.) Being surrounded by people who are intelligent enough or driven enough to get into Harvard will help you a ton in life. Aggggaaaaiinn, I am not saying that intelligent and driven people do not exist at Joe Schmoe State, but virtually everyone at Harvard fits that description.</p>
<p>No, bret, you're far from the only one who thinks the entire "ranking" system is garbage.</p>
<p>A lot of smaller universities and even community colleges have high-quality, student-focused professors and instructors who are committed to teaching and who run quality programs.</p>
<p>As a student in a freshman English comp class, you'll get far more personal attention in a class of 15-20 at your local community college than you will in a class of 150 at UC Berkeley, for example. A lot of big universities are essentially entirely focused on upper-division and research stuff. If you're a frosh or a soph, you end up in warehouse lecture classes taught by TAs and see a professor once a month, if you're lucky.</p>
<p>It's a radical oversimplification to suggest that "only" academically-talented people are at Harvard and Yale and the top-20. There's plenty of students there who got in because there's a building named for his or her daddy.</p>
<p>Prestige also really depends on what you're looking for in a school, and what you want to specialize in. If you want to learn about the science of global warming and do high-level research into its effects, for instance, you can't do better than the allegedly-"fourth tier" University of Alaska Fairbanks, which is one of the world's most prestigious climate change research centers.</p>
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There's plenty of students there who got in because there's a building named for his or her daddy.
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<p>Lol. Come on. Every class at Harvard has how many kids? If 'plenty of kids get in because daddy donated a building'.. Harvard must have as many buildings as new york city by now! Developmental admits are extremely rare. Extremely, extremely rare. </p>
<p>Agree that teachers at less prestigious uni's are often more caring of their students. Disagree that the average student at state uni is on par with a student at HYPMS. In general, with an increase in prestige comes an increase in the overall intelligence of the student body.</p>
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is anyone else really questioning the purpose of going to a "prestigious" school? am i the only one who is getting over the whole brand name school syndrome?
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<p>Dude, probably a quarter of the posters here have your attitude. You're hardly unique.</p>
<p>Prestige does matter (I am quite sure that I would not have been interviewed for my current job without the name on my resume, and that name was a big factor in my landing a great internship after junior year). But it's not everything. And there are good and bad reasons for wanting prestige.</p>
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Wanting prestige in order to impress somebody on the street by dropping a name is the wrong motivation. Wanting prestige so you can be surrounded by intelligent and driven people in a stimulating academic environment and also be highly recruited and well-connected upon graduation SHOULD be a driving force when applying to schools. I see no problem with that.
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<p>This explains the good and bad reasons quite well.</p>