<p>Hi, I was wondering about the difficulty levels of Public vs. Private Colleges.
I live in California, and I am interested in going into a UC, but I have heard that they are harder than private colleges of the same "level". I am still trying to decide between econ, poli sci, business, or finance as my major. So basically my question is, is it true that Public colleges are HARDER than Private colleges?</p>
<p>I have heard this to be the case. There is a lot more grade inflation at privates than publics. I know personally of prof's @ reputable private U's being encouraged to give 'B' to 'B-minus' averages. Publics are more "sink or swim." There are less people to help and coddle you, and thus simlulates real life. In this way, I believe publics are superior.</p>
<p>i go to a private school and no one coddles me... yeah the school provides free tutoring and other services to help students understand the material... but isn't that the whole point? i want to go to a school that cares whether i get it or not!</p>
<p>ilike,
As a product of the public school system, including UC, I would not be so quick to label the difference between publics and privates as "harder" or "superior." It depends on WHICH privates you are referring to and in what context. And, I wouldn't remotely suggest that there is ANY grade inflation at Swarthmore---quite the opposite! Small classes provides professors with the opportunity to better assess a student's knowledge of a subject through group discussions and, in some cases, means higher standards/expectations (versus large lecture halls where there is virtually no interaction between the instructor and students---and where grades are determined strictly by test scores). Some students prefer smaller classes while others do not. It is a preference that you will need to make.</p>
<p>I've seen stats that prove Swarthmore's avg. gpa to be above a 3.0. Thus, grade inflation. But, anyway, I didn't mean ALL privates coddle and help students with grades. The ones I am familiar with(and are comparable to UC selectivity) do this.</p>
<p>i wnet to a public (uci) and transfered to a private (USC). most what people say is somewhat true. </p>
<p>public tends to leave you to learn yourself especially in large classes. profs. would rather research than teach, and arent helpfull even when you ask. "sink or swim" would be a good way to describe public education. a good number cant handle it, while those who can usually are really motivated and tend to be successful.</p>
<p>private university's are much cozier. profs. like teaching and are more than happy to see you beyond their scheduled office hours. because of this, students find private education easier. but at USC i think they compensate for this. there is a B- curve being implemented in the marshall school of business, meaning a B- score usually gets you a C course grade. </p>
<p>your choice depends on what kind of individual you are. ucirvine was really fast paced and intense. USC is more relaxed but still intense if you want good grades and too look really good compared to your peers.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info, I think I will apply to some private colleges in addition to UC's.</p>
<p>oh ya, if you are also concerned about employers and grad schools, they both realize that UC education is really intense. especially uci in orange county. employers recognize that students who graduate with good grades tend to be really motivated. so even though your grades are good, theyll see them in better light.</p>
<p>oh ya almost forgot. the prof.s at uci suck. and i mean SUCK. and i didnt have just a couple bad eggs. just about all of them were bad eggs. like one of my firsts, for beg. econ. his name is medoff. he doesnt hold office hrs. but if you want to talk to him he says to meet him outside of calss before and after class b/c he has a cig before and after. what a loser. and this guy sohrabian, for the next class in my beg. econ series. in class he seemed like the most passionate econ teacher. too bad he could never get a clear point across. not to mention he was a real @$$ in office hrs. atleast he had office hrs. and then there was my intermediate econ profs, all three of those bastards. the first one would never return my emails to meet me to discuss my course grade after term. i had to get the dean involved to get her to email me back. she wasnt so bad though. just dumb. and then there was bacolod. avoid her at all costs. she's a terrible teacher and a real b*tch. she always gave us problem sets. i could never figure them out, until she posted answers. i decided that this was unnacceptable, so i talked to her. she said everything was intuitive. myt @$$, maybe intuitive to phd but not to an undergrad. and im a good student. so after like half an hour she finallly says look ill show you in the book. she pulls out the book, only its not the course book for our class, its the book for the honors econ course. and im like wait a minute thats the wrong book! she like i like assigning problems that are similar to the problems in this book b/c its a better book. and im like, bs not OUR book, dumba$$. and shes like but this book is better and i teach out of it in the honors course. anywyas, later on before the final i show up to her office hrs. i try to ask a couple of questions, and shes like its all intuitive just look in the book. i dont stop asking her for like 15 min. finally after saying the same thing over and over, shes like look i have a lot of work to do and i just dont have time to help you. i was speechless. finally, i just walked on out of there. i ended up with B in that class. and the there was my next prof for the next class in the series. he was really arrogant. he had a prof who wrote the book on "irrational exuberiance" which was a big hit recently. shiller was his name. he would be like "shiller this and shiller that." we even had a test question about shiller. screw shiller, nobody cares about shiller, i thought. i read shiller's book, it was mediocre at best. anyways, on my midterm, i recieved a D grade. i was like this cant be right. so i go see the TA not the prf. i go over the test with the answer key with the TA. it turns out i should have gotten an A instead of a D. the TA was really confused, and sadi go tell the prof. mcbride (thats the profs name). mcbride is like ok ill take a look. hes like you can submit this for a regrade, but ill be grading it harder, and you might loose more points instead of gaining any. i was like, wtf? i got a lot more right than wrong, go ahead, but its unfair to grade me harder b/c i should have gotten all those points the first time. btw, the TA the graded my test is named Aditya. so mcbirde is like you may not like your score after i grade, he basically doesnt want to grade my ish. i say, go for it. i end up witha B on the test instead of an A like deserved. he gave me a lower score than i should have got because he graded my test very hard, for 2 reason i believe: to make it seem that the grading errors werent too bad and to scare into not ever regrading another one of his tests. i make a big deal about this for a while, fianlly hes like if you get an A on the final then ill give you an A in the course. i said ok, but its not fair to the other students. he says its his class and its up to him, not me. it turns out im not the only one with major grading errors, there are a lot! so he eventually announces in class that everyone who scores an A on the final will get an A in the course. and i got every answer right on his stupid test, even though he made it way hard. </p>
<p>i regret uci</p>
<p>Woah, thanks Trojanman. I'll be sure to keep that in mind when I apply. I had no idea!</p>
<p>How much do the GPA's of Undergraduates in Public Colleges differ from those in Private? I haven't been able to find any statistics.</p>
<p>The difference in GPAs (private vs. public) depends on the degree of grade inflation. While there seems to be little of that in the public universities, the private universities have been notorious for it for years, especially among the more elite ones. The private LACs have a reputation of not inflating grades and marking on a curve, so that the grade you get is it. The graduate school adcoms know this and adjust GPAs accordingly when deliberating between applicants from private and public schools. I also concur with what bballplayer said about private schools; there's far greater interpersonal contact between professor and student, especially at an LAC. Your recs for grad school will be much better; recs are also a large part of the decision since grad school adcoms have a tendency to go beyond just grades and scores in their deliberations.</p>
<p>There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Depending on what you want to study, a public university may offer more than a private LAC, e.g. Your decision is a personal one, but IMHO, if you can afford it (or get the scholarship money), a private school may be more beneficial to you in the long run than a public one. Because you're looking at econ, poly sci & finance and presumably want to stay on the West Coast, you might look beyond the UCs and look at the Claremont Colleges, USC and Stanford if you have the numbers. While I don't know what your stats, ECs, etc. are, if you want to go east of the Mississippi, there are greater opportunities in private schools, especially with regard to your major, since there's more of them.</p>
<p>What are LAC's? Liberal Arts Colleges?</p>
<p>Yes.......</p>
<p>i know that grade inflation does exist in private schools and i'll probably get chewed up for saying this but...could it be that students that were accepted to private schools (like HYP) are more capable of understanding the coursework and therefore are able to achieve a higher grade? i'm probably being naive, but i thought i'd throw it out there...</p>
<p>thats not naive california...you guys are going to tell me that big-name private schools like the Ivy Leagues, Stanford, MIT, etc. are "easier" and "less intense" than public state colleges?</p>
<p>i am currently attending a private and i must say that it is significantly better than public in my opinion. the professors seem to care a lot more at privates; they nurture their students and the environment just seems more conducive for learning. </p>
<p>i just don't see how people can say publics are comparable to privates? even the top public school does its best impression of a private.</p>
<p>After hours: Have you ever attended a public U? If so, which one? Also, the best public is UC Berkeley, and it doesn't really do an "impression" of a private. It forces its students to sink or swim, rather than coddle.</p>
<p>After hours: Have you ever attended a public U? If so, which one? Also, the best public is UC Berkeley, and it doesn't really do an "impression" of a private. It forces its students to sink or swim, rather than coddle.</p>
<p>No I have not attended a public U, but I was actually going to transfer to a UC (Berkeley, UCLA, SD, and SB) so I definitely looked into the style of teaching. About 90% of my friends went to UC's so I sat in a LOT of classes and to be frank, I really wasn't too impressed. It didn't help that my same friends felt like they were receiving no guidance or direction towards a life after college. I came away disenchanted and luckily got into my 1st choice school which happened to be private. </p>
<p>My point was, I really do not understand how people can look at the "sink or swim" approach as being beneficial? Almost ALL my friends that have attended UC's have similar sentiments; basically a number fed through a machine and shot out after 4 years. </p>
<p>I do think Berkeley is a step above the rest of the UC's, and what I was referring to was their semester system and schools like Haas which are VERY private-like. If you look at Haas graduates, they give back to their school and are much more active as alumni compared to the rest of Berkeley graduates. </p>
<p>I suppose if I planned on doing grad studies, then a public would be a smart decision financially, but otherwise I really do not see the benefits.</p>
<p>I feel as though it is beneficial becuase it prepares you for real life. You either recognize your potential, or you do not. The bell curves at many publics help this to ring true. I think privates try to "make" students graduate by at least giving them C's. They are paying a lot of money to do that, and the administrations encourage high grad. numbers. At publics, you make it, or you don't. This is based on my experiences and secondary info. on private schools. As far as grad schools, I woudl actually be more receptive to privates, since connection with a profesor is essential.</p>
<p>Regarding semster, many of the "lower" CSU's have semesters, so I'm not sure that they are necessarily modeling themselves on privates to become prestigious.</p>