Stay at "name" school?

Parent Cafe
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<p>let me restate part of what I wrote earlier, perhaps in too much haste. I compared the question to asking how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and that's not quite the analogy I was looking for since it invokes questions of belief. A better analogy would be to the question "my D is good at golf and track -- which is the better sport?" You can't answer the question without using your values/preferences, and neither sport is going to come out ahead on all of them.</p>

<p>What people here CAN help answer are questions about class size, contact with professors, differences in environment between the large U and a LAC, etc. But to make the decision ... that's another ball of wax.</p>

<p>I have 2 related suggestions for the OP & her D. The first is to take a sheet of paper and list the pro's & con's of each school side by side. A bit more refined approach would be to first make a list of what factors matter in college to the D and then have 2 columns, 1 for each school, in which they are evaluated on those criteria. This way you are making the decision that's right for you, not for us out here in bit-land. And as you list those criteria questions may come up that this forum WILL be useful in answering. The 2nd suggestion is a variant on the first; many good books have been written about structured decision making, such as "Smart Choices". Read thru one on of those books and you'll see many ways to approach this decision.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
She feels the "name" would be helpful in getting a job after college and/or with getting into grad school -- especially since classes in her major would be at a school recognized by most grad schools.

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Just want to say that this doesn't make sense. Let's just assume that consortium school is UMass and that the LAC is Amherst (since we don't know the details).... we do know that the major is not offered at Amherst. Lets say, hypothetically, that the major is Symbology (a major which doesn't really exist, except in fiction). </p>

<p>Since Symbology is not offered at Amherst, no one is going to hire a Symbologist from Amherst ... there is no "prestige" attached to that college because it doesn't have any famous Symbologists on its faculty. UMass may have a great Symbology department, but if the degree says "Amherst" then it is not at all obvious to anyone else that the student necessarily studied at UMass. The student would be better off with a UMass degree. </p>

<p>Anyway, I think prestige needs to be tossed out of the picture entirely. The question is: is your daughter sure that this is what she wants to major in? If she is sure, does she like the department at Local U. If so... she should stay there -- it doesn't matter what the reputation of the department at Consortium U. is. There is an intervening factor of department politics -- it means that you can have a subject you love at University A. but over at University B. the professors in the equivalent department are a bunch of arrogant jerks, and even though you love the subject you could end up hating the department. (I loved political science, but hated the department at my school ..... so I shifted to another major & department which allowed me an individualized major where I could pick and choose among the poli sci courses and profs that I liked). It may very well be that your daughter's love for the major may be heavily influenced by the dynamic faculty at Local U - something that might be missing entirely at Consortium U.</p>

<p>However.... if d. is uncertain, and may still be inclined to explore, then the LAC makes more sense. But overall, I think fate has taken a hand and is pointing your d. in a certain direction. I think she probably feels ambivalent because it is hard to give up entirely on the dream that was lost when she became ill, but she can't really go back to what she had before. I think in the long run she will be happier at Local U, because if she goes back to Prestige LAC she is going to be at least a year behind and have to make all new friends, a task that will be made even harder if she is taking the bus to Consortium U every day. She just will find it very hard to fit back into the campus life she lost when she got sick.</p>

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<p>Wow. Talk about unintended consequences & Blessings in Disguise. (Also known as, "Life is What Happens to You While You're Making Other Plans.")</p>

<p>Even if your D was only just somewhere between quite comfortable & very, very happy at local U, and it wasn't a question of an academic interest, I'd be thanking my medical misfortune for the turn of events & new opportunity. But when you throw in the question of major, this screams No-Brainer to me. </p>

<p>Lots of undergrads have only a vague idea of a major (as freshmen), & some up until they're required to declare. It can help enormously with college decisions if one is strongly inclined in a direction prior to May 1 of sr. yr of high school -- but obviously continues to be helpful while one is still in a transfer position (like yours). It always amazes me when CC students claim to be in love with a name-brand school but worry that the student's main academic interests are not offered at the school! (Hmmm.)</p>

<p>If your D loves that major she will do well at any school where she feels comfortable & where that major provides good opportunities for her. Go for it.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Since Symbology is not offered at Amherst, no one is going to hire a Symbologist from Amherst ... there is no "prestige" attached to that college because it doesn't have any famous Symbologists on its faculty. UMass may have a great Symbology department, but if the degree says "Amherst" then it is not at all obvious to anyone else that the student necessarily studied at UMass. The student would be better off with a UMass degree.

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</p>

<p>Ah but if her letter of recommendation (either to grad school or a job) comes from UMass's Nobel winning symbologist - instead of Local U's pretty good department, doesn't the individual's "prestige" trump everything else?</p>

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<p>Possibly... but that assumes that she will actually have an opportunity to study with the UMass Nobel Laureate... but just because the prof is there doesn't mean that he teaches undergrads or that he would look with favor on her. So she would have some research to do -- as a start she would need to check the catalog to see which courses Dr. Famous teaches. And how difficult those courses are to get into. And whether students at ConsortiumU have priority in enrollment over students from Prestige LAC. </p>

<p>Strange things happen when it comes to profs and college departments in any case. The profs move around -- they go on sabbatical, they take a position at another campus as a "visiting" professor, or they change schools entirely. So it's not too reliable to plan to attend a college because of a desire to work with a particular professor.</p>

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<p>This has turned out to be such a wonderful and helpful thread! Thank you all for taking the time to respond!</p>

<p>The last couple of response hit the nail on the head. My daughter previously planned to major in a language that is offered everywhere. She "discovered" linguistics while being home -- tripped across a textbook at the library. She now is taking a course in the subject at the University and loves it! We recognize that she is very lucky to have discovered a passion.</p>

<p>As Calmom mentions, we have no idea about departmental politics. My daughter might get caught up in departmental politics (especially being from the "other" consortium school rather than home grown) or things might be just fine. My daughter first is trying to decide what makes sense academically.</p>

<p>If she does not go to grad school, it probably doesn't matter what she chooses for her major. In that case, the LAC degree might be more helpful than the local University degree. Moreover, even if she took her classes elsewhere, those classes would be top-flight and my daughter feels she would have a LAC education, not just the LAC degree. She does not feel that she would lose out on campus life or some of the other things that go into a college education.</p>

<p>If she goes to grad school, her degree would be from LAC. I assume that the college transcript would indicate where non-LAC courses were taught; and as Mathmom suggests, there might be the potential of a Letter of Recommendation from Big-Name professor. Downside to all of this = debt.</p>

<p>Option #2 is to stay here (which Mom would love!). The major is not popular and she would get lots of attention -- but from a lesser-known faculty without a lot of influence or connections in the academic world. My daughter thinks this could be a killer for grad school.</p>

<p>If her LAC offered her major, she be back there in an instant. She's trying to sort through what makes sense academically. You all have provided many different perspectives and given her much to think about. Thank you!</p>

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<p>Boxmaker, that's funny -- I was going to post an anecdote before, to support my comments about strange things happening - but then decided it was too much exposition .. but it was about my daughter's experience with linguistics. So now I'll share it: </p>

<p>My daughter is not sure what she wants to major in, but has been leaning toward linguistics. She kept telling me she was interested in psycholinguistics -- which I thought meant cognitive linguistics -- but after talking to her it seemed to me she leaned more toward sociolinguistics, and particularly how language shapes & influences political discussion. So I gave her George Lakoff's book, and told her that she really should go to Berkeley because the Lakoffs are there. </p>

<p>But d. was dead set on leaving the state and going to NY, so off she went to Barnard.... without bothering to check as to whether they even offer linguistics. They don't: the Columbia linguistics department, once very highly regarded, went down in a ball of flame and irreconcilable difference among faculty in 1989, with Barnard's department dying soon after. Oops. </p>

<p>Nonetheless, my d. sees a course in introductory linguistics offered at Columbia, so she signs up for it. The prof. is great. He also happens to be on the faculty at Berkeley. Apparently he's got a longstanding relationship with Columbia and commutes regularly to the east coast as a "visiting" professor.</p>

<p>In any case, the class that has my daughter really excited right now is a psych class -- the linguistics class is just "ok".... so it may very well be that my daughter's first linguistics course will be her last and she could major in something entirely different. </p>

<p>Anyway... you never know what is going to happen. I think your daughter needs to figure out what is more important to her -- the LAC or the major. The problem is that famous and esteemed professors can be turn out to be boring or arrogant, and sometimes it is the less well known teachers who are best able to share their joy in studying their subject.... so whatever has turned your daughter on to linguistics at her present school could simply not be available at the other university, no matter how well regarded its department. On the other hand, if your daughter is still open to exploring options as to major, then maybe the LAC still holds something for her.</p>

<p>You didn't give the name of the respective universities, so it is hard for us to give meaningful advice on the prestige issue. If the local university is well known or is the flag ship for your state, then your daughter probably is mistaken in thinking that the LAC affords that much more prestige. Out in the "real world", big name state universities simply have better name recognition and impact than LACs. So University of Michigan probably gets more mileage than Swarthmore, even though undergraduate academics at Swat are probably far superior -- its just that more people have heard of Michigan, and everyone knows it is a good school.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
Option #2 is to stay here (which Mom would love!). The major is not popular and she would get lots of attention -- but from a lesser-known faculty without a lot of influence or connections in the academic world. My daughter thinks this could be a killer for grad school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If you child really likes Linguistics, then she should research the faculty at the school she is currently going to. Is this lack of influence something she is presuming? There might be faculty which shares her research area of interest, for all you folks know. </p>

<p>In my honest opinion, your child swapping majors and whatnot and already presuming things which pertains to Grad School means that you folks still have a lot of talking to do. So, good luck.</p>