<p>There's a school that I've been looking into (Monmouth College) and it seems really nice, but it's a practically unheard of LAC. It's not a BAD school, just not the best. Everyone who does know the school thinks it's pretty wonderful though. But I'm thinking, what if will hurt me in the job market- I'm not majoring in engineering or and pre med subject, so it would be hard for me to get a job anyways. Advice?</p>
<p>It may not be as unknown as you imagine. Pay close attention to the Career Center and investigate the alumni support. The President of the college is a Wabash College graduate and knows how important a strong alumni can make a difference at a small school. </p>
<p>My own DS is at a tiny Midwest College. He got full-tuition, great professors, unique environment. Look at why you love the school, what you hope to get out of it, and how you will come out financially.</p>
<p>Hi
Monmouth college is one of better known school in our circle because of this book, and other papers that have used this family’s dynamics for one of important study samples.
[Amazon.com:</a> The Ditchdigger’s Daughters (9780758225887): Yvonne S. Thornton: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Ditchdiggers-Daughters-Yvonne-S-Thornton/dp/0758225881]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Ditchdiggers-Daughters-Yvonne-S-Thornton/dp/0758225881)
Her dad insisted she attends school nearby, telling her “college is a college!”
I did not even know that but the author has own wikipedia page.
[Yvonne</a> Thornton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Thornton]Yvonne”>Yvonne Thornton - Wikipedia)
Check it out, and see if her dad was right = how her and her siblings’ lives turned out in the end.</p>
<p>I missed the part you are NOT pre med. Sorry.</p>
<p>Oh did I also mixed up the college and the university?
Disregard the whole thing, then.</p>
<p>I got it now, it was called Monmouth college when she attended, in state of NJ. Excuse me.</p>
<p>Well, if the college is well known in the area, and you like the area well enough to work there at your first job, I don’t see a problem. Once you have a track record of work experience, where you got your degrees matters a lot less.</p>
<p>Also, consider that a lot of the “top” LACs discussed on CC aren’t as well known as you’d think. For example, friend of mine graduated from Pomona. Most folks around here had never heard of it. Certainly didn’t give her any bumps in the local job market.</p>
<p>1978 Graduate of Monmouth College (NJ) here.
Monmouth was founded in 1933 as a community college, moved to a 4 yr college in the 1950s (?) and was granted University status a few years ago.
Beautiful campus, near the beach (was VERY important to me!), smaller classes.</p>
<p>Great merit aid for top students, I had a full tuition scholarship way back then.
LOVED my labs with 5-12 students in them. The library was my second home, gorgeous old estate building.
I’ve done well with my Monmouth degree in healthcare. I firmly believe that a student can ‘make it’ after attending a middling school IF they put in the time/effort/passion.</p>
<p>Thank you musicmom, but I’m referring to Monmouth College in Illinois, not Monmouth University in NJ. Maybe I should look into MU too.</p>
<p>Monmouth College in Illinois is a very nice regional LAC. When I went to grad school in Macomb (right down the road), I had a friend who taught at Monmouth. Also, one of my grad school classmates was a Monmouth grad and was quite bright.</p>
<p>If you like the school, and believe it has what you want in a college, go for it!</p>
<p>Ha!
Never knew that there were TWO Monmouths!
Good luck investigating yours…</p>
<p>i say go for it!! if your experience there sounds like what you want, that’s important. people who are happy at school do the best at school and get involved with activities, internships, etc. having the degree is more important than where you got it from, seeing as most people only either know regional colleges or the really big name ones.</p>
<p>Around here (suburbs of Chicago) Monmouth is known as a well-respected, if small, LAC. While it’s not Northwestern or UofC, it will definitely not be a detriment in terms of job prospects or grad school admissions. I’ve heard great things about it!</p>
<p>99% of my friends who I consider successful in life, I have no idea what college they graduated from. What makes them stand out in my eyes is: how they treat people, are they happy and passionate about their jobs and things outside their jobs, their work ethic and their love of life. Whatever college you attend that you enjoy, learn something in and out of the classroom, excel academically, get the tools (people skills, job skills, etc) you need to be successful, can graduate from without debt you can’t handle is the right college for you. That is my 2 cents worth for whatever that is worth! (:</p>
<p>^^^what casey1 said.</p>
<p>I have my first son headed to college next year and have been surprised by the emphasis on college name recognition on these boards. For the most part I think that you get out of the college experience what you put into it. I went on a full ride scholarship to a small liberal arts college that is never mentioned on CC, did well there and was accepted to medical school on a full tuition scholarship. I am on faculty at a major medical center with colleagues that attended Ivies, well known institutions and other “no-name” schools. No one really cares where anyone went to college and we’ve all ended up at the same place from a variety of backgrounds. You never know what the future holds, so for me one of the more important things is to avoid taking on debt that you can’t afford. It is also important to find a place that you will fit in well and make friends that you will have for life. My son is a NM finalist with high ACT and SAT scores and an unweighted 4.0 high school GPA. He has looked at schools across the country and has decided that he probably will attend the same “no-name” liberal arts college that my wife and I attended. I don’t really expect that this will have a negative impact on his future. In any case, as pointed out in an earlier reply, reputation for most of the small LACs is local.</p>
<p>^^ Well put. There are thousands of colleges in this country alone and how many of them would be considered “name” schools…10% MAYBE 20%? And on boards like CC you could cut that number in half, at least. I went to a “name” school…got a decent education…was asked about it one time at my first job interview and the subject hasn’t come up again in the past 25 years beyond reminising with friends who attended the same school. Even if you were studying engineering or pre-med…not all engineers and doctors graduate from Harvard and Yale. Lots of them graduate from “no name” schools where they worked hard and learned well and created great opportunities for themselves. The end result of the college application process should be a school where you feel like you could be your best self. The rest is unimportant.</p>
<p>As other posters have said there are so many colleges here in the US (thousands). It’s impossible to know about every single one. I think most people could name about 50 colleges if you asked them. They could probably just give you the name; ask them what town it is in or how many students go there that would be a whole different story. </p>
<p>They key is you have to go to school that is the right fit for you, not based on what someone else told you and unfortunetly in the college admissions process there is a lot of noise.</p>
<p>As it happens, we are planning to visit Monmouth College in a few weeks with our junior son. This is a timely thread for us, and interesting replies! Going to a tiny, not-well-known school may not make a difference in the long run in terms of name recognition, but what about quality of the school? I suspect there are excellent professors across the country in little known colleges, but I’m also thinking about the students who apply to those schools. Do they tend to be as motivated and ultimately successful as those who go to the better known places?</p>
<p>I think the success factor is something that should be examined as part of a college search. I know we paid attention to where kids went immediately after graduation, as well as long term career paths. Look closely at those stats and visit the career center as part of any tour and read any alumni news.</p>
<p>Honest answer? Not all of them. However, there will be a cohort of high achieving students. And many of those who are not so motivated become that institution’s retention statistics. </p>
<p>We often shy away from places with less than stellar retention/graduation statistics, but I wonder about the logic of that sometimes. Giving a kid a chance is not the same thing as guaranteeing his success. So, when one of those more marginal students leaves, should we be saying “Bad school! You didn’t keep your students.” Or should we be saying, “Hmm, seems like maybe they have pretty decent standards.” Sorry, this wandered away from your question a bit, but I think you’ll find a number of us who went to some small regional schools and can’t complain at all about the quality of the education.</p>