<p>the reason most people want to go to elite universities are because of the brand name. if you are undecided, it is best to probably go to an elite university if admitted. certainly, there are lower ranked schools with superior ratings in certain programs, but a Harvard Engineering degree still looks better than a Psychology Degree from Purdue because of the name. the average person at an elite university will probably make more money, advance further career wise etc. than an equally smart or smarter student from a lesser ranked school. Obviously, this is more true for some professions rather than others, especially business and law. For proof, look at the undergrad schools of the law students at top law schools (HYS etc). They overwhelmingly come from within (Ivy League). Yes, there are those from other privates or even publics who make each year, but they generally have to be so overqualified that my little brother could admit them.</p>
<p>I think people can take the rankings in to some, but not all consideration. If your dream school is just out of the top ten, you shouldn't be like,"Oh crud, forget about going to that college! I want to go to a top school!" Same thing goes with the department rankings, however, you should take those into more consideration than the overall school's ranking.</p>
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Medha, if you're trying to get to biotech by going through ChemE, you should check the course offerings extremely carefully. For example, when I look carefully at MIT's biotech offerings, I see only a few courses, offered jointly with biology (and taught by professors I remember as graduate students from my days as a lab tech at MIT). I repeat, Chem E may not be the route you want, if you're interested in genetics and genetic manipulation.
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<p>MIT actually has a Chemical-Biological Engineering Degree option and a Biological Engineering which is more towards what I'm looking at. Well the Biotech concentrations in ChemE look like they'd be satisfying my interests.</p>
<p>Very, very late to this thread, but since I was also posting on the SLC + USNWR thread, I thought that maybe this thread would be more appropriate to register some thoughts.</p>
<p>Neither one of my D's has used rankings (so far) in the college search & in drawing up a list. Neither one is majoring in a science per se, so perhaps science majors would have different concerns, or concerns related to careers in science.</p>
<p>However, both of my D's are looking to where they will enjoy going to college and will prosper. (And one has so far, prospered major.) As far as I'm concerned, rankings are complex (including, as they do, many factors in college selection), and are also a consensus measurement. (I despise rural locations for a University/college, but who cares? Lots of students would love such a location. Some students specifically seek colleges near ski resorts, mountains, lakes, or desert climates. The individual's own preferences should be the only thing that matters -- not who else or how many people <em>also</em> likes those aspects.) </p>
<p>To the OP: neither one of my D's needed to go through lists of 3,000 colleges. First of all, they knew they wanted to study on one of the two coasts. They were also each (separately) even more explicit about the geographical refinement of that. One also wanted a college atmosphere on the higher end of the "subdued" spectrum; the other wants big campus, huge nearby city, high energy. Preferences like that automatically limit the choices.</p>
<p>If a student has zero preferences, or preferences that do not include location, weather, conveniences, proximity to airports, size of campus, size of (major) department, geographical diversity of student body (can be a significant issue if coming into a region as a rare 'outsider'), then look at rankings to your heart's content. Plenty of students don't care whether they attend school in Montana or Georgia or NY; they care only about the quality of the school, the likelihood of getting accepted there, the price, and whether they can major in a particular subject. Again, for those people, rankings may be a good way to start. (Even then I wouldn't end there.)</p>
<p>We started with the question of region, since this was critical to both of my D's. Each state has lists of colleges & U's in that state. You can 'google' those lists. It's not necessary to look up each college in that state. Some will obviously be trade schools; others, religious schools, etc. Some printed college guides are organized by region, which is another option as a starting point. Other printed guides list only colleges within a certain (fairly high) selectivity range, & then further organized either by region or alphabetically.</p>
<p>Initially, we did do a lot of reading (bookstores & online), but not nearly as much as some might think. Since we were also looking at college admissions books, many of those similarly have lists of selective colleges, or discuss those.</p>
<p>After we collected lists that looked intriguing enough for further investigation, we went to websites of each such college. We also cross-referenced that information with guides that discuss qualitative aspects of those U's. (Not ranking aspects). Fiske & many other guides ("Insider's Guide to the Colleges" is another one) elaborate on features of the campus that no ranking table will give you -- such as preferred extracurricular college activites of the current students on that campus. Call us weird: We have just found those aspects to be far more important than who else likes what my D's like, individually. (I do know that there are some objective measures that figure into rankings, but too much of it, i.m.o., is based on popularity & other generalized kinds of perception.) We also did not like the unhelpful organization of rankings magazines & books, which tend not to break out features sought in a college, (grouping one feature & how each named college compares within that one category). To us, there is FAR more reading, far more wading-through in a strictly-ranking publication than in a more refined, more categorized kind of publication. There's one book -- I don't even know if it's in print any more -- that I once found in a library, that listed colleges by programs & majors. That's a great way to eliminate a lot of searching; you look up a major: if ChemE or some other major is not offered, that college will simply not be listed.</p>
<p>My D wanted to get a liberal arts degree, probably major in math and economics. For her it was easy to pick the highest ranking school to go to(all of those schools offered math and economics). Rankings change from year to year, but usually top ten or top twenty list doesn't change (same schools but the order is different from year to year). She applied to the highest ranking schools that she liked and had a chance of getting in. At the end she chose a school of lower ranking than another higher ranking school she was accepted to because it had a better international reputation, location, and size. Yes, you would say ranking was very important in our decision, then fit. With the cost of tuition we have look at it as an investment.</p>
<p>As a parent and an Engineer my advice to students is to look for a place that will help them grow. Don't look at prestige. If you will be able to survive in a rigourous environment and be able to come out successfully, go for top schools. Remember success is more than just a good GPA. The four years of undergraduate study is the foundation for your future. Any school that will lay a strong foundation for you is the best. Industry looks for self starters with a vision. You should be able to prove that in your one page resume. Apply to schools which will nurture you and help you present yourself as a formidable candidate for a profession. Whether you seek a job right after undergraduate study or you intend to study further, you should have developed all the skills to be a successful professional at the end of those four years in school.</p>
<p>To OP: probably a bad example as U of Wis is also tops oin Chem E.</p>
<p>The other way to do this is backwards. Who, right now, today, has the job you want to be doing? What company/agency are they working for? Is there any way you can chat them up? If Biotech World Inc. was doing exactly the kind of work I wanted to know, it might be REAL helpful to know that the CEO is a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech and so are all his/her recent hires and interns. </p>
<p>It's a huge compliment to hear from a teen "I want to do what you are doing!" Follow that with "What steps should I be taking?" and you'll probably get an earful. Don't be shy. Far better to go the fan-intern-employee routine than be one more #1 school graduate scatterblasting resumes. </p>
<p>Actually, I do think there are ways to measure student happiness. I look for percentage of students returning after their freshman year.</p>
<p>"I look for percentage of students returning after their freshman year."</p>
<p>This miscounts those students who were happy but left for other reasons (grades, financial, family, health, etc.) and those who were unhappy but have no reasonable alternative but to return. Maybe these two categories even out!</p>
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The other way to do this is backwards. Who, right now, today, has the job you want to be doing? What company/agency are they working for? Is there any way you can chat them up? If Biotech World Inc. was doing exactly the kind of work I wanted to know, it might be REAL helpful to know that the CEO is a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech and so are all his/her recent hires and interns. </p>
<p>It's a huge compliment to hear from a teen "I want to do what you are doing!" Follow that with "What steps should I be taking?" and you'll probably get an earful. Don't be shy. Far better to go the fan-intern-employee routine than be one more #1 school graduate scatterblasting resumes. </p>
<p>Actually, I do think there are ways to measure student happiness. I look for percentage of students returning after their freshman year.
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<p>Thanks Olymom :)</p>
<p>How do you suggested I approach this? Look at the profiles of companies in general?</p>