Value-added colleges - your picks ?

<p>Yes, I've read "40 colleges that change lives" and loved it.</p>

<p>I'm interested in your picks. Which schools would you recommend as transformative experiences; value-added institutions that, for some reason or another, make their alums into lifetime learners, overachievers, strong writers, etc?</p>

<p>As a consumer of recent college grads, I'm not impressed with most grads from the big state schools - even the elite ones - as they never have to learn to write or analyze effectively. They also lack a common core of knowledge (if I have to explain that there is no "Congress" in my state one more time...); the offspring of "Kiddie Chem and Baby Bio," I think.</p>

<p>If you're inclined to mention HYP, I'd love a note telling how/why it transformed you (as compared with "excellence in - excellence out").</p>

<p>Many thanks,</p>

<p>Very interesting. 130 reads and no posts. Although I'm fairly new here, I've already seen enough "What is best LAC ???" with multiple responses, so I thought this was an easy thread to respond to.</p>

<p>Maybe it's harder for a college to add value than simply to be highly selective. </p>

<p>Something to think about...</p>

<p>Maybe no one has any clue what you mean by "value added"????</p>

<p>I'll start. Berea, Berry, Deep Springs, and a school in Arkansas called College of the Ozarks or something like that, where everyone has college work tasks to perform. I'm comfortable that all of those should make the list. Pretty certain those kids leave a heckuva lot different than they came in.</p>

<p>Okay, I would say a school that has a culture of service work...and celebrates it...</p>

<p>Actually, when you use the term "value added," I tend to take just the opposite position, that the flagship publics are king in this area, offering opportunities to excel for kids who might not otherwise have that chance. Most of the elite private schools are merely adding the finishing touches to students who are already the refined product (i.e. have already received a stellar primary & secondary education), whereas the top publics (and the schools cur cites below) are often handed students who are more raw, both academically and socially, and give them a chance to excel.</p>

<p>These Wash. Monthly rankings are the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw this post, actually, and are quite different than most other traditional rankings. The methodology is a little wacko, imho, since it appears to give too much of a boost for post-grad military and peace corps service, which is somewhat unrelated to the actual education imparted by the schools, but it is nonetheless a unique perspective:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.collegeguide.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.collegeguide.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm not sure if "admissions bargains" = "value added" but I've become a convert to the value that womens colleges offer those of the female persuasion. While Smith is my favorite, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and Barnard all offer something beyond the traditional LAC. Not as selective as the "Little Ivies" but once you look at the fact that they go deeper into the pool because they're dealing with only half the potential applicants in the first place, it starts to look a little different.</p>

<p>State schools, particularly the better ones, because they offer opportunities to many people who otherwise may have ended their education and training earlier than necessary. </p>

<p>The military academies, I think, really fit the "value added" description since they do so much more than teach math/English/etc.</p>

<p>Thanks for responding.</p>

<p>I could think of a list of big Universities where the students average 3.5 or 3.6 HS gpa, but can't write nearly as well upon graduation as the smaller college whose students averaged 3.2. So, I'd say that the latter are transformed by some value added by the college - while the others just slide through. </p>

<p>As to Calmom's post - it would seem to me that if we don't have some opinion about whether a given college add something - what's the purpose of this board, to make sure our kids sit next to other smart kids?</p>

<p>


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<p>Fine, but how do we know that the small-college students weren't superior writers to begin with? Entering h.s. gpa does not necessarily correlate with writing ability (especially when the lower gpa may have come from a stronger prep school, as is often the case at small private colleges). You can't compare the outcomes of two completely different groups of individuals. Moreover, you are focusing on just one skill set - written communication - when there are numerous facets to an educational experience.</p>

<p>I tend to agree with other posters that attempting to quantify "value-added" is virtually impossible, and varies so much depending on the individual. Different students will flourish in different environments.</p>

<p>I think the Washington Monthly list cited below has a "value-added" perspective in the sense of "value-added" to both the community and to the student's sense of mature and conscientious participation as an adult in a world community. I think it is a very interesting and useful list.</p>

<p>What I value about the small LAC orientation is that it tends to emphasize **both **social responsibility/community involvement and, at least in the ones I know fairly well, developing genuine and advanced "literacy"--the ability to do close critical reading and write effectively.</p>

<p>Another school I read a great deal about in the search was Juniata in Pa. (Oh. BTW, College of the Ozarks is Mo. Not Ark. ) . It seemed to me that it did a great job getting students up to speed and then some in pre-med course. Of course most of what I was reading was their promo material which might be biased ;) but I was quite intrigued and felt that if true then that was one school that added value.</p>

<p>There are others like that , too.</p>

<p>Art V - I was actually focusing on several things (writing, analysis, synthesis) but, yes, you have a valid point. Moreover, I'm dealing with a small sample size. </p>

<p>I used the GPA examples because that's what's handy and is something of a fair comparison, and those numbers are used by colleges and universities and CC parents routinely. </p>

<p>Not an easy issue, I admit.</p>

<p>Just to clarify, I am playing devil's advocate a bit here... in general, I think the LAC educational experience is the superior model at the undergrad level. However, some students just are not a fit for the smaller, intimate environment, which would add little "value" in their case.</p>

<p>I'll list some of the ones that alums have raved about to me as being transformative in the academic sense: Haverford, Kalamazoo College, Earlham, Reed.</p>

<p>Here's an outlier - and probably not what you had in mind at all. But I think Juilliard has been transformative for my kid. Absolutely not academically - his language arts classes (only academic requried) have been mostly political drivel. But in terms of music education, and social responsibility, opportunities for growth, and doors opened, it has been outstanding.</p>

<p>Don't equate that with perfect, though. But that's a different thread.</p>

<p>The reason I pointed out the state schools is because many of these students would otherwise not go to college. I'm not talking value in terms of instilling a life-long love of learning in these kids, but college graduates have innumerable more opportunities for career choices (and see more opportunities for life in general) than students who only completed high school. It also, of course, allows bright students to excel who may not have reached full potential in high school.</p>

<p>Connecticut College plug:</p>

<p>Focus is on COMMUNITY, DIVERSITY, and RESPECT. getting out into the community, making a difference in the world. interdisciplinary centers, must take a class that is labeled as "writing intensive" (not necessarily an english class). One of the top producers of peace corps members. emphasis on individual learning.</p>

<p>South Puget Sound Community College, North Shore Community College in Beverly, Massachusetts, Baruch College of CCNY in New York. On the whole, I think the community colleges are far more transformative than most other institutions, offering older students a second chance, or poor ones an affordable education. The nursing programs at the first two institutions are more selective, and more difficult to get into, than Harvard or Yale. Baruch because it is both relatively low-cost, and yet its graduates go on to form the largest pool of financial professionals in NYC, including Wall Street, and have the largest number of internships.</p>

<p>If "value added" is some kind of algorithm of value over cost, these are surefire winners.</p>

<p>I was already thinking of a couple of almost unknown institutions in WA when I read Mini's post. I told my story on the big 80+ page thread Curmudgeon started, so I won't repeat the whole thing here. I was one of those older, poor students lacking the admissions criteria for a traditional university (no tests scores and only a year of high school algebra some twenty years before), and Big Bend Community College certainly added value for me. </p>

<p>The other school I thought of was Heritage University (Top*****h, WA, with branches in a few other central WA towns). I've posted a link to this Seattle Times article before, but it is worth repeating:
<a href="http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=heritage29m&date=20061029&query=heritage+university%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=heritage29m&date=20061029&query=heritage+university&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I know a member of their adjunct faculty who went through school and many years of adulthood compensating for an undiagnosed reading disability by developing an amazing memory, eye for detail, and listening skills--her disability was so severe that she was essentially illiterate. I don't remember all the details, but somehow she ended up working as an aide or volunteer in a primary school setting working with special needs students and actually learned to read right along with the children. She enrolled in one of Heritage's extension night schools and completed a BA in education and then the MA, and now in addition to her work for Heritage, she works in a very unique ESL situation in the area. The woman is truly inspiring, and in her case, the value is not so much added as multiplied!</p>