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People are totally stuck on this prestige/appearance factor, but let me tell you it shouldn't be the most important thing in your list...I mean, most people want to go somewhere with a good reputation, but prestige is kind of an opinion/by region thing. For example, my college isn't very 'prestigious' by popular culture, but it is well-known in my region and in the top 100 colleges. Also, prestige isn't always the most important way to get good job connections/opportunities like people think. Really, a lot of people have told me I wouldn't be able to get a job out of my college, but we get important recruiters here ALL THE TIME who practically beg for our students -- not just from top national corporations (Pfizer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lockheed-Martin, the government -- we even have an ambassador in residence -- and we usually have 2 or 3 Fulbright scholars every year) but grad/law/med schools (Duke, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Vanderbilt, and some other top glm schools are here quite often for recruitment fairs.)
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<p>Uh, maybe I'm missing something, but isn't it rather counterproductive to, on the one hand, say that prestige doesn't matter, but then on the other hand, cite a bunch of prestigious graduate schools, prestigious scholarships, and prestigious employers that your school's alumni are able to get? It seems to me that either prestige matters, or it doesn't. If prestige doesn't matter, then who cares what kind of prestigious things a school's alumni happen to do afterwards? </p>
<p>Perhaps what you mean to say is that * undergraduate * prestige doesn't matter. But then that begs the question of why is undergrad so different?</p>
<p>One can make a list of quality institutions, and some or all might also have prestige, but not necessarily, and vice versa. It's common for the prestige of graduate schools to rub off onto the co-located undergrad programs, in some people's minds.</p>
<p>after all the hard work in high school all i want is the prestige of going to a BIG university. theres no better reward than that....after all that studying we deserve that much, right?</p>
<p>i just wanna walk around with my berkeley sweatshirt and when people ask get to say "heck yes i'm going there!!!!!"</p>
<p>In all respect, I really do disagree with the whole "Prestige" thing.</p>
<p>Yes..Prestige is a factor,but after a few college visits, I found myself completely disregarding all these Ivies and what not.</p>
<p>For example...I visited Duke and UNC-CH ..which is the better, more presitgious college? Duke. Which is one I'd hands down pick, UNC.</p>
<p>Yes, Duke is beautiful. Its basically an Ivy-League. But, UNC won me over on so many other grounds. I felt at home at UNC. The campus was nothing spectacular, but it was lively. The people at UNC seemed to care more about me..the information session was about everything....Duke was simply a 30 minute tour of the campus..I found out nothing new about the school. Not to mention, Duke didn't even have a solid business major..it was an all out liberal arts school, not what i was looking for.</p>
<p>In short, Prestige is not the only biggie. I think a good solid college with one that suits your personality and is compatible with your passions is the best. </p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Cornell, with all due respect, mean little to me now.</p>
<p>Definaltey the most imporatant factor to choose your college is wether you are goign to feel comfortable with the people and teachers you are surrounded by. If these are good enough then just chboose the best college you can enter in terms of your career.</p>
<p>I think that both prestige and the academic on ythe carrer are the most important factors, if you want to be succesfull a prestigious university is going to help a lot because in a job interview as soon as they see the university you come from they would have a good idea where theire company is going to be headed to you are goint to be second over a harvard student.</p>
<p>one of the most important things in selecting a college in my personal opinion is the Tuition, potential scholarships and cost of living. specially the diference between the colombian pesos and the dollars. earning in pesos and changing these into dollars is like 1/3 of what you really have... since 1 dollar is almost 3,ooo pesos.</p>
<p>Ideally, the strength of the program in your chosen field should be the main reason you attend a school. Although some schools may be more reputable than others, those schools may have some programs that are better. However, I believe the majority of people choose a school merely on brand name and statistics.</p>
<p>It depends on your goals. If you want to get employed by a company after graduation, prestige(for recruitment),
strength in major(for recruitment),
and location(for recruitment) are good criterias. </p>
<p>If you want to start your own company,
strenth in major(to help you start a business),
and location are good.(location to start business) </p>
<p>If you want to enjoy college, all these factors are interrelated really:
location,(might be by the beach or near night clubs or your fav restaurant)
climate,(same thing)
good vibes,(same thing)
athletics(for people who like to pregame party), are good ones. So I guess location is always there.</p>
<p>back to uber's post , the second post to this thread...prestige is not why people choose harvard over a state school. it is because when applying to a grad school or job from harvard, people know that you have a greater knowledge in that major, because of the teachers with PhD's from HARVARD that were teaching you.</p>
<p>If a College specializes in the sunbject you wish to study then you should go there and get the in-depth study on it instead of going to a place just be cause it looks "fancier" or "nicer" on job applications. Who would you hire? A person that went to a expensive school with a known name or person that went to school that specializes in the job?
Think about it.....</p>
<p>OK, I didn't read all the postings, but this poll adds up to way over 100%. The way I got it, you could only pick one choice. something's fishy...</p>
<p>The closest answer they had to my opinion was "Good Vibes." The most importat thing for a student is to find a school where he feels like he will be happy. Ignore the rankings and the prestige and all that garbage. Find a school who's overall environment matches your personality.</p>
<p>"Academic strength in my intended major" is important, but people go about this the wrong way. I see all over this site the US News graduate program rankings, which people use to judge the strength of an undergrad program. First of all, a college's undergrad program can be EXTREMELY different from its undergrad counterpart. Secondly, the rankings are just so flawed. Just look at the methodology and you'll see what I'm talking about.</p>