<p>I think prestige should only play in it's because of connections for jobs. I don't understand why a 5-second exchange (where did you go to college? Harvard. Oh woah." should be the reason you choose small name versus big name school</p>
<p>Celebrian is right. For anybody who doesn't need an internship immediately after they graduate/during their undergrad studies (read: people who aren't business majors), undergrad prestige is highly overrated. Your graduate degree is what people care about when they hire you after college, and anybody who works hard at a state school or an LAC like Reed which isn't as well known can get in to a good graduate program.</p>
<p>important factor for me is prestige. then second is academic strength</p>
<p>The most important thing theoreticly would be : academic stregnth in major. Theoreticly you should be striving for the highest quality education for your major. the ascertainment of knowledge is definatly the most important thing. </p>
<p>Realisticly: prestige is what people go for. Most people in the good old mtv generation don't care what they are learning, as long as they get that piece of paper saying that they graduated from what ever university.</p>
<p>For me personally... im a california boy. I cant stand the east coast. I need atleast 60 degree winter days. Location is a huge part too. College towns have a great vibe, especially when they have sporting events, but daily life seems like it could get rather redundant. city life in college seems too random and flakey for me. And definatly definatly being far enough from home where the parents cant bother ya, but close enough where if somthing happens they can get to ya.</p>
<p>prestige just for the job opps</p>
<p>Ranked from most important to least important (in my opinion):
1. Academic strength of intended major (engineering)
2. Good vibes (nice people, nice facilities, etc.)
3. Prestige (I don't care for the top schools, because they often focus on research versus educating the undergrads; but it can't be a school that nobody's heard of).</p>
<h1>1 and #2 are about the same, but I definitely feel that I would rather sacrifice a little of the good vibe if the school will prepare me for a successful career. I wouldn't go to a school at which I felt a bad vibe, but if it's like 75% or more of "good vibe" if you will, then I'd consider it.</h1>
<p>i think prestige in certain aspects isn't just a name...some prestigous schools have more mature and easily accessible extracurricular programs...such as co-ops, internships, and research opportunities</p>
<p>"good vibes, feels at home" takes everything into account, IMO. It's analogous to "intuition". I think that students process so many pieces of info about a college, some consciously and some unconsciously, and usually their feelings about fit are correct.</p>
<p>well what if youre not sure you'll stick with the major youre starting in, as i would think most freshman dont - what do you base your decision on from there? You can either take the chance and choose the school with the higher strength in your major, or the one with more over all prestige so that if you end up switching majors you'll still have the name of the school behind you as opposed to the other school where you'd have neither the prestige or the strength in your major if you changed. </p>
<p>I'm in a situation where I can choose between prestige and good major, or better major and scholarship but less overall prestige. Which would you choose?</p>
<p>by saying that you would go to a school for the prestige or academic strength, are you saying you would go somewhere you felt uncomfortable with? just curious. i think theres a right place for everyone on here. sometimes its just hard to find.</p>
<p>Defintely fit/vibe for overall experience.</p>
<p>The main factor in selecting a college for me wouldn't necessarily be how comfortable I felt, or "vibes", but if I could study their and not get distracted by things going on. Secondly, how good it is for the specific major.</p>
<p>By far the most important factor is picking somewhere where you'll be happy. A Harvard education is of little value if you're miserable while you're there.</p>
<p>There shouldn't be too much of a tradeoff between these other factors and happiness, either; there are lots of schools and they're very different from each other, even at the very top. There's no reason to go to Harvard over Carlton if small class sizes, access to professors, and playing in the snow are all important to you. Carlton is still excellent even though Harvard is more prestigious.</p>
<p>What would make this poll really interesting would be to have a parent poll vs the students.</p>
<p>tuition and alumni connections</p>
<p>actually, i think you'll find that there is an active party scene at Harvard. The perception of Harvard as a place where fun goes to die is, for the most part, completely wrong.</p>
<p>Here's the correct answer to your question. I know that it's correct based upon 40 years of published research on college student outcomes and my own 27 years of experience as a college student affairs professional. Go to a campus, get a sense of what the most "typical" students are like, and determine whether those students are making progress toward becoming the kind of person you hope to become. Good teaching is everywhere. A big-name school may get your foot in the door for job # 1 or 2; after that it's up to you. Everything listed above is significant and has merit. BUT, after all else is considered, your goals and aspirations (and your resulting level of attainment) will be influenced far more by your college peer reference group than by any other factor. Research data and anecdotal evidence on this is very consistent.</p>
<p>now that all the students have gotten their financial aid packages and seen how much college will cost them, it would be interesting to see if the "tuition" choice became more popular.</p>
<p>For me, it's mostly the strenghth of academics in my area of study.</p>
<p>slipstream99: all? I know some that haven't.</p>