<p>I don't know if this has been said yet (I'm sure it has to some extent), but a friend of mine made a very good point the other day:</p>
<p>"you will be most productive and the most successful at the college where YOU FEEL the best. it doesn't matter if it's ranked number 1 or number 51; you have to be happy in order to stick it through and do well."</p>
<p>There's isn't just one important factor! You need to do a lot of research. The NY times just had some articles about how many peole transfer! You gotta make sure you like the people, the party scene, the work ethic, the dorms, the surround areas, the professors, all that stuff!</p>
<p>Our valedictorian chose Georgia Tech over MIT...I think it was either the location issue (we live in Georgia) or the money issue...not sure.</p>
<p>For me it was mostly friends, and also ranking. I never really considered UC Berkeley until last fall, when it hit me: what the hell, why NOT go to the best UC, the highest ranked public university in the world, arguably one of the best universities anywhere? Plus I get into the huge California/Stanford rivalry. GO BEARS!</p>
<p>You'll notice that college confidential is dominated by people interested in engineering and business, and that these are the folks most fixated on rankings. They are quantitatively oriented, and much more prone to equating value to numbers, rather than to abstract concepts like beauty, fit, and love.</p>
<p>"I love this school because it's beautiful and I fit so well there" is gibberish to them. They want to hear, "Cornell is top 5 in electrical enginnering according to National Enquirer, and 25% of it's business school grads get hired by Wall Street firms, so it must be a great place to go."</p>
<p>
[quote]
Post-graduate surveys don't show why firms hire the people they do -- is it the prestige of the school, the academic excellence of the school, or the average ability of people who make it into the school? I submit that the common sense conclusion is that hard-headed business people hire the people with the best education and the best native ability they can, and don't give a fig for the name of the school or how expensive it was. In other words, who can do the job the best?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually if you are not on the recruited list of the top investment banks, it is very very very hard to work for them. Each year they have a list of schools they go to for interviews and campus fairs. Even UCLA and UC Berkeley are not that great for investment banking in New York compared to the Ivies. You'll more likely work for the local investment bank office in California (Even obtaining a job at the local office is extremely difficult). If you graduate from UCI (University of California, Irvine) good luck getting a job at an investment bank. You will need to network like crazy for a slim chance.</p>
<p>It really depends on the job though. For instance, how many people want to become investment bankers? Going to Harvard and majoring in economics will not help you against a Cal Poly SLO graduate who majored in accounting if you want to work for a Big Four firm.</p>
<p>The most important factor for me would have to be the vibe that I get of the student body as well as the location. The student body can be really chill and warm but if it is located in the middle of nowhere and I am essentially glued to the campus, then this bothers me about the college and turns me away from applying there. I do not have the time to visit all the campuses that I want (mostly ones in the midwest and Pacific northwest as well as a few on the west coast). I intend on applying to as many colleges as my school lets me send apps out to, to maximize my rate of acceptance. Also a lot of the schools I'm applying to are "reach" schools for me, my SAT II scores are not the best and my SAT score could be improved as well. Atleast I have a solid GPA and a few core extracurriculars that I am deeply involved with. To anyone else like myself who cannot make the trek to some campuses and does not have the cash to either, I recommend the dvds that I've bought and suggest going on to their website at <a href="http://www.theU.com%5B/url%5D">www.theU.com</a> to get some for urself.</p>
<p>I think the vibe was the most important aspect for me. Academics were maybe just as important, or a little less, I looked at schools that have good programs in environmental science, physics, other sciences and creative writing, which I am interested in majoring in, especially envisci and the other sciences.
I got accepted to a bunch of schools and it came down to St. Lawrence, Clark and U. of Vermont because they all had great envisci programs. St. Lawrence didn't seem vibrant enough for me, everyone was low key and nice, but didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about the school or about being there. They seemed to just be going through the motions. I'm sure they love it and there seems to be a lot of school spirit with the Division I Hockey and the SLU v. Clarkson, but it just doesn't seem vibrant enough.
I visited Clark and just "felt" that it was the right place for me. I can't really explain why. The academics and the envisci program seemed to be just what I was looking for, certain classes there, including the core classes and the freshman seminars you can take seem REALLY interesting, and there was a professor there that was doing some of the same research I am interested in doing and teaching a class I am really interested in taking. Not to mention the student body - the fact that everyone was different, or normal looking, not J Crew model-like, everyone was unique, people accepted every type of person, they are very diverse + multicultural(~17-18% non-white, 8% international, but most importantly they are all open to different cultures - they have an international gala event that is jam-packed, standing room only, every year in which international students put on international dances), and they are COOL. DIFFERENT people go to Clark, not the typical people like you see at Fairfield University or Holy Cross, and half of my high school isn't going there - I'm the only one I think in 6 years!</p>
<p>Well the three schools that it was between had just as good departments for what I wanted to major in, envisci, and just as many opportunities for research/internships and had just as good education. The vibe and what I felt at the school was what made my decision. I think if one of the schools had the obvious best program, I might have gone to that one, but I don't know. In this case, I made my choice not only on academics, but also mostly on personal feel. I don't know which is more important to me. I would not go to a school with an unbelievably worse program in my major than another school, even if it had the best reputation, unless maybe if they gave me much more money and/or the other one was unaffordable, but I would also rather go to a school with a better atmospher than another. So I don't know. Maybe the vibe and your gut feeling is more important. Trust your gut in telling you where to go. Juniors, maybe you can take note of that and use it in making your decision. I think my gut told me Clark and that is where I am going. Let's see how this works...</p>
<p>Whore, sounds like you made a good and thoughtful choice. I'm familiar with Clark, and it does indeed seem like an interesting and inclusive place. Good luck.</p>
<p>Sorry, that woud be Whoareyou.</p>
<p>I think it is strength in your major.</p>
<p>I can't believe that price wasn't mentioned. Nearly every college decision comes down to price unless you are upper-class.</p>
<p>How good of a program there is, money,money money.. I plan on attending medical school so to me I would rather have an undergraduate education that could reasonably put me at the top of my graduating class without exessive amounts of stress. Of course I want to be challenged but I want to know that there is a possibility of being in top 5 %. I'm not so sure I'd be able to accomplish that without taking drastic measures and large amounts of extra credit as an ivy league. I'm currently an incoming senior and the more research I do, the more bleak Ivy Leagues sound as an undergrad..no money..doesnt matter till grad school..hard to be at the top of graduating class...I consider those factors pretty important.</p>
<p>dude---i was at an ivy league my first year, and my GPA puts me within the top 5-10 percent at it.</p>
<p>It's really not as competitive as everyone thinks. You work hard, and you will do fine.</p>
<p>You will first have to answer what your greatest need is or what (you think) is most important to you at this time in your life.</p>
<p>If you have a driving passion for a specific occupation, you may be off to a good start. While many students change majors several times, if you know what you want to major in, research employment opportunities within your major and the types or specific companies you would like to work for. Many companies have preferred lists of colleges/universities/majors they target. Many also have higher starting salaries based upon the school/major/level of education and your GPA. Most prefer graduates with internship experience and it looks favorable on your resume if you have been involved with organizations and have held leadership positions. If you go to grad. school you can often times pass the testing requirements but be at a disadvantage because your undergraduate school didn't have a rigorous enough program for the foundation you need. I'm thinking here of competeing and being successful at Iowa State in Physics at the Grad. and Phd levels.</p>
<p>Many complete, say an engineering undergrad, from a top engineering school and get their grad. at a good business school. Unless you're going into research, most hi-tech companies look for this combination because they know how necessary the combination is for grooming future leaders. </p>
<p>Your financial situation may be the driving force. If money is a problem research scholarships, grants and loans which are specific to occupation, race, gender, critical skills needed for the global workforce. If you can't afford the college of your choice at first, this could change after you have a successful academic track record.</p>
<p>Legacy and friends? Depends, is it more important to you to uphold a family tradition or be with your friends than to search for what is important to you? College is generally a time for self discovery as well as academic discovery, your group of friends may very well change as your pursuit other interests and learn more about yourself. College friends have a way of staying with you for life. Prestigous colleges can be important if you're going into a career where influential contacts are important, ie politics.</p>
<p>Athletics may be the best for those going on athletic scholarships. They also provide a source of community and bonding.</p>
<p>If your desire is to move into an executive position at a Forture 500 company, an academically sound educational institution with a good reputation will be important, if you can apply your learning. If you can't afford an institution with a coveted name, you can still be successful to the degree you can add value, network, and focus on continuous learning.</p>
<p>Once in the workforce, the average individual will change CAREERS appx. 3 times. Sometimes this will depend on the workforce, sometimes it will be because your situation changes, and sometimes because you, your values, your concerns change. Sometimes its because your getting older and your realize there are so many things to do and you become aware of something you don't want to look back at and wish you would have tried.</p>
<p>Take everyone's input, it's good, and will most likely spark ideas/concerns you haven't thought of. Ultimately look at what's important to you and make the best decision you can with the best information available to you. If you change your mind, you change your mind. Make good grades, learn as much as you can, be flexible and open, and have fun. Your first time at College is a once in a lifetime opportunity, not all can have, even in 2006. Some of the best educational opportunities in college, don't take place in the classroom. You may discover what you want in a career by talking with friends or participating in clubs, organizations, and volunteer programs.</p>
<p>I am the youngest in my family of three kids and I am sorry to say that my brother and sister both went to private colleges (Colby and Tufts) and now my parents are saying that I should be looking into less expensive schools because they are saving for retirement and had some financial setbacks. I'm actully not that mad because I know they feel terrible but I still have to wonder if everyone on this board is an only child or the oldest. Do you plan on huge loans? Are you so loaded it doesn't matter? </p>
<p>I have a friend whose parents are divorced and her mother is in the middle of taking her dad to court to make him pay for an expensive college instead our state school. Money is a bigger deal to me than getting in in the first place.</p>
<p>
[quote]
How good of a program there is, money,money money.. I plan on attending medical school so to me I would rather have an undergraduate education that could reasonably put me at the top of my graduating class without exessive amounts of stress. Of course I want to be challenged but I want to know that there is a possibility of being in top 5 %. I'm not so sure I'd be able to accomplish that without taking drastic measures and large amounts of extra credit as an ivy league. I'm currently an incoming senior and the more research I do, the more bleak Ivy Leagues sound as an undergrad..no money..doesnt matter till grad school..hard to be at the top of graduating class...I consider those factors pretty important.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm afraid I find the whole premise of this argument to be flawed. For med-school, you don't need to be at the top of your class. You just need to have good grades. These two phenomena are not completely congruent, mostly because of the Ivy grade inflation. At most Ivies, you can be nowhere near the top of your class, and STILL have excellent grades. The average GPA at the Ivies is around a 3.4. </p>
<p>Contrast that with other schools, such as MIT and Caltech, where even the best students often times have relatively low grades, simply because many classes simply give out very few good grades. Molliebatmit, for example, is one of the best graduates that MIT has ever produced. She only graduated with a 3.4/4 GPA, and she herself has freely admitted that she would probably have never gotten into any of the top med-schools with grades like that. Med-schools don't know and don't care that she was a superstar at MIT. They only see that she had a 3.4, which is the same as an average student at an Ivy. </p>
<p>This leads to another corollary, which is that, for the purposes of professional school admission ,like med-school admission, grade inflation works. It shouldn't work. In a perfect world, it wouldn't work. But we don't live in a perfect world, and in the world we live in, it does work. Hence, ceteris parabus, it is advantangeous grade inflated school like the Ivies if you want to become a doctor. Sad but true.</p>
<p>Good vibes...felt at home.
Location...it's where I want to be!</p>
<p>Learning does not take place in the classroom alone. You are not only spending 15 hours a week in classes, but you are living in the community 168 hours per week. You need to be in a place where you are comfortable, feel at home away from home, and where you can mature not just intellectualy, but socially, spiritually, and athletically. You can't just ignore these needs because a college has a great reputation. </p>
<p>Unless you're going to be an engineer, doctor, or lawyer, most people don't really care where you get your bachelor's degree, as long as the school is accredited. Your choice of a grad school is much more important to the average student than the undergrad school. </p>
<p>Go where you will be happy and be able to learn on all different levels.</p>
<p>By the way, a good reason to choose a state school over Stanford or another LAC--if you want to go into teaching, the state schools usually have higher-ranked education programs that lead directly into the credential and masters of education. (I'm biased--I'm a teacher.)</p>