<p>I'll echo what Starbright has said.D is a 3rd yr PhD at a top 25 private U in a smaller humanities program.Her cohort comes from all different undergrad backgrounds..hers is Honors College grad with senior thesis/defense and top departmental award from a 3rd tier large flagship campus public U,there are some regional U's, some smallest unknown LAC's,even Christian denomination based colleges.Its not where you came from that prepares you for a PhD program its your own level of determination and ability to self motivate and adjust to the graduate school enviornment. And by the way, she is constantly surprised at the lack of quality of the undergrads at her very expensive U in the classes she TA's.She says there is an atmosphere of grade grubbing/entitlement present that she found completely lacking in her undergrad program.</p>
<p>I have enjoyed reading this thread. My son is a NMSF and hopes to be a finalist. We are going to look at the University of Central Florida in February because they offer a complete free ride for national merit finalists. My son is interested in being a physics major. Everything said in this thread is what is on our minds regarding a 3rd tier school. However, we decided to take a look at the school because of their offer. Hopefully we will be able to determine whether they offer a lot of research have a really good science program. Anyone out there have any suggestions of questions we might ask about their programs. Does anyone know anything about UCF and their honors program? Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>lucky, what I have always found helpful is to google for research results like here University of central florida + faculty research + physics yields University</a> of central florida + faculty research + physics - Google Search</p>
<p>Seem to have some cool projects, soup to nuts. </p>
<p>Research Areas
» Atomic, Molecular and Cluster Physics </p>
<p>» Biologically Inspired Physics </p>
<p>» Physics Education Group </p>
<p>» Environmental Radioactivity </p>
<p>» Laser Physics </p>
<p>» Materials Sciences </p>
<p>» Nanostructure and Nanotechnologys </p>
<p>» NIRT (Nano Interdisciplinary Research Team) </p>
<p>» Planetary Sciences </p>
<p>» Semiconductor and Device Physics </p>
<p>» Soft Condensed Matter Physics </p>
<p>» Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics</p>
<p>^^^ Wow, and to think that I am still mystified by how your voice gets to the other side of the world when you talk on the phone (AND sounds the same as it does in person)! :)</p>
<p>My daughter's best friend is at UCF in the honors engineering program (one of maybe a handful of girls in that program). She loves it there.</p>
<p>lucky
we looked very closely at UCF's Honors College two years ago when S was a Finalist. Their program and benefits are hard to beat.Lots of personal attention too.As Curm says look deeply at the offerings in the major you child is interested in.</p>
<p>My understanding is UCF has had an influx of major $$ and I know they've been hiring away tons of super-stars in my field (business). Money speaks in this case and I have witnessed this school rise to the top in our field in terms of research quality/publications/scholarly environment.</p>
<p>starbright
the program we looked at at UCF was Sports Management and you are exactly right about how they got their "rep".They have an influx of funds from Rick DeVos of the Orlando Magic and they have "bought up" a superstar academic from either Ohio State or Ohio U,and his entire Institute of something or other.
We came across the same phenomenon years back while searching for undergrad music perfoprmance programs for older D.Rice U had embarked a few years earlier on a campaign to upgrade their School of Music by bringing in talent from all over the US. Don't know what their source of funding was.
I'm guessing this is fairly common?</p>
<p>I was really happy to see this thread today. We don't know what offers we'll have to consider come March, but we're really "on-the-fence" when it comes to making a firm decision on whether to bankrupt our finances to pay for 4yrs at an Ivy (if she's lucky enough to be accepted), or whether to pressure our D into considering some other "good" schools that have already offered tuition+ scholarships.</p>
<p>One aspect of the decision that concerns us is whether one makes "better connections" at an Ivy or top tier. I agree with former posters that great academics can be found in honors programs at lower-tier schools.</p>
<p>Any views on the value of top tier "connections" as opposed to academics? We want her to have every opportunity for success.</p>
<p>We were in the same boat 2 years ago. My son chose a top university with a generous merit scholarship over Stanford, his top choice until he was awarded the scholarship. We asked a friend (who paid out of pocket for his son's Stanford undergrad degree) for advice.He thought it was worth the money for the contacts his son made. His son's major was computer science and you can't beat the location of Stanford in terms of internships and jobs in that field. So, maybe one's potential course of study might influence the decision.</p>
<p>For my son, there's always Stanford for graduate school...</p>
<p>starbright makes great points.
my girlfriend, harvard undergrad/PhD oxford, published by oxford u press at 34, got her best job offer at the georgia state.
as an english major, oxford was about as prestigious as she was gonna get.
and btw: i learned tonight that a girl i know who's graduating from northwestern this fall just got accepted to Harvard Law (and yale, and columbia and uc berkley).
her lsat scores were what got her the acceptances. going to northwestern had nothing at all to do with her lsat scores.
just thought i'd through that in.</p>
<p>oops.
meant to say graduating NU this spring</p>
<p>Every family is different in its quest to find the ideal college choices to consider come May. Our son also spent considerable time searching for colleges where significant(>$15k/yr was possible) so far be it for me to be critical of the op's methodology.</p>
<p>My only suggestion would be to use the primary college selection criterion as a screeening tool. If the primary criterion yeilds a group of colleges which are lacking in all other matters, it could be wise to rethink the methodology and use a broader range of criteria.</p>
<p>BTW, I am an Ohio State alum and can state with pride that I recieved a top notch education and was academically challenged by both my profs and fellow engineering classmates.</p>
<p>check it out. this thread was featured in a Chicago Tribune article!</p>
<p>Barbara Brotman... if you're reading this... HI!</p>
<p>I really appreciate the info. LOTS of high-scoring, high-achieving kids in FL are choosing to attend its various state U's because of Bright Futures. The honors colleges at these schools make this a valid option for a lot of folks.</p>
<p>With three kids to put through school, finances are a huge reality. There's a lot to consider. And it's great to have a full-ride option, even if it's not your ultimate choice.</p>
<p>My brother, a successful businessman who is in the position of hiring new college grads basically said that once you're not in the top 10 schools, the cost-benefit of a "name" school drops considerably. His advice was, if your kid can get into HYPS or MIT, then go for it. Beyond that, in his opinion, it's NOT worth a couple of hundred thousand dollars to go to a "better" school. Now, that's just his opinion. But we don't HAVE $600,000 to put our boys through school, and SOMEONE would end up paying that sometime.</p>
<p>Full-ride, debt-free college degree, at the honors college of a state U? Sounds pretty good to me.</p>
<p>Thanks OP. DS#3 is a junior, and I am going to be taking a look at your process.</p>
<p>JohnC</p>
<p>There's a thread on this article under Discussion Home. Someone sent me the link.</p>
<p>i think this is a perfectly reasonable option in today's economic climate!</p>
<p>Here here!</p>
<p>There is a lot of magical thinking going on in the site regarding elite colleges. The connections people refer to are not general in nature, but between current social peers... e.g. a Choate alum and a Groton alum whose families have known of each other for decades. You don't just show up to elite U and slide right into existing social circles. I'm not condoning this, but simply point out a reality. A student whose parents are accountants or teachers or mid level consultants, who couldn't tell you the difference between Bermuda and Barbados, or between English and Western riding, or between the old and current Park Ave are not suddenly going to be chumming with the silver spooned crowd. </p>
<p>Truth be told, most of those kids don't stand a chance of being admitted to Top 10 schools anymore.</p>
<p>In sum, the "better connections" idea is a myth.</p>
<p>I disagree with Posts #311 & #319. Very important lifelong connections are made at elite universities between & among students of very different economic backgrounds. Attending a demanding & competitive university or college requires students to develop intellectually at a higher level than if they had gone to a tier 3 or tier 4 school. It is not necessary, just better, in my experienced opinion.
There is no way that the writer of Post #311 knows that the NU student got into Harvard Law School & other top tier law schools based solely on her LSATs. The student was able to perform well on her LSAT in part due to the academic rigor & demands of her school's curriculum. This student also had to compete at a very high level intellectually to achieve a high class rank at a prestigious university.
Elite law schools have admissions committees that review entire applications, not just LSAT scores; many top LSAT scorers are rejected each year from Harvard, Yale, Berkeley & other top 10 law schools.
Is it just an amazing coincidence that such a large number of elite university grads do well on the LSATs & end up at top 10 law schools?
Nothing wrong with accepting scholarship money to attend a lesser school, but "free" money has a price & sometimes that cost is too expensive.</p>