<p>This sounds very mercenary, or arrogant, or something, and it's not what we'll make a final decision on, but we are starting to put it in as a factor. Take out what we can afford, geography, other issues, in pure terms, could we have opinions on what school(s) in this list are most prestigious and/or have best name recognition. If you want to tie in general academics in that's okay (my son loves writing, strong leadership, and is trending toward business/entrepreneurship/economics--but is not a math/science kid): Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount, University of San Diego, Hofstra, SMU, TCU, Elon, American University. Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>It all depends on where you live. If you are in CA, folks will recognize Pepperdine USD, and Loyola Marymount. If you are in the greater DC area, folks will recognize American. If you are in Texas, SMU. If in NC, Elon. If in NY, Hofstra. What is TCU? </p>
<p>It is my opinion that all of these have regional name recognition where they are located. I would also venture that NONE would be viewed as “prestigious” outside of their region. </p>
<p>USD, Elon and American. I second @thumper1 about the prestige lacking outside of the region.</p>
<p>I really thought the OP was going to have a post count of 1.</p>
<p>I third thumper1</p>
<p>To me (transplanted Midwesterner in Northeast), Pepperdine and SMU are higher profile than SDU or Loyola Marymount (but I’ve never lived in the West). Many kids in the my region go OOS to American or increasingly Elon. Hofstra is very local by comparison and I wouldn’t put it in the same category as the others. USNWR, for all its many failings, is a good rough proxy for national prestige. If you look at the rankings of many of these places, they clump together in the 70s-80s. Elon is not considered a “national” university by USNWR.</p>
<p>A question to ask is: where does your son seem himself living after graduation? Perhaps you don’t want to take geography out of the equation.</p>
<p>IDK, American is fairly well-known throughout the county among private schools. Maybe because so many people from all corners of the U.S. flow through D.C. for school, internships, jobs? I could be wrong, obviously. </p>
<p>I think that outside of the regional issues, that is one thing you don’t need to factor in with that set of schools. Every college on that list is respected enough that your son will not be hampered in any way by the degree – but none have the type of prestige value that is going to create any particular advantage. So lay aside the prestige factor and focus on the fit and financial factors. </p>
<p>I think that this would be a very legitimate question to ask with a different array of schools. For example, in my state I can see some real tension when students are admitted to UC Berkeley or UCLA (greater prestige), when the a lesser-regarded UC like Santa Cruz or a CSU like Humboldt or Sonoma might be a much better fit for their personality and academic interests. </p>
<p>There are SO many other more important considerations with these schools.</p>
<p>American is in DC…urban in the city.</p>
<p>Elon is in the middle of the boondocks. Lovely school, but very tiny town.</p>
<p>Pepperdine…gorgeous campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean. It’s a Christian college. Is that what your son wants. </p>
<p>University of San Diego, up on a hill in San Diego. Lovely, catholic.</p>
<p>Hofstra…out on Long Island.</p>
<p>Loyola Marymount…city location, catholic also,</p>
<p>Southern Methodist University, located in suburban Dallas. Lots of very wealthy students. </p>
<p>And then there is TCU? </p>
<p>Thanks to you all. TCU is Texas Christian University in the Dallas area. We are definitely not taking geography out of the question, both in terms of being away from home and in terms of job opportunity or living post college. It is one of the main questions. We are in California. Your points on regionality are well taken. I may not have said, but he is admitted to these (and a few more that he has ruled out). Thanks, again.</p>
<p>I’m going to sound like an echo. They are all respectable schools, but so different I can’t imagine that prestige should be the factor. I’ve heard of them all for one reason or another, they have different strengths. For example - I wouldn’t attend American except for the majors they are strongest in.</p>
<p>Agreed…this accepted list is a fine list of schools. But prestige should not factor into the decision.</p>
<p>In DC, when one thinks of prestige, I would think Georgetown would come to mind. In CA, Stanford, UCLA, UCB. In NC, UNC-CH or Davidson. In Texas, Rice.</p>
<p>I’m not saying anything disparaging about your son’s list. It is a fine list of colleges.</p>
<p>Presumably he applied to these schools for reasons. Revisit those, and see which college fulfills his criteria best…and/or,where he can see himself for the next four years. </p>
<p>As many have said - each has its own local/regional reputation. If your son is interested in business he may be starting out on the network of connections and internships that he gains in college. He will have the best connections in the local area so where he might see himself settling could play a large role in the decision making process. If he is thinking about the Greek system that would be another layer of more local and likely quite strong connections.</p>
<p>As someone who lives on Long Island, lots of kids go to Hofstra, and it’s a decent school, but I don’t think it has any WOW factor to it. I would favor American over Hofstra. According to a friend who has visited her friends son there, it is in a great area of DC. </p>
<p>I think they are all in the same boat as far as prestige, or at least very close. As you probably know, lots of California kids go to TCU, so I think that is an advantage, simply because it is not a complete unknown to Cali kids. I went to SMU in the 80’s and unless it has changed drastically, you have to be comfortable being around kids with an obscene amount of money.</p>
<p>I’m in Northern California, and LMU has a large following here. I don’t hear much about kids applying to Pepperdine - maybe it is the large Christian component.</p>
<p>I agree that with such a geographically diverse set of schools, considering where the student wants to live eventually might be a good criteria.</p>
<p>I’d add Santa Clara to your west coast list.</p>
<p>btw: econ has become much more math-y over the years.</p>
<p>I don’t think this student is looking for more schools to apply to. He is looking to pick from amongst his acceptances.</p>
<p>For national name recognition, I’d say American might be the best, but I agree with the other posters. None of these schools has the WOW factor going for it, and you need to consider their academic strength in the departments he is most interested in. Many of these schools have a reputation for having a lot of wealthy students. If you are affluent, then this is not a problem. If you aren’t, you may want to consider the social scene as a factor.</p>
<p>All of the schools have around the same general level of prestige and name recognition.</p>
<p>I would pick the school based on whether kid’s idea of 1st, 2nd, 3rd choice majors are available at each school and also what part of the country that kid wants to work. Also, you may want to look at the career office at each school to see what % of graduates are getting hired in kid’s area of interest.</p>
<p>With the cluster of rankings so close, the ranking is basically a non-factor. Other poster’s have said that Hofstra might be considered the lowest ranked. I know someone who graduated from Hofstra recently who works at Blackstone. So you should not even consider the rankings among these colleges.</p>
<p>I am in So Cal, as you are. I know many kids and adults that went to LMU, USD, and Pepperdine. And all have been fairly happy and successful. I know 1 kid who went to Elon and 1 kid who went to SMU that were unhappy and transferred. The cultures are very different in different parts of the country. Some learn to broaden their horizons and improve their resiliency while others become stressed or unhappy and transfer back closer to home.</p>
<p>My kid went to a very different part of the country for college. She had no intention of moving there after graduation, and in fact, did not. </p>
<p>Some kids want to experience a different area of the country for college,and that can be a consideration as well.</p>
<p>American. The rest are far more regional. TCU and SDU are not schools much known at all outside certain very small circles. But if you are in the immediate areas of the schools, that can make a big difference. I live near some small Catholic universities that you would think are the be all to end all if you lived here. I’ve always fairly well tuned into colleges, and I never even heard of them until I moved here. And neither have most people. SMU, Pepperdine are names that I do recognize. There are many Loyolas and I could not tell you about any other than the one in MD and IL until recently. Elon is enjoying a upward trend among a lot of families outside their immediate area, IMO. But my pick from the bunch on the 3 Rs criteria, Rating, Reputation and Recognition would be American.</p>