<p>Right now I'm a sophmore at Pepperdine (small, Christian, top tier school), but I don't feel like it's a good fit for me. I want to transfer to a bigger, public school that has roughly the same prestige as Pepperdine's name. I know I'm comparing two different types of schools, but I'd still like to know if they come close. </p>
<p>Right now I'm looking at Penn State, University of Delaware, and SUNY Binghamton. Do any of those come even close to the reputation that Pepperdine carries?</p>
<p>For those that are interested, I am so interested in the name of the school because since I am pursuing a business career, I want to graduate from somewhere with a name that sought after by employers. </p>
<p>UCSD, UCLA or UCSB. I mean you are already in Cali. They are great schools, some of the best public schools in the country. I think they have a better name then pepperdine. I do not know which one has the best business program but I’m sure they all have business.
Look into them, I think you will really like them. They are really big, if thats what you are looking for :)</p>
<p>One of the problems unfortunately I’m having here (besides the school itself), is the distance. I thought I could survive living this far away from all my friends and family (I am from NY), but in actuality, I found out that I feel alone and isolated. In addition to my problems with the school, the distance is really hurting both my grades and my experience here.</p>
<p>I think being able to come home for the weekends would be very helpful for me, so I am looking at these schools because they are closer to home.</p>
<p>Thank you for the insight though! Can’t say I haven’t thought about doing that.</p>
<p>Oh! forgot to mention this but I am planning from switching my major from international business to a language major/business minor. I much rather prefer the international part more than business, but I need to market myself somehow.</p>
<p>Do any the schools listed above have a noteworthy and highly reputable foreign language/international study, or even business program? Just something to look at further.</p>
<p>Much more important to your success in business than a “name that is sought after by employers” is the quality of the education you get - and that depends much more on what you do at college than on what college you go to. I would develop a list of schools that offer the major you want and that are in the geographic area you want to go to school in, then choose the one with the lowest cost of attendance that will admit you.</p>
<p>You could transfer to a SUNY school that has the programs you want. If you are a NY resident you’ll save a lot of money (unless you have a super aid deal from Pepperdine). In most parts of the country, I doubt Pepperdine’s reputation alone will open any doors that a SUNY won’t. One of my kids (a recent college grad working in NYC) tells me that, among all his friends graduating from various schools, what’s made the biggest difference to employment prospects … much more than the school “name” … is internship and work experience. A successful internship with a desirable firm makes you a known quantity to that employer.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what to believe. My aunt used to be VP of finances at First Boston and my uncle is VP of market watch at Nasdaq. Both them and these college consultants we hired (who know everything there is to know about this stuff) agree that eventually the name of the school matters most. I hope you guys are right, I really don’t want to be at this school, but in the end if it can open doors all my other choices can’t I might have to tough it out. I can understand what you guys are saying about internships and job opportunities to put on your resume, but I’ve been told that I’d really be duping myself in the long run if I left Pepperdine for a SUNY school.</p>
<p>And to answer your question tk21769, I’m paying about SUNY price at Pepperdine.</p>
<p>I guess it’ll help to explain the situation.</p>
<p>Basically, I’m not religious, and I thought the small school, isolated campus, the religious chauvinists, mandatory convocation, and practically no support from the university itself wouldn’t be a problem for me. </p>
<p>Well it is, and I am very depressed/miserable here. As a result, my grades are taking a hit. </p>
<p>I realized that small classes were the wrong idea, so to finish my 2 more years of school, I’m looking for a big, reputable public school with a true college experience (college town, ect). Public for the low cost, because I hear besides financial aid universities don’t give endowment to transfers, so I’ll end up probably paying more.</p>
<p>That’s why I’m interested in these, “public ivy” schools, because apparently they offer good academics, are reputable as most ivy leagues, and have a low cost to them.</p>
<p>Pepperdine is a top liberal arts school, but it is so small, I’m not sure if many people have heard of it out of CA. My mom owns a specialty gift store and does a lot of traveling and she tells me she gets many compliments when she tells people that I go to Pepperdine, but I’m not sure if that’s being exaggerated. But I digress, in the end I’m really looking for a school that can open some career opportunities for me, because I hear the name in fact, does matter. I’m not saying everything else doesn’t, but I feel like people are telling me a school’s name will make or break when applying for jobs. Excuse my ignorance if it isn’t! I’m only speculating here.</p>
<p>Annasdad, thank you for sharing me with that link! It was very insightful.</p>
<p>But unfortunately this whole thing is just confusing me more. You have these people I hired, who have gotten hundreds of people into their dream schools and have worked with them even after they’ve graduated. They’re telling me ‘trust me, we have experience, name does matter,’ but then there’s also the simple idea that what matters the most is the knowledge the school’s academics supply you with. I understand that is clearly more important, but it also easy to see that an employer looking at 2 similar people for the same position will hire the one that went to a better school, out of logic alone. </p>
<p>I have not been in the working field yet (besides a simple lifeguarding job), so I can’t discern for myself which is more important. All I am saying is that I am being told from everyone around me that the name and reputation opens doors.</p>
<p>Just please tell me that going from Pepperdine to Penn State won’t kill my chances of getting into job A (high paying, entry level position that would’ve hired me if I stayed at Pepperdine)! That’s what I’m being lead to believe.</p>
<p>Where are you looking for a job? Pepperdine probably helps in California. SUNY Binghamton probably has more name recognition in New York. Want to be a chemical engineer? UDel has a great name. National name recognition? Penn State’s your choice.</p>
<p>But I actually agree with the previous posters who have said your college performance, internships and work experience make the bigger difference in your post-graduation employment search.</p>
<p>Well my girlfriend is going to NYU and a NY podiatry school after so I’m definitely gonna start in NYC first. Since I’m going to be majoring in a language and minoring in business now, I’m looking to find a business career that is dealing with international, (specifically Europe) business and trade.</p>
<p>My consultants gave me an example of what that entails. Say I work for a French Bank here in NYC, I would have to call up the main bank in France about transactions and relay the information back to our branch. Or maybe I find a job that needs me to go abroad on business trips every now and then.</p>
<p>That’s the kind of work I’m looking for. And what better place than to start in NYC? It’s close to family, girlfriend, and friends, and is the probably the biggest international hub in the country.</p>
<p>I’m not sure which of these schools I listed are known for that, but since we are talking about national recognition, maybe Penn State is best for that. I might end up back in California later or even abroad, so that might be a good idea because people will know it wherever I am.</p>
<p>And I agree too about the internships, but if by performance you mean grades, my consultants told me you don’t list your gpa on your resume unless you were top 1% of your class(to brag), as they don’t look at that.</p>
<p>It does matter where you go to get the best initial job which often leads to better jobs. Yes a few from inferior schools do succeed, but the odds are much in favor of the better schools.</p>
<p>I would not expect ANY need or merit financial aid from Penn State, unless you are a recruited athlete. That may take it out of the running. You also may find that New York State will not let you use state financial aid in another state. It also is a long drive from Penn State to many parts of NY State, and winter driving conditions at those high elevations may make it hard to get home when you would like. </p>
<p>U. Del does offer merit and need aid to out of state students, and is a really nice mid-sized campus in a great college town.</p>
<p>If you find a SUNY you like, I’d go for it. I’d apply to more than one. You will have opportunities for local internship and networking experiences that will be more useful to you in a business career. You can also minimize your debt, so you can afford to go to grad school. Too many students blow all of their debt capacity on their undergrad degree and then can’t afford grad school.</p>
<p>Putting my personal reasons for leaving Pepperdine, do you still think PSU, U Delaware or a SUNY school would be better to find employment? Like you said there are more possibilities for internships, so I’m not sure… </p>
<p>I’m leaving higher prestige for more opportunities and a much larger alumni network.</p>
<p>If you do well in any and all of them, including Pepperdine, you will be fine in employment. To me Bing is the best price/value. You should save money from Bing for the Grduate school.</p>
Can’t say I haven’t thought about doing that.</p>