Why do people attend no-name private schools? (doctoral, master's, learning)

[AMSS]

Originally Posted by ocnjgirl

Sarah Lawrence IS considered Ivy League, why the eye roll?

Because SL is NOT an Ivy League school. It's a decent school, too expensive and erudite for me, but it's not Ivy or even close. But if it makes parents or students spending a ridiculous amount of money at SL feel better to tell people they are Ivy League...well, ok.....

[skelaki]

Originally Posted by TabulaRasa

Sarah Lawrence is your nominal example for a "no-name" private college nobody's heard of?

LOL, okay...

I guess s/he would also consider Wellesley and Vassar to be no name also.

[curtisc83]

Originally Posted by skelaki

I guess s/he would also consider Wellesley and Vassar to be no name also.

I never heard of Sarah L before this thread and learning about edu institutions is sort of a side hobby of mine. That being said there are over 3k colleges/universities in the US and I don't know of every single one. In the South Sarah L would normally be unheard of. Even small schools in the south are unknown to folks not in in the schools region.

[yiplong]

Originally Posted by L210

On average, students who attend private, non-profit colleges graduate with more debt than those who attend public colleges. It is that student's business if he or she can pay off these student loans. If they're in the media crying about how they have $100,000 in debt after graduating with a degree in art history from a liberal arts college and are asking for student loan forgiveness, then it becomes every taxpayer's business.

http://ticas.org/sites/default/files...nd_Sources.pdf

Exactly. This is not a mind your own business topic since taxpayers are on the hook for those student loans in default.

I never heard of Sarah L before this thread and learning about edu institutions is sort of a side hobby of mine. That being said there are over 3k colleges/universities in the US and I don't know of every single one. In the South Sarah L would normally be unheard of. Even small schools in the south are unknown to folks not in in the schools region.

Sarah Lawrence is generally unknown even in the Northeast. It's not the bottom of the barrel but also not even remotely "prestigious". The Ivies are prestigious. NYU and Barnard are kind of prestigious. Sarah Lawrence prestigious?? LOL no!

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by curtisc83

I never heard of Sarah L before this thread and learning about edu institutions is sort of a side hobby of mine. That being said there are over 3k colleges/universities in the US and I don't know of every single one. In the South Sarah L would normally be unheard of. Even small schools in the south are unknown to folks not in in the schools region.

There is an East Coast attitude that they seem to think everyone knows of every school near them

[thinkalot]

Originally Posted by tangelag

Umm, Lewis and Clark, Willammette and U of the Pacific are NOT 'no-name' private schools! LOL

Yes they are. Not the same name recognition as SL.

[bluedevilz]

Originally Posted by yiplong

Exactly. This is not a mind your own business topic since taxpayers are on the hook for those student loans in default.



Sarah Lawrence is generally unknown even in the Northeast. It's not the bottom of the barrel but also not even remotely "prestigious". The Ivies are prestigious. NYU and Barnard are kind of prestigious. Sarah Lawrence prestigious?? LOL no!

Again....Sarah Lawrence is not "generally unknown" ESPECIALLY in the northeast, even if you hadn't heard of it employers and graduate school admissions committee members have....not everyone can or needs to go to the top 10 "prestigious colleges" in the country.

It's also not just a regional liberal arts school, its ranked 57th nationally...some of the other schools ranked just ahead or behind include Bard, Furman, Beloit, Wheaton...not unknowns either.

As for being a mind your own business topic, yeah it absolutely is....

Students at "prestigious well known schools" LIKE Sarah Lawrence aren't the ones defaulting on student loans...recent data shows a default rate well south of 2% so no need to get your panties in a twist about someone going to such a terrific school probably with an excellent financial aid package which averages around 37K

http://www.collegefactual.com/colleg...ent-loan-debt/

[John7777]

Maybe for some people it's a good fit. Or maybe, that's as good as they can do. Or maybe, their parents went there. In short, lots of reasons. I wouldn't worry about it.

[tom1944]

Entertainment Industry and Performance Arts — Sarah Lawrence alums who have entered the entertainment industry include film directors J. J. Abrams and Brian De Palma and producer Laura Bickford, news personality Barbara Walters, and TV writer and author Noah Hawley. Notable actors include Jane Alexander, Sigourney Weaver, Larisa Oleynik, Cary Elwes, Sam Robards, Jordan Peele, Joanne Woodward, Téa Leoni, Golden Brooks, Eric Mabius, Melora Hardin, Yancy Butler, Holly Robinson Peete, Robin Givens, Julianna Margulies, Lauren Holly, Max Bemis, Tovah Feldshuh, Kyra Sedgwick, Elisabeth Röhm, Guinevere Turner, Jill Clayburgh and Alice Pearce.[SIZE=2][[/SIZE][SIZE=2]37[/SIZE][SIZE=2]][/SIZE] Carrie Fisher attended Sarah Lawrence, but left prior to graduating to begin filming Star Wars. Musicians include Yoko Ono, Lesley Gore, Carly Simon, jazz singer Stacey Kent, and Ira Kaplan of Yo La Tengo. Win Butler of Arcade Fire attended Sarah Lawrence but left after his first year to move to Canada. Dylan Brody, a humorist, author, and playwright, studied theater at Sarah Lawrence. Peter Gould, writer and producer of Breaking Bad, attended Sarah Lawrence.
Fine Arts — Alumni who are successful artists include Janine Antoni (sculptor and performance artist), Cady Noland (conceptual sculptor and installation artist), Judith Inglese (artist, ceramic muralist and children's book illustrator), Jedd Novatt (sculptor and painter), Alice Brock (artist and retired restaurateur, of "Alice's Restaurant" fame),[SIZE=2][[/SIZE][SIZE=2]38[/SIZE][SIZE=2]][/SIZE] and Yoko Ono (artist, performance artist and musician) who studied music.[SIZE=2][[/SIZE][SIZE=2]39[/SIZE][SIZE=2]][/SIZE]
Politics — Alumni involved in politics include Amanda Burden, Director of City Planning for New York; Sharon Hom, Director of Human Rights in China; and two former members of the United States House of Representatives: Democrat and President Barack Obama's former Chief of Staff and Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and former Republican Congresswoman Sue W. Kelly.
Dance — Alumni of the dance department at the College include MacArthur Genius Grant awardee Meredith Monk and choreographer John Jasperse.
Fashion — Vera Wang, former Vogue editor and world-renowned fashion designer. Paul Johnson Calderon, television personality and fashion journalist also attended Sarah Lawrence.
Literature/Biography — Alice Walker, most notably the author of "The Color Purple", is also an alumna. Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto is also a graduate, as is Donna Raskin, the book author and magazine writer, Constance Cappel, author, and Louise Glück, a poet and winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Nancy Huston is author of numerous works and recipient of the Prix Femina in 2006 for the novel Lignes de faille (English translation: Fault Lines). Playwright and lyricist David Lindsay-Abaire won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Rabbit Hole. Elizabeth Eslami, Iranian-American essayist, novelist, and short story writer. Porochista Khakpour, an Iranian American journalist, essayist, and novelist. Melissa Febos, author of the critically acclaimed memoir about her time as a professional dominatrix in Manhattan, which resulted in a New York Post cover story and feature interview on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, is a graduate of the MFA program

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by yiplong

I can see the rationale for going to Columbia over CUNY, but why would someone attend Sarah Lawrence over SUNY Purchase? I'm sure SL is a little nicer than SUNY, but is it $200,000 nicer? (60k-8k)*4=208k. SL is probably virtually unknown outside of the immediate area. At least SUNY Purchase carries the name "SUNY", which should signal, correctly, that it is neither the best nor an absolute dump.

Sarah Lawrence is not a "no name school".

It is actually quite well regarded among people who seek a prestigious, but some what counter culture college.

I would put Sarah Lawrence in league with schools such as -

Reed College
Hampshire College
Oberlin College
Marlboro College
Bennington College
Warren Wilson College - and several others. These schools are all highly ranked.


I ended up graduating from one of the more elite SUNY universities, Stony Brook. However, I spent the first three years of my undergrad career at a college that is well known among academics - but not among the general public.

I only left because my mother was dying.

I preferred my time at the small New England institution. Since I came in as a senior at the SUNY school, I had some amazing professors who were and are well known in their fields.

Had I started as a freshman? I would have been LOST and OVERWHELMED.

My son wanted a big state university. That lasted for one year. He is now happily ensconced at a small and well regarded liberal arts college.

My daughter learned from his mistakes and only applies to smaller, distinguished liberal arts colleges.

For students that can not attend the more prestigious Liberal Arts Colleges? I would suggest that they explore some of the smaller liberal arts colleges where they can receive personal attention.