Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think one of the most important aspects to a University is the extent and reach of its alumni network as alumni hire alumni.
I went to the University of Arizona for my undergraduate degree in Economics. It's nationally a pretty average school in terms of rankings. But if I wear UA clothing almost anywhere I am constantly given the WC symbol and told Bear Down (the schools motto). The school really excels in certain fields like Optics, Astronomy and has the state's only medical school (for now).
I went to Arizona State for my MBA and my JD both of which are T1 and top flight for this region of the country. The JD is the highest ranked school in the region 26th in the nation. The only higher ranked nearby law schools are USC (20) or UCLA (16) which are 3x the cost right now. The MBA is ranked 30 with only again USC (25) and UCLA (15) being higher in the region. Since ASU is so enormous there are extensive alumni almost everywhere.
But in the end, if jobs are the utility of the degree, then you want alumni in high places, ASU and UA run Arizona which is now the 14th largest state housing the 5th largest city in the nation.
I think picking a college is hard because you want to find a good college with out going 100k or more in debt . The cost of living has to be taken into consideration.
All my 2nd group of colleges are :
Boise State
New Mexico
UNLV
Reno
Texas Tech
University San Antonio
NAU
My first choices are
University Airzona
Airzona State
University Texas Austin
University Colorado
UW
Utah
Texas A&M
LSU
Like i said i have to way my options and do more research on the colleges.
BTW I am relocating so it a big event because i will be there for at least 5 years or more so it has to be a place I can see my self living and what ever happen after that happens.
I agree with the point made in JG's post. If you have no intention of leaving a particular georgraphic area (and many young people don't, they want to live their adult life near family in the area they love and were raised) then any college with a good reputation and/or strong alumni network in that region is a great choice. Not everyone needs to go to a top 20 school on one of the coasts or Chicago.
A "good" university/college must be judged by the economic results it produces for the people graduating from it.
That is bottom line as far as I'm concerned. Anything else is icing on the cake.
Good luck in measuring that!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Medical-Snacks
I think picking a college is hard because you want to find a good college with out going 100k or more in debt . The cost of living has to be taken into consideration.
All my 2nd group of colleges are :
Boise State
New Mexico
UNLV
Reno
Texas Tech
University San Antonio
NAU
My first choices are
University Airzona
Airzona State
University Texas Austin
University Colorado
UW
Utah
Texas A&M
LSU
Like i said i have to way my options and do more research on the colleges.
BTW I am relocating so it a big event because i will be there for at least 5 years or more so it has to be a place I can see my self living and what ever happen after that happens.
Make sure you learn how to spell Arizona before you fill out your application.
The data used to calculate all salary information comes from millions of people who have taken the PayScale Salary Survey and told us where they received their bachelor's degree.
I'm sure millions of people have taken their survey.
Yes, if someone wants to be a lawyer or accountant in Montana, then University of Montana really is the only game in town and going anywhere else may actually hurt your chances. If you're looking to be a lawyer or accountant in NYC, SF Bay area, LA, Boston, Chicago or the handful of other world-class cities the U.S. has, then you need to go to one of those top 10-20 schools.
If you want a decent job in the U.S. more broadly and don't really care where you live, any state school in the 1st or 2nd tier will probably be fine. 3rd or 4th tier may limit you to in-state or in-region. If you just want a job in a particular region of the U.S., ie: Louisville, KY area, then one of the regional state or private colleges will probably be fine, although I always tend to err on the side of state system flagships.
I hate to say this, but if the school has a decent football program, it helps recognition. I saw an interview once with the president of Boise State University and he said that wild 2007 Fiesta Bowl win against Oklahoma did wonders for their general student recruitment and they were getting better reports of graduate job placement in the several years after.
Your asking the wrong question. You should be asking how much has your college contributing to unique research? How has your college enabled you to contribute to unique research? Did your college prepare you for your PhD?
The OP isn't asking whether the college added any value to your life. That's a different question.
Who are you to say what the right question is when someone else gives an opinion? Just because it's different from yours is not the question. Are posters supposed to check with you to get their questions approved? LOL You are funny.
It's possible to get a decent education at most colleges and universities. And yet some people think they need to rate and rank schools. I guess they won't stop doing that anytime soon. What good are the rankings? Where you went to school can help with finding a job. I guess that's one good reason to go to a "better" school.
I started out at a Big 10 school and later transferred to NYU. One difference: in the big 10 school they'd often have over 100 people in a class, and half the time the class would be taught by a teaching assistant. At NYU, the classes were typically 25-30 students, and the teach was a professor. Quite a difference.
When my three children were selecting colleges I studied all the rankings I could find, looked at all the statistics and created a spreadsheet to compare schools. The more I looked at rankings, the more obvious it became that there was no way to rank undergraduate schools other than the test scores of the students they admit. Something that you can't evaluate is the quality of the instruction you will receive. It doesn't matter how many prestigious professors are on the faculty if they don't teach courses and you will never encounter them on campus.
Quote:
Originally Posted by redguard57
Yes, if someone wants to be a lawyer or accountant in Montana, then University of Montana really is the only game in town and going anywhere else may actually hurt your chances. If you're looking to be a lawyer or accountant in NYC, SF Bay area, LA, Boston, Chicago or the handful of other world-class cities the U.S. has, then you need to go to one of those top 10-20 schools.
If you want a decent job in the U.S. more broadly and don't really care where you live, any state school in the 1st or 2nd tier will probably be fine. 3rd or 4th tier may limit you to in-state or in-region. If you just want a job in a particular region of the U.S., ie: Louisville, KY area, then one of the regional state or private colleges will probably be fine, although I always tend to err on the side of state system flagships.
I hate to say this, but if the school has a decent football program, it helps recognition. I saw an interview once with the president of Boise State University and he said that wild 2007 Fiesta Bowl win against Oklahoma did wonders for their general student recruitment and they were getting better reports of graduate job placement in the several years after.
I agree with everything you're saying, especially the name recognition of a school. Most people would've never heard of many schools if it wasn't for football and basketball. Take Notre Dame for example, most people are familiar with Notre Dame and assume it is a top school academically. In reality they know nothing about ND's academics but are familiar with the school because of football and basketball. It reminds me of my son's high school graduation. My aunt came and asked why my son wasn't going to a better school. He had been accepted at Penn and Cornell. I asked her what she considered to be a better school. I was expecting to hear Harvard, Yale and Princeton. She replied with Notre Dame.
A few other schools with name recognition that come to mind because of sports include: Auburn, Clemson, Texas A&M because of football, and Davidson, Wake Forest, St. Johns, Duke, Marquette and Gonzaga because of basketball.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
