University of St. Thomas (Duluth, St. Cloud: 2009, credit, loans)

[Camden Northsider]

Haven't encountered too many St. Thomas undergrad grads, but from the people I've seen or met that went to their law school, it seems like a lot of dou**ebags really like this school (no offense of course).

But it's reputation is pretty strong - people in legal circles (not myself, just friends) hate the school for starting ANOTHER law school in the Twin Cities area and throwing off the balance of how many law students are graduating in the local market and how many jobs are actually available. I took a class or two from the head of their Finance Dept so I know that the school is pretty resource-rich and they have an office that is an incessant marketing machine.

[Clifford63]

I have to say this has become quite the entertaining thread. Sounds like most everyone agrees that St. Thomas is a pretty good school.

For humor sake, let me summarize.

St. Thomas is a good school with a strong reputation, but not as good as the U an some other schools in the area. Generally attended by above average d-bags that tend to be house poor because they live in suburban mcmanions. Furthermore said d-bags, in all likelyhood, will procreate, adding further to the detriment of earth.

Back to reality. What I know about St. Thomas is that it is popular with working people are seeking MBA. I know quite a few people that have attended, and they all seem to be happy with the school in terms of having a respected education in the business community. I am not as familiar with the law program, but speaking to Camden's point, there are a lot of places to get a JD, which surely is likely to brissle some in the field. On the other hand it raises bar (pun intended) for schools and students. Competition is generally a good thing unless you are in the bottom 20%.

It should be obvious to all that I am not an english major

[Explorer John]

I'm currently taking a professional development course on nonprofit orgs. at their business school in downtown Minneapolis. I must say I've been very impressed so far. The class is taught by a mix of adjunct and full time professors who all have been very engaging with years and years of experience in their respected fields. They've been very open to questions, stay after class if people want to chat and often direct students to other resources inside and outside of the university. Overall I've been very happy with my experience there after coming from a smaller public university.

[sunnysideup11]

Well I'm currently a student at the University of St. Thomas and i can say from personal experience that it's a great school. The people who are saying the students who go there are d-bags don't know what they're talking about because the majority of students are very very nice people. The school offers a great education and has a strong Catholic identity. The location can't be beat being on Summit ave close to the river and within walking distance of Grand Ave. It's pretty much right in the middle of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

[golfgal]

I have to agree that ranking schools overall is very difficult, some of the "lower" ranked schools have individual programs that excel. After you get your first job, from where you graduate means pretty much nothing so keep that in mind as well.

[Camden Northsider]

Originally Posted by sunnysideup11

The people who are saying the students who go there are d-bags don't know what they're talking about because the majority of students are very very nice people

Sorry sunnysideup - but if it's any consolation, I was only referring to saw of your law school alums, and a few hours after I posted that I remembered exactly why I generally don't post things like that - I remembered that a close professional acquaintance of mine (that I really like) went to law school at St. Thomas .

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

While lalife's comment was uncalled for, it was kind of funny. He was simply trying to a re-align Slig. It seems to have worked. Like Clifford63, I obviously wasn't an English major.

I've been looking at a lot of colleges with my daughter. If you follow the average ACT scores, the U of MN and UMD attract a higher scoring student (25.5 and 24.5 respectively if memory serves me correctly). If your goal is to get scholarship $$'s, it is tougher to get $$ out of U of WI Madison that has an impressive average ACT score of 28.5 (best in the region) versus Mankato which the average ACT is 22. That is a HUGE difference in the caliber of the student; an ACT of 22 is average while 28.5 is in the top 5 percent. But don't expect to get $$'s at Madison if you have a 28 on your ACT at that school. If you get an ACT of 28.5 at Mankato and are in the top 10% of your graduating class, pencil in a minimum of $2K. So really smart kids apply to Mankato to get a full ride. Two free rides are given out of 80, two 1/2 rides. All it takes to get an inteview is if you have an ACT of 26 (top 15% on the test) and are in the top 10 of your class. That pool at Mankato is only 80 Kid's (not enough for 2000 applicants) and everyone of the 80 kids will get some $$'s. MY daughter was offered $2500. IF you have an average of 22, that means there are many kids that got 18. That is in the bottom 20%.

Each school has its focus:

UND - Aeronautics, Civil Engineering
UofMN - Engineering, Business, research, medical
UofWI Riverfalls - Elementary Education
Winona - Nursing
St Cloud - Mass Media, Partying
Etc Etc Etc

I agree with Slig that Metro U and some of the others on his list might be less than ideal. But if you go to a community college and transfer to the U of MN, guess what the pig skin says?? But, don't assume that it is easy to transfer in a competitive degrees like the Carlson School of Management which is in the top 20 in the nation (including private).

It very well may matter where you go to college 20 years from now (depending on the degree and position). For instance if you go to St. Thomas and move to Texas, who the heck has heard of THAT college in TX??? In case of a tie, you lose with your no-name brand college. If you go to U of MN (most resume's don't then say Morris or Duluth) you have a name-brand degree with the U of MN or U of WI. But if you are selling insurance (for instance) or looking for a job, many alumni take care of their own especially at a a college like St. Thomas. Those relationships probably will pay off versus going to the U of MN. So for my daughter, St. Thomas (which is a great school) was never considered because she does not plan to live in MN. I feel it can be a liability to have a no-name brand school outside of the region. I personally don't think you get a better education and you are paying a lot more. Some of the image is based off of the fact that it is "private" and it's price tag. Private meant something in high school (Blake versus Anoka) but not St. Thomas versus U of MN Morris.

My daughter is taking pre-dental. 85 spots out of 850 when she applies after she finishes predental. The U of MN is the only game in town for Dentistry. (not pre-dentistry) So your chances of getting in at the UofMN or UMD are better than taking pre-dental at Mankato; to some degree (pun intended) they take care of their own. Generally speaking most students chose their college based on price, location, what the campus feels like and where their freinds go. Or as the OP asked on another thread re: Mankato he wants to chose the college based off of the nightlife.

We picked that "so-so caliber" UMD (according to the list) because she could get a $3K per year academic scholarship and she wanted to be far enough away from home to feel that she is on her own and didn't want a huge campus. I suspect that the chemistry, physics, biology and calculus professors are just as qualified to teach these intro classes at UMD as compared to the UofMN; don't you think??

There are a lot of decisions to consider when choosing a college. But I do admit that the U of MN (other than its sheer size) is generally tough to beat. There are a lot more important things than where you graduated. More often than not, it's how you apply yourself while in school that will dictate the real quality of your education. But the real test is how you apply that education once you get the piece of paper.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

To my point on St Thomas not being "name brand" outside of MN.

Incoming (Freshman) Students by Place of Residence:
(From available data sampling)
Residence Percent
Minnesota 78%
Wisconsin 8%
Iowa 4%
Illinois 2%
South Dakota 1%
North Dakota 1%
Nebraska 1%
(International Students) 1%

If I ever decided to live in FL, TX, WA, or CA, I would not want St. Thomas, St. Olaf, etc as my listed degree. Who has heard of St. Thomas outside of our region?? If you stay locally, it might be a fine choice. Independent of anything else, would you rather have "Minnesota University" (a.k.a. Mankato) or "St. Thomas" on your resume if you are applying at a job in Texas?????? Your mileage may vary but I know what I would prefer... St Olaf is $38K per year. As a serious question, what are you getting for that extra $84K over 4 years??? I'd rather give my daughter an $84K down payment on a home.

[Repubocrat]

Reputation is for the most part, total and complete BS. I graduated from Metro State and I work with 4 people who went to St Thomas, we are all at the same exact professional level, the only difference is that they carry an average of 40-50K in student loans. Never understood why a US News"third-tier" school like St Thomas is so expensive. I am starting my MBA in July and I still do not understand why a MBA from St Thomas, once again, a US News "third tier" school is so incredibly expensive. I also refuse to give my money to the U of M because I can't justify the outrageous price tag of the Carlson MBA.

Indiana University has an Executive MBA online for 2/3 of the price of the Carlson MBA and it is a much better school. Being an economist, I must be able to justify the cost and benefit of my decision before I hand my hard earned money to these so called "prestigious" institutions.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

To my point on St Thomas not being "name brand" outside of MN.

Incoming (Freshman) Students by Place of Residence:
(From available data sampling)
Residence Percent
Minnesota 78%
Wisconsin 8%
Iowa 4%
Illinois 2%
South Dakota 1%
North Dakota 1%
Nebraska 1%
(International Students) 1%

If I ever decided to live in FL, TX, WA, or CA, I would not want St. Thomas, St. Olaf, etc as my listed degree. Who has heard of St. Thomas outside of our region?? If you stay locally, it might be a fine choice. Independent of anything else, would you rather have "Minnesota University" (a.k.a. Mankato) or "St. Thomas" on your resume if you are applying at a job in Texas?????? Your mileage may vary but I know what I would prefer... St Olaf is $38K per year. As a serious question, what are you getting for that extra $84K over 4 years??? I'd rather give my daughter an $84K down payment on a home.

I disagree with this. When I was at St. Ben's we regularly got calls from recruiters in the south BEGGING for people to come work down there because of the quality of education in MN. Texas schools were hiring people over the phone and offering pretty substantial relocation bonuses as well. No, it doesn't matter if your Diploma says the U of M or St. Thomas to many of these companies but having a MN school was a BIG bonus. Even today you attend job fairs on various campuses and you find many companies from the south there recruiting.

As for the added cost of St. Olaf vs the U of M, there is a HUGE misunderstanding how this actually works. The private schools often end up be much LESS expensive then the state schools because they have more money to give. I know at CSB/SJU if you have a 3.75 or above is an automatic $12,000 scholarship, making tuition right in line with the state schools, then add in other grants and scholarships and many kids go to private schools for little or nothing. Yes, the initial price tag is high but it doesn't mean that is what you will pay.