which school?

[theworld]

it seems like both adults and students are divided between either wanting to go to a prestigious named college/university or being perfectly happy with their local average school.

For a long time, I was one of the ones that wanted the named school, but now I don't feel as ambitious anymore and would put myself in the second category.

What about the rest of you? Do you wanted the prestigious college or your average local one?

and this applies for older people who are already finished with school. If you had to do it again or which would choose for your kid?

[limfjord96]

I went to a pretty prestigious school, i was happy with it...it doesnt mean anything in long run, the only difference is alumni, and networking, but even then a degree is a degree

[TheRoof]

well ... like it would be great to go to really well known colleges like Yale or Columbia or something like that but there are tons of good colleges that aren't as well known but still good. what do you mean by local average college? like community colleges? well personally i don't like community colleges in general.

[theworld]

no, I should have been more clear. Not a community college but perhaps a state university or such.

[TheRoof]

state universities are fine to me. some state universities are as good as other prestigious schools, even though the tuition is so much cheaper.
like....university of maryland or UCLA or stuff like that.

[StrataScribe]

Personally, when I went about selecting my choice university I looked into more of the social aspect of the campus (although I did keep the institution's reputation in mind). I ended up choicing a local university that just so happened to also be a prestigious one in the field I was studying. I choose it not for the excellence but for the small campus as I dont do good in large crowds.

In the end, you should go with what feels right. I think it should be a combination of the school's reputation, the environment and maybe even the financial aspect as well (are you gonna dig yourself in a hole - I did ); and are you gonna be happy where you are?

[Brandford]

I personally don't care

[fantasmo]

I've always figured I'd just go to a state university. My mom seems to figure so too. We've never talked about going anywhere out of state or anything. It's just seemed like a given all along; finish high school and then go either to UW or WSU (our state's universities).
I don't know so much now. I still feel like in state is the best way for me. I just love being in Washington, couldn't imagine spending four years anywhere else. Even if I went out of state I think the furthest I'd even consider is Oregon. And hey, Oregon's a lot like Washington minus the sales tax

[McBenz]

Well i wanna get a simple 4-year business degree as a fall-back. then go to a great culinary acadamy! lol

I went to UConn and loved it...nothing wrong with big state schools.

[Maddy]

I think the system's pretty different here, but I chose a university that's reasonably big but isn't the one that's considered the most prestigious. One of the things I liked about it (although by no means the only deciding factor) was that I wouldn't run into anyone from my school there, because everyone from my school was too snobby to consider going anywhere but the University of Melbourne. The main things, though, were the course, the accommodation and the feel of the place.

[Bryan44]

I started off at a community college for my first two years. And will be attending a state university in the fall..possbily the best of both worlds?? I think it just depends on your personality..if ur not into the big college scene then community college is cool. Like other people are saying, a degree is a degree.

[Courtneyyy]

I started off at a community college for my first two years and will be attending a state university in the fall.

[Nodnarb]

I'm going to go to Iowa State, one of the two major state universities here in Iowa.

It's one of the best school's in the country for my major(architecture), it's relatively cheap, and it's near my family.

[FinalFantasyFan]

I feel I have to vote named on this one seeing as I currently attend a named college. However, I feel that I would be fine with a local college if I felt that it was a good fit too.

[davo-man]

Hmm, the system in Adelaide/Australia is slightly different. Firstly, I would say that the majority of graduating students stay in their city, in contrast to America, where it seems to be the norm (or at least a lot more normal) to move to another city to go to their uni.

In Adelaide specifically, there are 3 main unis that I can think of (there are probably more, but none that spring to mind). While two are thoguht to be slightly more high class because they are older, it seems to me that each simply specialise in different areas. For instance, UniSA seems to specialise in teaching, art and psychology, while Adelaide Uni specialises in Law etc. In this aspect, I would steer towards the one that gives the greatest course for my interests. I mean, I probably wouldn't take Law at UniSA, unless I didn't get a high enough TER to get into Adelaide.

In terms of high schools, there is a greater difference between public (funded by gov) high schools and private (funded by fees/privately) high schools. In this instant, I would personally prefer to be enrolled in a private school and would enroll my kids in one too (If I ever have one). It seems to me, from seeing public/private students on the bus/in town, that the more strictly enforced rules makes kids look more presentable and act way more respecfully, which are vital tools when looking for jobs. I mean, I really enjoyed my (private) school and would probably send my kids there as well...Even though I had to sit through church every week

[sdc91]

Hm, well I applied to Stanford, U Penn (Huntsman/Wharton fallback), MIT, Harvard, Duke, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. So I guess I'd go with name.

My family tends to go to name schools, though. There are 5 degrees from MIT floating around in my immediate family (I have to say that an MIT degree is way diff from degrees from other schools, just because you have to work your ass off for them).

[Meropspusillus]

I'm going to a "named college", basically a small liberal arts college, though most people outside of academia probably haven't heard of it. Even though it's one of the top schools for biology in the country.

I'm so glad I'm not going to a giant state University. I love how the entire campus is liberal (screw diversity) and how I feel really connected to my professors. The entire school is just so warm (figuratively, stupid Indiana) and well, I like the experience a lot.

The only problem is what seems to be the lack of gay men here, plenty of lesbians though.

[myra]

I'm at a state university. Pretty cheap compared to others and their a good name when it comes to certain degree types. Not really too prestigous and sadly known as the biggest party school in the state...but still...i like it here. I'm pretty happy.

[Apocalypte]

For me, the named school *is* my local one. Most of the best colleges in the country are in Dublin, and I go to one of them.