<p>Do you get any benefits for going to a higher named college? Like MIT is bigger than a community college</p>
<p>Yes. When you’re looking for a job (or applying to grad school, or whatever), MIT on your degree looks better than New Jersey State.</p>
<p>My neighbor who is a Hi profile recruiter for wall street was telling me, He rather place a confident enthusiastic grad from state school than a ivy league grad who has a sense of entitlement who is not willing to start entry level. He was telling me he was recruiting and interviewing the top 2 candidates for 100k at major investment firm. The harvard grad came for an interview with her mother who had no confidence and this other grad from SUNY Stony brook who was very enthusiastic had done her home work and played all her cards right…guess who got the 100k job?</p>
<p>Well, besides prestige, the obvious draw to “higher named colleges” is quality of education.</p>
<p>I’ve thought about the exact same question recently. And honestly, I think it’s the same reason why people want to drive BMWs over other brands. Those “brand name” colleges, in my opinion, can be just as good as a good state college. That said, going to HYPS is really incredible and may initially open a few doors, but ultimately, as juniormom discussed, your attitude can play just as significant of a role.</p>
<p>If you think you own the world because you went to Harvard, it’s not helping you get anywhere.</p>
<p>If you have a sense of entitlement that permeates your persona, that’s not attractive.</p>
<p>But there are several benefits to higher ranked colleges, including recruiting (some I-banks recruit exclusively at Ivies and highly ranked publics) and an extensive, accomplished alumni base. Connections, baby–use them right at a highly ranked college, and you’ll be better off than your (significantly) lesser ranked peer. (Keep in mind that some lower ranked schools, especially big state publics, have extensive alumni networks as well, though you may have to do more digging to find the accomplished.)</p>
<p>The more selective schools tend to have higher endowments and therefore more generous FA and more opportunities for research, summer and other kinds of fellowships and grants.</p>
<p>Just had a conversation on Friday with a recruiter of scientists who said that most of the people he talks to some of the highest profile research labs tell him that they normally have a balance of people…the “out there” MIT types and the solid folks from quality state schools. They find that the kids who were successfully able to graduate at the top of a large state school have a skill set that the kids who went to more insular elite schools rarely have…at least in the sciences. Just one opinion.</p>
<p>It’s all about the college peer group which when all is said and done, has a greater influence on a student’s goals and aspirations than any other factor.</p>
<p>If you’re intellectually gifted you may have opportunities to join college communities in which there are many similarly-gifted students or some in which there are (for the most part, but not entirely) less-gifted peers. Imagine if your gift was not in academics but in tennis, and you were deciding to go to a live-in tennis academy to develop that talent. You could go to the Bollettieri Tennis Academy where you’d play with and against the top emerging talent, who would in the coming years be the stars of the pro tennis world. Or perhaps you could go to another tennis academy where the students weren’t so motivated by tennis, but had attended primarily because others told them they should. At the lesser academy, you might play against your fellow classmates and find that no one could return your serves. You’d hit average ground strokes and your opponents would whiff instead of returning competent shots. You might find that you were underchallenged, and accordingly, weren’t getting any better. You might show up for practice and find that your opponent was a no-show, having blown off class for the day. You might be thrilled to learn that Roger Federer or Serena Williams was coming to campus to speak to students and then find that other students weren’t interested in seeing them and weren’t interested in talking with you about the visit that you attended. A really talented tennis player either wouldn’t be satisfied in that kind of environment or may eventually dull down his or her passion and goals to match those of the classmates.</p>
<p>The same dynamic works with academically-talented students. And it’s not just about compiling a resume in order to land a job. It’s about developing yourself to the fullest in order to enjoy your life to the maximum. That’s the main benefit of a top-level college.</p>
<p>Bravo, gadad.</p>
<p>And, before someone else says it: honors colleges at public Us CAN but DO NOT ALWAYS replicate this experience. Personal anecdotal experience, for me, has shown that the honors college at my own particular flagship is moderately challenging but not equal to many “top-level” colleges.</p>
<p>■■■■■, really? yes. a duhh.</p>
<p>
And what if both were very enthusiastic, both did their homework, and both played their cards right? Who gets the job, the Harvard grad or Stony Brook grad?</p>
<p>“Higher level” is such a relative term. I would consider most four year colleges better than a community college, and I think most people would agree.</p>
<p>I agree with gadad.
Go to a college to earn knowledge not a degree.</p>