<p>^^^In my opinion (LOL)…I would not go by the OPINIONS of others. I would talk to others to get INFORMATION…from those who attend or work at the program/school. I would be weary of “opinions”…for example…someone tells you that X schol is “overrated,”…what is this based on? Maybe that person didn’t get into X school or attends another and thinks theirs is better? This kind of comment would be meaningless to me in weighing a college decision. I think the MOST important thing is what the student personally wants in a college and which one of their options most closely aligns with those things, plus some gut feelings of which feels like the best fit. In terms of college name or reputation, that may be a selection factor for some people, but if it were me, it would be much more of a secondary factor, because you are truly picking where you are going to spend four years and it is most important that the fit of the school is a good match. I’d pick fit over name any day. I won’t discount that name of school sometimes opens doors or that there are connections to be made. But it is not the most important part of picking a college, in my view.</p>
<p>PS, I would be VERY leary if I got input from people at X school who gave you opinions about Y school. I would only want to hear their opinions about their OWN school. I have had advisees who visited X college where even faculty at that college said things about Y college that were entirely false information. My own kid visited A college where the students there told her to not even apply to B college and put down B college and my D landed at B college (her first choice) and loved B college. I was really turned off that the students at A college would put down another college. I’d much rather hear what they like or dislike about their OWN college.</p>