Colgate prestige on the west coast

ColgateDad
Tue, 09 Apr 2013 00:46:31 +0000

As a Colgate alum who lives in California, you are correct. But the same could be said of graduates of Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, and Bowdoin, schools which would get quizzical looks from many people in California. Everyone in California knows USC, UCLA, and so on. But so what? If you’re choosing a college in order to “network” (and I think that’s a terrible reason to choose a college), your best choice is whatever the popular school is in your area. Here in Los Angeles, “everyone” who’s anyone is connected to USC. Is USC a school I’d attend? Probably not since it just does not appeal to me.

Among educated people, I’ve rarely had to explain what Colgate University is even here in California. Among most people, though, they’re not quite sure they’d heard of it. “Oh, do you mean Cornell?” “Uh, no, definitely not Cornell.”

But anyone who knows colleges pretty well is generally going to recognize the Colgate “brand” as a very good one just as they would Williams or Bowdoin or Amherst. Those that are looking for USC grads . . . well, that’s their problem, I guess.
I just wouldn’t worry about it even slightly. In a lot of ways, an east coast liberal arts college of a somewhat elite reputation – and there are at least 20 such schools – impresses people in California a lot more than more famous big state schools do. Maybe it’s the snob effect? Again, I wouldn’t worry about it. Get the best education you can. You go to college for that and for the college experience.