Menlo College???

College Life
1

<p>I am planning on applying to Menlo College in California, but I was looking for info on college life, dorms, academics, etc. I am planning on applying as a Marketing Communications major, any info on this major as well?</p>

<p>Also, if anyone has information regarding the admissions process, I was wondering if sending in your common app (containing a personal statement) could replace the personal essay they ask for in their requirements?</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

Help yourself and please don’t go there regardless of the hefty sum of scholarship they hand out.
A degree from Menlo equates to that of a degree of nothing. Good luck.

3

@darren808 How do you know this? I would love details as I’m getting close to making a choice of what college to attend very soon.

4

My son was contacted by this school for a sport, so we looked into it. I am not normally one to weigh some of the rankings lists because the criteria is too easy to manipulate. But in this case, it appears to be well-deserved.

Menlo College ranked #9 (out of the entire US) on this 'worst" list:

"“Washington Monthly” set out to find those institutions that — whether due to cost, debt or students’ prospects after the mortarboard drops — should be avoided.

To find the “top” 20, “Washington Monthly” took that into consideration and based its overall worst ranking of 1,700 four-year colleges and universities on the four following criteria:
•Net price
•Average student debt
•Average default rate
•Average graduation rate"

5

@mcarroll2015‌
Oh boy/girl you’re asking just the right person.

I attended Menlo College for two regretful years and wasted hefty amounts of $$$. I could go on and on about how disappointing the school’s curriculum and deterring its overall atmosphere is…but I’ll try to cut to the chase as I’m sure that is not all you’re looking for in my feedback.

This “school”, in a nutshell, is a high school with dorms, simple as that. The academic curriculum is rather unimpressive, and its seemingly proud and glorifying slogan of “Business School in the Silicon Valley” is very much self-proclaimed and pretentious. Why? You may ask. Well, that’s because that is the truth. Menlo lies in the city of Atherton, a very rich (second most expensive zip code in the nation) and considerably safe community where its very reputation is virtually unheard
In case you’re wondering about its academic atmosphere, you’re in for further disappointment. It is a very, I repeat, VERY small community of 600 students (less than 10-15% female) in a campus you could literally walk around in 15 minutes.

There are six types of students here:

  1. Athletes (somewhere along 65-75% of the 600 students) attending with hefty scholarship, not even in NCAA.
  2. Students born with a silver-spoon who need sub-par degrees to work for or take over their family businesses.
  3. High school grads who’s got no clue (Menlo is considerably easy to enter, if you have above a 2.0, you’re solid. My roommate submitted his application to Menlo through his android phone.)
  4. Burn out’s. Albeit it has a tiny student population. There is a large population of pot-heads, as with any other college if you ask me.
  5. Traditional students, who are actually in it for education.
  6. Students who recognize their mistake in entering this school, and have the ambition to transfer to another school. There is, unsurprisingly, a large amount of student who commit to this route. In the two years I spent at Menlo, I’ve had at least 15 friends who either transferred or dropped out. No kidding.

I have to be honest, though, that its marketing team is phenomenal. They do a good job beautifying its websites and online recruitment, you know, throwing in business jargons here and there to sound fancy.

I, personally, regret making that credulous decision to buy into its marketing scheme and charm to waste two years of my time and money. Thank goodness I transferred before the point of no return, which was graduating with a useless degree and learning virtually nothing, and of course making no critical connection for the future.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR EDUCATION AND A WORTHWHILE DEGREE, STEER CLEAR. :slight_smile:

6

@darren808 Thank you very much for your feedback. It is very helpful! May I ask what school you transferred too & has it been a better experience? Also what was/is your major? I’m assuming it relates to business. I want to attend a good school for marketing that is why Menlo caught my eye considering it is advertised as a Business school.

7

I live about 3 miles away from Menlo College. It’s quite a nice campus! There aren’t a lot of affordable apartments for college students nearby though… :confused:

Try to get an apartment in Palo Alto or San Carlos.

AVOID REDWOOD CITY AND EAST PALO ALTO AT ALL COSTS

8

I live really close by and Menlo College isn’t known at all. Nobody talks about it… so I don’t have any other feedback for you except Menlo Park, Atherton and Palo Alto are beautiful towns.

9

Menlo College used to be a private junior college associated with Menlo School, a private high school. They are now separate, and the college has remade itself as a small business school (only recently got AACSB accredited). But one has to wonder what the appeal of such a specialized school is, since business is offered widely, and the college does not have prestige, low cost, or other typical attractors. Though maybe that is more likely to survive than a private junior college in a state full of good cheap public ones.

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@mcarroll2015‌

I majored International Management at Menlo College. I transferred to Santa Monica College. The tuition here is marginal compared to Menlo’s, yet education and the school atmosphere as a whole is incomparably better.
If you are leaning towards schools with good business curriculums and prestige in NorCal, definitely look into Santa Clara University, Stanford, Berkeley, USF, SF State. Practically any other school in the Bay is better than Menlo.
Best of luck!

11

I grew up in San Carlos, and my sister in law attended Menlo College ten years ago. She was a poor student that needed a second chance in a small college setting. She earned a marketing degree (wasn’t too hard, show up, read book, pass class). She went on to several good jobs in Silicon Valley, before settling down with a family.

One data point, her amazing roommate was offered a Rhodes Scholarship while at Menlo, but she was a mad genius. And she turned it down. Crazy! So some really good students do attend Menlo, probably for the small college, close to home setting,

Colleges like Menlo tend to serve rich kids that really mess up in high school, but that doesn’t mean you cannot receive a decent education. Like most things, you get what you put in. It is located in one of the most perfect areas and climate in California. If you are female, the mostly male population will be seeking your company (that could be a good or bad thing IMO).

Avoiding Redwood City for off campus apartments is good advice.

-psy