This article generated some comments in another topic.
The Schools
Bucknell
Claremont McKenna
Dartmouth
Fordham
Hamilton
Ohio State
Penn State
Princeton
Smith College
Texas A&M
U Alabama
Notre Dame
Richmond
Villanova
Virginia Tech
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Many people claim their alumni networks are the best, especially those from LACs and Ivies. There will always be a differing of opinion. And there are many articles out there with different rankings because theyāll have different criteria.
Iāve seen Penn State grads - two recent where the alumni was not helpful to the students. And I donāt know A&M grads who have relied on the alumni (Iām sure many do), but Iāve seen the strength of the alumni - no matter where they go, they introduce themselves as āJon Doe, class of 1998ā.
I was at a grand opening in town - and you wouldnāt have realized the business we were there to open was the reason we were there. It was simply an A&M love fest.
Those people are strong in their love!!!
My point - Iām sure you can find people from 50 or 200 or whatever schools that will list their alumni as a huge strength - and likely various reports that do so too.
Weāve seen reports on here of alumni helping at various schools - and then schools that list source of jobs donāt show alumni as high (one Ivy in particular) but rather linkedin and handshake job listings as the biggest sourceā¦similar to others.
Not to mention, everyone has a different skillset (networking well is that)ā¦so I think you see various results depending on the student, alumnus, and school.
No Williams? No Wesleyan? Shame on Town and Country:
https://www.row2k.com/IRA/features/2024/1955/ira-diii-report-wesleyan-wins-out/
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They gotta shake it up a little! They have to have a variety of schools, including some with accessible admissions to please the Town & Country readers who have kids without high stats. And they have to leave a couple of well known names off to create a little controversy and draw comments.
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I am afraid I agree with the criticisms of the list in the other thread. Town and Country is pretty notorious for producing clickbait articles, and this seems to be one.
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Lots of lists with differing opinions - Kansas State anyone ? The last list likely lines up more with what most would think - high powered schools at the top.
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Those who follow alumni giving rates in, say, the Ivy League know that Princeton and Dartmouth outperform some other Ivies by about a multiple of two. While this represents just one aspect of alumni enthusiasm, it nevertheless indicates that the T&C article included objective criteria in its methods. If, along with other objective criteria, subjective aspects also contributed to the list, this would seem to be T&Cās prerogative. Actually, the subjective aspects of the list may represent its āvalue addedā when compared to other such attempts.
Why isnāt U of Oklahoma on the list?
Oh, they got caught lying about how many alumni donate.
Who else is lying?
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What is sad is that people make decisions based on these clickbait articles.
Your kid is interested in the performing arts? Emerson. What a group of alums ready to pick up the phone on behalf of a promising new grad.
Art History? Williams. Thereās a reason the alums are called the Mafia of the art worldā¦ curators, auction houses, galleriesā¦
Education reform and policy? Bank Street.
Generic strong networking? Wellesley.
And little known to the outside worldā¦ West Point. No, the grads donāt need alums when they graduateā¦they already have a job. But 10 and 15 years later? Watch out.
These are institutions which punch above their weight and the network is one very strong reason.
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And
Based on what you wrote, with inclusion of specific examples, you do not appear to be saying that a list such as this canāt be informative, but more that you could create a better one.
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What?! No Michigan Tech? No St. Johnās-St. Benās? No Dunwoody?
Seriously, though, the very strongest alumni networks are probably the local/regional ones. But I suppose thatās not the readership of Town & Country.
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I would worry about job placement. Thatās what we are talking about. Not 25 years from now - are you active in the alumni ? But can I get a job - the why doesnāt matter but the post is insinuating through alumni.
So I ask - whereās High Point on this list ?
Iād add the other Seven Sisters Colleges that are still women only to Wellesley, i.e., Smith, Bryn Mawr, and Mt. Holyoke. These women network and help one another.
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I went to one of those and I find alums to be incredibly friendly and helpful to each otherā¦I would say in last 6 months I have been helped or helped random fellow alums 3-4 times (in one case a random alum reached out and I passed them off to another casual aquaintance alum who found them an internship). There is an typically a strong inherit trust in a shared experience that seems to transcend age and classā¦
Regarding alumni network, how many people here have either:
- Benefited from favorable treatment from other alumni of your college due to being an alumni of your college?
- Given favorable treatment to someone else because they are alumni of your college?
Not surprised to see VT on there at all. Huge numbers of alumni come back to campus for various events during the year - particularly for the annual remembrance events for the 2007 shooting, where thousands of alumni come back to campus. And for the sports. Even when they are having a losing season, the parking lots are full of tailgaters, the RV lots are jumping, and the stadium sells out. And these are alumni - many donāt currently have a student there. It makes sense that the Hokie love would overflow into the job market as well.
I know quite a few people who left their college on graduation day and never went back, but that isnāt the case for VT alumni.
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I think Iāve addressed this before, but to be clear, U of Oklahoma didnāt get caught. Yes, they gave false data on alumni giving, but they caught it themselves and then self reported the violation to US News, who penalized them in the rankings for awhile. So while bad, not as bad as you allude to and they paid the price for the crime. Also, this happened back in 2019, so more than 5 years ago and not relevant to this discussion. OU has a strong alumni association notwithstanding the previous issue.
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My comment was in jest forgetting that the mis reported for 20 years. Columbia, via a prof, did too.
The schools fess up and report only when they are caught.
In the end, kids want jobs. OU, like tons of flagships, is a fine school.
We are really talking here about job success and thatās why I noted High Point before. No idea about their alumni but their placement stats are strong.
No, Iām saying this is a sub-optimal way to evaluate colleges because SOME colleges are phenomenal in some fields, some colleges are terrific even if the general public doesnāt know anyone who has gone there, and others are just famous for being famous.
I have benefited from it personally, and have paid it forward for young alums. I am a volunteer for my colleges āreach out if I can help youā squad so have likely spoken with more new grads/seniors than a random alum who doesnāt want to be contactedā¦
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