<p>Imagine this situation - you are a student looking to have the most rigorous, challenging and reputable education possible (for future jobs). You have two options - either going to a C school (imagine A is the best type of school, F is the worst kind) for three years with a fourth year spent at an A school - or just going to a B school for four years. Assume all schools are equal in terms of fit and other factors. </p>
<p>What would you choose? Imagine for example a degree at University of Pittsburgh with a year at Columbia vs. an entire degree at UCLA. </p>
<p>Unfortunately I cannot disclose the actual schools involved for various reasons, but any comments are greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I’d probably pick the entire degree at the U of Pittsburgh, but then again, I consider them a good school and great in certain areas (like neuroscience). There’s absolutely no way I’d consider them a “C” school. YMMV based upon your major.</p>
<p>Creekland, perhaps it was a bad example. School C is good and respectable, but would not be considered a top school nationally. Perhaps A schools are top 10, B top 25 and C top 50 75 or something along those lines.</p>
<p>I think you need to realign your rankings by major - not by generic numbers. ;)</p>
<p>Plus, I’d see anything in the top 25 or 35 (generically) as an “A” school, so I’m probably not the right person to answer you. If numbers mean that much to you - more than checking out actual programs - then you might just have to answer your own question. It’ll be meaningless to practically everyone else (employers and grad school admissions included).</p>
<p>Most colleges will require you to attend two years at their institution to graduate with a degree with that name. They want their $ and don’t want to dilute their name brand.</p>
<p>Creekland, the overall strength of the schools are correlated with the strengths in the relevant majors. As for the letter classification, I only wanted to apply it in this particular context - not generally. </p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, this is only for one degree. Thanks for helping out though!</p>
<p>What Erin’s Dad is saying is that your “Plan A” likely won’t work if you plan on finishing at your A school for your final year. They will want you to attend for at least 2 years to issue you a degree.</p>
<p>Oh I see. No the degree will come from school C in that case, and the A school year will be the penultimate as opposed to the last. I apologize for the confusion.</p>