Do You Choose College Based On Prestige Or Based On Your Opinions About It?
Dec.15, 2009 in
College Selection
Im having a real tough time choosing my school because on is high ranked but the other one is low ranked. I am much more in love with the low ranked college but afraid it wont open doors for me after graduation. On the otherhand, the high ranked college is very popular and respected among employers. The low ranked school is also a christian college. There i will be able to get closer to the lord. The high ranked school is not. What would do?
December 16th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Remember the point of college, which is to get an education. That may cause you to reevaluate both schools – the prestigious one because you now have to think about whether it is the best place for you to learn, and the religious one because while you may get close to the lord, you could do that without college. Look at where you would get the best education for what you want to be and do in your life.
I should point out that many very religious people did not necessarily go to religious colleges. Being among those who did not share their beliefs strengthened their own belief systems. Having spent 20 years working at religious colleges, I have nothing against them, and some are excellent. But some are pretty terrible educationally, and if ALL you get out of your experience there is a shared sense of religion, you will have missed a lot.
I’m also not endorsing the prestigious school over the religious one. For some people, Harvard or MIT would not be optimal places to learn, because the environment might be too stressful. However, it is rare that a school is prestigious without being at least reasonably good, so there is that to consider.
December 16th, 2009 at 8:09 am
It depends on what you want to do. For most jobs, it won’t matter much how the particular college is ranked. But if you want to get into law school or medical school, a higher-ranked college will be important.
Of course, the more competitive the field you enter, the more important the particular college will be in helping you to stand out.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Are we talking Harvard vs. Podunk state U or two schools more closely ranked?
While most will tell you to go with the school that you love, and I don’t disagree, the fact is that top schools do open more doors. Or at least make it easier to get through doors. So bottom line is it depends on what you hope to do in life. If you want to be an investment banker you’ll need a top school. If you want to be a teacher it probably won’t matter.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Your fears are justified. The low ranked school won’t open doors for you.
In high school, I knew nothing about school rankings, and chose my undergraduate school (Villanova) for completely stupid reasons. I ended up getting lucky — as it turned out to be a pretty good school whose reputation has actually increased. For my first attempt at Graduate school, I was even more stupid — picking my school because of location. Granted, the program I went into was a top 20 school in my field — but I didn’t know that. I got a good education there, but didn’t finish my degree.
Years later, I went back for an MBA and then for a PhD. This time, I was smart, and only applied to schools that were highly regarded (I got my MBA at Duke and my PhD at Berkeley). I’m glad that I went to better schools — because they opened a lot of doors for me. I wouldn’t have my current job had I gone to a lesser school.
As for your religious training, there is a great line in Somerset Maugham’s THE RAZOR’s EDGE — that it is much easier to be a saint when you live on the top of a mountain. If your faith is tested by going to a good school that is not religious, then that is a good thing. If you go to a religious school, you will never face those tests — and there is no honor in being righteous when there is no alternative. You have to live in the real world — get an education that will help you live there.