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S/O: State vs. Private Universities
DH and I were both products of a public school system, but then chose a private university for undergraduate. Although I enjoyed where I went, I don't think it was worth the money.
Even though we will send DD to a private school up until college, I will strongly encourage DD to go to a state school for her bachelors degree.
Unless it's a place like Harvard, I don't think the name on your Bachelors degree is that important. She might as well save the money for grad school. You're going to need at least a masters or advanced degree to be competitive in the future anyway, and at that point the name on the degree is a little more important.
What are your feelings on private/state universities?
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Re: S/O: State vs. Private Universities
I was also the product of a public school system followed by a private university. I actually feel like the university choice has made a difference. Schools with good reputations, public and private, can get you in the door. I also tend to disagree about the grad school comment (Law and Medicine being the exceptions). At least at the moment, the MBA is completely overpriced and gets you very little.
Just my opinion.
Questions like these have way too many variables.
I went to a private university in Florida for both undergrad and grad. DH went to UGA for just undergrad.
My largest class had 30 people in it; DH's had 300+.
I paid for my education myself; DH's parents paid for his (so I have student loans).
I got a great education for myself for the field I thought I wanted to go to at the time. Am I using my degree currently? Nope. I make a decent salary, but it's not super.
DH got an okay education for the field he went into. He works in a field where 60% of people don't even have a degree in the area. His salary is 250% more than mine annually.
See? I feel like I got a great education for what I wanted out of it. I am too easily distracted, so smaller classes and more one-on-one attention was important to me, as well as a good liberal arts curriculum. It just really depends on the kid.
I went to public school and a public university. I think I got a fine education all the way around but I went to school in NC.
I think some professions it is important where you went to school and others it doesn't matter at all. I work in education so I don't think anyone would be impressed by where I went to school.
I also agree with ming. It depends on the child from elementary through college. Some kids can thrive anywhere and others need a more tailored enivronment. It is just important to know what works for your child and yourself.
I agree with this, particularly for college. I went to a private university in DC, and got my masters at a private university in London. No one here really knows the school I went to in London, but that is more because it is over there and not here. I think we will encourage our kids to go to a private university, not because of the name (although I disagree that only Harvard is worth it, there are many, many top level private universities that are worth it in terms of jobs) but because you get what pp said - smaller class sizes. I never had a class bigger than 30 people.
Saying that, if our kids are set on going to a state school and it is a good fit for them then we will be happy with that. We would like to encourage them to go to school in the UK because they are dual citizens and have that opportunity easily and there are some amazing schools there, but whatever they choose (as long as they go) will be fine.
I think getting an MBA doesn't have the cache it used to, but I disagree on it not being important. I actually think that so many people are getting MBAs and masters that if someone who has a bachelors and someone who has an MBA are up against the same job I believe the MBA will get a first look. They may not ultimately get the job, but I bet their resume is higher up in the pile.
Just using that as an example. You know what I meant
In the airline world, the university DH attended to become a pilot (after paying $$$ for a bachelors he doesn't use) carries a ton of weight, so it all depends on the field. He just needed any ol' bachelors degree with a decent gpa to get into the pilot program though.
I agree on the MBA. I would probably encourage an advanced degree in something else. A master's already is used a weeding tool however. If you can't check that box, then the system just kicks your resume out in many cases.
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For the record, it is possible to attend a public university and experience tiny class sizes. I was in the Honor's Program at UGA and enjoyed class sizes of 10-12 people in many of my core courses. It was only in stuff like Psych 101 and Intro to Advertising that I experiences 200+ classes.
And once you're in your major, the class sizes are restricted. I never had more than 20 people in any of my upper-level journalism courses.
That is a very good point. Same for me. The only classes I ever had that were huge were a few generals in the very beginning.
You are correct, but in my case I would clearly have not even made it that far beyond my pre-reqs in a setting like that. Again, it varies person to person.
I went to a public university, one that is consistently in the top 5 public universities in the country. It was harder for me to get in there than the private schools to which I applied, b/c I was an out of state student and they cap out of state at 15% of the student body. To me, public or private didn't matter, I made the choice based on my major, biochem, and the reputation of the program as well as the access to research facilities. The campus and student body too were factors for me. I was not a small school person - I wanted to attend a large university.
I work internally for a professional services firm now (so much for my degree!!) and I'll tell you that the institution you graduate from does matter. We have targeted schools and if you did not attend one, it's difficult to get a second look. The grad school portion I feel relates more to the work you do. If I had gotten an MBA or masters right out of school I would make little, if anything more than just having a bachelors. These firms like to grow from within, then have people go back for advanced degress (with work experience). But again, that is just this industry.
Personally I liked the larger classes. More students to meet and more people to be study buddies. I thought it was fun to go to the big classes. It was easy enough to find a TA or the actual professor if I needed to. I went to a small high school and I very much preferred the large university setting where there is no such thing as one small "in" crowd. Although, I guess for a "large" university, GT is pretty small (something like 10k compared to UGA's 30k+) and the "sociable" folks are not as plentiful as other large campuses due to the nature of the degrees there. When we had major classes as upperclassmen we only had like 25 to 30 students in the class. On campus there was bound to be a group to fit in no matter how "different" you were and lots of opportunities to try lots of different things. I felt like the smaller campuses I visited everyone was way too privy to each other's business. Meh, not my thing.
In engineering, so far in my career a masters is optional (except for maybe Civil but I was Chemical) and usually a stepping stone to a PHD and a career in academia. Most CHE jobs pretty much only require the bachelor's and maybe a PE certification - which you have to work on during your career anyway. I know that is probably not the case for most other majors.
As much as I hate to say it, I do think where you go to school plays a factor in SOME cases. For example, at my previous job at a large financial institution, I was on the recruiting committee for new college grads. We had 6 or 7 large universities in the Southeast that we specifically targeted. We would attend career fairs, interview, wine & dine etc. We would find the top talent that we wanted and make offers. That's not to say you wouldn't get hired if you did not go to one of those universities, but you would have a harder time getting in the door. KWIM?
I've also worked with managers that LOVE to hire from their alma mater, regardless of where that might be. I've worked with other managers with that "good ole Southern attitude" that are partial to Southerns colleges/universities. I'm not saying this is right, but just what I've seen/experienced.
I went to UGA. Loved it. Yes, my core classes were huge, some 200+, but I always felt like I had access to my professors and TA's. In the business school, some of my major classes only had 30 people. I also realize I may be in the minority, but I made a conscious effort to communicate with my professors so they knew who I was. If I needed help, I talked to them after class or emailed them. If there was a professor I liked, I would try to take other classes he/she taught. I had great relationships with 3 or 4 of my professors just by doing that - great enough for them to write me rec's. My point is that even in large universities, you can still develop relationships with your professors so that you are not a little fish in a big pond. You can still get that one on one attention if you need/want it. With that said, I do understand that large universities are not for everyone though. Just my 2 cents.
I agree, it does depend on the school. There just weren't any huge classes at my school, so it was nice. My upper-level journalism classes had probably no more than 15 people in them, which was awesome for me but maybe wouldn't be great for everyone.
There are also some fantastic public Universities. UGA is a great school. UVA is awesome. So is UNC-ChapelHill, just to name 2. I would be thrilled if our kids went to either of those.
This is my alma mater!
I wondered when you said you went to a tough one to get into! It is a great school!
I work for one of the biggest company in the world and have been on the hiring end. In my opinion where you graduate from kinda plays a big role in our hiring decision. That is just the reality of it.
My husband and I both graduated from good universities but we want to dream big for our kids and hope that they have the opportunity to go to an Ivy League school. I would love to save money on elementary and high school expense but historically majority(I say most not all) of the kids that are admitted to Ivy League schools graduated from private high schools.
I also understand that certain career choices can call for specific specialization to which some public universities are better than private universities.
I've done both public and private. I got my undergrad and masters from a large public university and my law degree from a smaller private university. In both cases, I chose the school based on the caliber of the program and how well their graduates placed. The experiences were drastically different between the public and private universities (not just due to the nature of the programs), so I can absolutely see how someone might thrive in one environment versus the other.
Totally agree with this. I too worked for a huge consulting firm and we specifically recruited from certain larger well-known public universities.
I think that where you go to school does matter. I went to a well-known public university and it definitely helped me get a job before graduation.
I think it's very important to target the school for where you plan to major. I think you can get a great education at a public university and at a private university.