A "is this a good college" thread for all college searchers...

[WendyLovesPeter]

my son has gotten accepted at several ohio schools then got a brain storm about Arizona State for their business program....2 time zones away! I am having a hard time with this as it is only a recent interest....seems too spontaneous to me. anything you can tell me about ASU to help me see things his way. I

don't mind him going away. I don't mind him going several hours away, but this means every visit is a plane ride. Is their business program that more outstanding than anything on this side of the US? i am trying to be open minded but also practical.

 

[golfgal]

My DS is a junior and took the PSAT last year and this year. Since he did better this year, our mail and e-mails this year are for different schools. The paper is staggering, our mail person must hate us. It doesn't help I'm POA for DM and DMIL and get tons of mail for them too.

He's received from Carleton College and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. We've decided it's a no because too far and too cold. But can you tell me anything about them and why they want him? He's looking for accounting/business/economics and then a law degree.

It is so hard to decide, there's too many choices and too little merit aid around here.

Carleton is a very good feeder program for law schools. It is very highly regarded. It is an Ivy Caliber school. Acceptance rates are probably a bit higher then most Ivy's because it isn't as well known and they don't get as many applicants. It's expensive $50K range. It's in a smaller town, BEAUTIFUL campus. Also a good feeder school for medical school.

U of MN is the largest Big 10, one of the largest State Universities (maybe the largest even) at about 45,000 students. It's a good school, not overly great but the Carleton Business School is well regarded as is the Law School. They have a pretty good Technical program (engineering, etc. too). Most kids in our area apply as their safety school. Football team isn't very good, hockey is great ,

I would love some input on Carnegie Mellon, Purdue, Marquette, University of Iowa and Valparaiso. My son is currently trying to decide between these. He got accepted at all of them, but is still waiting on the financial packages from a couple of them before making his final decision.

On the other hand, I know lots about Augustana since my daughter is a senior there. So if anyone needs info about that, I'm your girl!

A friend's son is a Junior at Purdue and loves it. He stared in the pharmacy program but has since switched to biology. His parents aren't sure what exactly he will do with a degree in Biology but.... He is pretty much on a full ride there through various scholarships. It is a little remote for getting places out of state if you will need flights, etc.

Which Augustana?--I am assuming not the one in South Dakota.

 

[tar heel]

U of MN is the largest Big 10, one of the largest State Universities (maybe the largest even) at about 45,000 students. It's a good school, not overly great but the Carleton Business School is well regarded as is the Law School. They have a pretty good Technical program (engineering, etc. too). Most kids in our area apply as their safety school. Football team isn't very good, hockey is great ,
QUOTE]

Isn't Ohio State University still in the Big 10 and still the largest university in the United States?

 

[golfgal]

U of MN is the largest Big 10, one of the largest State Universities (maybe the largest even) at about 45,000 students. It's a good school, not overly great but the Carleton Business School is well regarded as is the Law School. They have a pretty good Technical program (engineering, etc. too). Most kids in our area apply as their safety school. Football team isn't very good, hockey is great ,
QUOTE]

Isn't Ohio State University still in the Big 10 and still the largest university in the United States?

Yes, you are right-Ohio State is 2nd largest overall, U of MN is 4th, so 1 and 2 in the Big 10 (which will have 12 teams next year ).

 

[LukenDC]

Anyone out there know anything about Drexel? Or American University?

agnes!

I earned my Master of Public Administration at American University. I did not have many interactions with undergraduates. AU has several "big names" in the fields of public administration, policy, and political science, but the top professors usually do not work closely with undergraduates. The facilities are good and many of the buildings have been renovated to include the latest technology. From reading the student newspaper, I gathered that AU undergraduates do not have as strong a sense of school spirit as the administration would like. The student body tends to be worldly, with many international students---especially from the Middle East---and many students pursuing international work and study.

I'm now an HR director for a DC nonprofit and among local private universities, AU students tend to have the strongest resumes right out of college. We have hired several interns from AU and they have exceeded our expectations.

 

[dejr_8]

Beyond the name recognition of the school some additional things to consider are:

What is the career path? - Some "no-name" schools may actually have an outstanding record of preparing students for Med or Law school.

What is the degree? - Some well-known schools can actually have some pretty poor academic departments.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Anyone out there know anything about Drexel? Or American University?

If you're getting a lot of glossy brochures, you can check and see if your kids' counselors need any extras...sometimes what they have on file is waaaay out of date .

So...Drexel or AU anyone?

agnes!

I got both of my degrees (B.A. in Communications, M.A. in Political Science) from AU. Let me know if you have any questions.

Incidentally, it had been my last choice school. Once I was accepted, we went to visit and I fell in love with it. I loved the campus and the fact that it was a campus in a city. The opportunities afforded me (internships, etc.) were priceless.

 

[j's m]

Carleton is a very good feeder program for law schools. It is very highly regarded. It is an Ivy Caliber school. Acceptance rates are probably a bit higher then most Ivy's because it isn't as well known and they don't get as many applicants. It's expensive $50K range. It's in a smaller town, BEAUTIFUL campus. Also a good feeder school for medical school.

U of MN is the largest Big 10, one of the largest State Universities (maybe the largest even) at about 45,000 students. It's a good school, not overly great but the Carleton Business School is well regarded as is the Law School. They have a pretty good Technical program (engineering, etc. too). Most kids in our area apply as their safety school. Football team isn't very good, hockey is great ,

U of MN is out, way too big. Carleton sounds interesting other than the plane ride which is over 700 weekday round trip. I wonder how much extra for holidays?

50,000 and up seems like the norm around here for the better schools. Princeton is 52,180. I can't imagine what the price will be by the time he graduates.

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I got both of my degrees (B.A. in Communications, M.A. in Political Science) from AU. Let me know if you have any questions.

Incidentally, it had been my last choice school. Once I was accepted, we went to visit and I fell in love with it. I loved the campus and the fact that it was a campus in a city. The opportunities afforded me (internships, etc.) were priceless.

So true about the internships!

Also ds got his undergraduate degree in poitical science from AU and had no problem getting accepted at several law schools.

 

[Pigeon]

For a list of resources that's more comprehensive than random individual impressions about schools, see http://www.library.illinois.edu/edx/rankings/rankgen.html

 

[LIDisneyFan]

Crucial resource for any college bound student

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges

there is good free information - but if you subscribe (or buy their printed version) you get all info about each college (avg scores, acceptance rates, population diversity, costs etc)

 

[allison443]

For a list of resources that's more comprehensive than random individual impressions about schools, see http://www.library.illinois.edu/edx/rankings/rankgen.html

Great site!

I also suggest collegeconfidential.com, they have a discussion forum labeled "colleges" and each college has their individual board...usually it attracts people who have gone there/are considering it/current students etc.

 

[golfgal]

U of MN is out, way too big. Carleton sounds interesting other than the plane ride which is over 700 weekday round trip. I wonder how much extra for holidays?

50,000 and up seems like the norm around here for the better schools. Princeton is 52,180. I can't imagine what the price will be by the time he graduates.

Are you flying him first class??? I just did a search from Newark to Minneapolis for "spring break week" and the flights are coming in around $300. We can usually get flights in the $200 range, round trip out east.

 

[bballmom56]

I also suggest collegeconfidential.com, they have a discussion forum labeled "colleges" and each college has their individual board...usually it attracts people who have gone there/are considering it/current students etc.

Agree. The Parent's Forum is also very helpful. Lots of people with lots of experience with most of the colleges named so far.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

For me, one big thing is the % of students who returned for their sophomore year, it says a lot about the school overall. Acceptance rate and test scores say a lot to me too. All of these things can be found on http://www.collegeboard.org/.

 

[tar heel]

I agree with lacrosse lady that the retention rate is very telling. I think the acceptance rate can be leading, however. Kids don't want to be turned down so they only apply to schools they have a chance of getting into. Harvard's acceptance rate is 7%, but that certainly doesn't mean 7% of high school students could get in there. The real figure is way lower.

I looked at the rates for some schools I'm familiar with. I'm intrigued by Western Carolina's 39% acceptance rate, UNC Charlotte's 71% acceptance rate and Davidson's 29% acceptance rate. UNC Charlotte is a decent middle-of-the-road state university. Western is a favorite safety school for kids who messed around in high school. Davidson is small and extremely, extremely selective and one of the hardest schools to get into in the country. Unless it's changed, you get to write six essays, half of which are on the "second step" application you receive after you submit the first one. There's no way those three schools can be measuring the same thing.

This illustrates how hard it is to research schools you don't know much about.

 

[punkin]

I agree with lacrosse lady that the retention rate is very telling. I think the acceptance rate can be leading, however. Kids don't want to be turned down so they only apply to schools they have a chance of getting into. Harvard's acceptance rate is 7%, but that certainly doesn't mean 7% of high school students could get in there. The real figure is way lower.

I looked at the rates for some schools I'm familiar with. I'm intrigued by Western Carolina's 39% acceptance rate, UNC Charlotte's 71% acceptance rate and Davidson's 29% acceptance rate. UNC Charlotte is a decent middle-of-the-road state university. Western is a favorite safety school for kids who messed around in high school. Davidson is small and extremely, extremely selective and one of the hardest schools to get into in the country. Unless it's changed, you get to write six essays, half of which are on the "second step" application you receive after you submit the first one. There's no way those three schools can be measuring the same thing.

Davidson's applicant pool is extremely self-selecting. Only students who are extremely serious will apply there. Western Carolina probably has an enormous amount of unqualified applicants. You are right the numbers conceal completely different phenomena.

 

[golfgal]

Davidson's applicant pool is extremely self-selecting. Only students who are extremely serious will apply there. Western Carolina probably has an enormous amount of unqualified applicants. You are right the numbers conceal completely different phenomena.

Davidson is that school that paid for all their students to go to the NCAA basketball tournament, right?

I just looked Davidson up on CollegeBoards-it says that they have replaced student loans with grants so all of their students graduate debt free-that's probably why they get so many applications.

 

[castleview]

U of MN is out, way too big. Carleton sounds interesting other than the plane ride which is over 700 weekday round trip. I wonder how much extra for holidays?

50,000 and up seems like the norm around here for the better schools. Princeton is 52,180. I can't imagine what the price will be by the time he graduates.

Keep in mind a lot of the numbers regarding U of M included their subsidiary schools. I graduated from there and while it is large, it can become very small once you get going there and start getting involved.

 

[sunshine1178]

Marquette alum here. It was a great school for me. Not as many choices of majors as a huge state u, so some of my friends transferred when they switched majors. Very well respected business, engineering, nursing, and physical therapy programs. Being downtown Milwaukee, there are lots of opportunities for internships. Community service is emphasized, but not required. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to my kids' friends. (No way they'll go where their uncool mother went!)