Which schools will continue to be the most sought after in the next decade? Which ones will hit a downward trajectory?

[Anonymous]

Pittsburgh is doing very well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Right now the top firms that pay the most are some tech firms, pe shops and quant funds. Those firms don't care where you went to school but how fast you can solve problems or code. Going to a good school just assures you atleadt get an interview. The interviews are purely technical. They are not looking for squash players. There is another category of jobs that looks for skills that student athletes bring. If someone is great at something be it math, physics or a sport, there is a place for that person because they will appeal to some employer's preference.

Correct. There is some overlap in some positions, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

You keep saying that yet Big 10 universities in the so-called Rust Belt are enjoying a surge in applications. Lots of kids don't want to go south for different reasons and can get the big school, big time sports, fun party experience in the Big 10.

+1 Many of these midwestern schools are on fire: Purdue, Chicago, U Mich, U Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, etc. The small LACs in tiny towns in the Midwest, ok, I agree that many are struggling. But that is true almost anywhere. More of the college-bound population is being raised in urban areas, and they don’t want to live in the sticks at college.

+1 The flagships and highly rated private schools (say, <= 50 on US News) are generally doing well. It's the regional privates and directional state Us (e.g., Eastern Illinois, Indiana University at Kokomo, Ferris State and what have you) that I'd be very leery of.

[Anonymous]

Agree with above but I’d say the nonflagship schools in the dmv are pretty strong- Towson, UMBC, GMU. I think it depends which region you are in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general I think there will be a push to schools perceived as fun but with good educational rigor. The northeast schools will drop because they are perceived as grim grinds filled with backstabbing, unfriendly people. Political moderation will be appealing. I think this generation of kids, who suffered through covid, has little patience for schools where, fair or not, there is a perception of tolerance of drama queens and waste of education. This will also go with an increasing demand for good ROI.

Excessive drama, misery, and petulance is headed out, solid education, fun, and good ROI is in.

So kids weren't interested in schools that were fun before recently? And plenty of drama and backstabbing in the Southern sorority scene.

They were, but schools in the northeast used to be a lot more fun because there was more personality variety in who they attracted. They used to attract the population that made campuses come alive: the quirky geniuses, the smart frat and sorority kids, the theater kids who had the time in HS to really perfect their craft, etc. But those kids often don’t have the mid-career project management skills that getting perfect GPAs in a test-minimizing environment along with the requisite resume-polishing now requires. So these schools are instead filled with grim armies of Tracy Flicks who don’t understand what “fun” even means.

Have you been on the campus of some of these schools recently? What’s remarkable is how silent they are. It’s like walking through a library, but outside. It’s outright depressing and for some bright kids, that’s not going to be appealing no matter how shiny the name is.

I’ve visited nearly 100 colleges in the last decade. You are so right. Students walking to class at Williams were like zombies (and not in a GOOD way). Students at Michigan, Baylor, & Kansas State looked like they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general I think there will be a push to schools perceived as fun but with good educational rigor. The northeast schools will drop because they are perceived as grim grinds filled with backstabbing, unfriendly people. Political moderation will be appealing. I think this generation of kids, who suffered through covid, has little patience for schools where, fair or not, there is a perception of tolerance of drama queens and waste of education. This will also go with an increasing demand for good ROI.

Excessive drama, misery, and petulance is headed out, solid education, fun, and good ROI is in.

So kids weren't interested in schools that were fun before recently? And plenty of drama and backstabbing in the Southern sorority scene.

They were, but schools in the northeast used to be a lot more fun because there was more personality variety in who they attracted. They used to attract the population that made campuses come alive: the quirky geniuses, the smart frat and sorority kids, the theater kids who had the time in HS to really perfect their craft, etc. But those kids often don’t have the mid-career project management skills that getting perfect GPAs in a test-minimizing environment along with the requisite resume-polishing now requires. So these schools are instead filled with grim armies of Tracy Flicks who don’t understand what “fun” even means.

Have you been on the campus of some of these schools recently? What’s remarkable is how silent they are. It’s like walking through a library, but outside. It’s outright depressing and for some bright kids, that’s not going to be appealing no matter how shiny the name is.

I’ve visited nearly 100 colleges in the last decade. You are so right. Students walking to class at Williams were like zombies (and not in a GOOD way). Students at Michigan, Baylor, & Kansas State looked like they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Since you brought up Kansas State, I was wondering if you could compare it to Univ of Kansas in terms of culture, student body, campus, and surrounding town. If you’re familiar! Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

I was in Pittsburgh for a week on business last year, and came away with the impression that it was a city on the rise. It was vibrant and well situated, and it seemed like it had shed its industrial past. YMMV, but I think it'd be a great place to spend four years. (I have no experience with the rest of the Rust Belt though.)

Let us know when you move there. Lol.

Where I work we’ve had at least three people move to Pittsburgh in the last year. Two went remote, and one quit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Right now the top firms that pay the most are some tech firms, pe shops and quant funds. Those firms don't care where you went to school but how fast you can solve problems or code. Going to a good school just assures you atleadt get an interview. The interviews are purely technical. They are not looking for squash players. There is another category of jobs that looks for skills that student athletes bring. If someone is great at something be it math, physics or a sport, there is a place for that person because they will appeal to some employer's preference.

Can’t speak about tech firms and quant funds, but I have spent 20+ years in private equity, working for some of the big ones and I can tell you that you are completely wrong! PE remains VERY pedigree driven. Firms recruit almost exclusively from Ivy plus Schools. It’s nearly impossible to get an interview if you don’t come from one of these schools.

Also, people on here act like the kids coming from Ivy plus don’t have the tech skills. I don’t know what you are smoking. Year after year we get Ivy plus candidates with top tech skills. On top of that, they all have top GPAs and have proved strong leadership ability, either in a sport or another competitive on campus activity. They are fiercely competitive.

If either of my kids went into private equity, I would feel like I failed instilling any sense of morality into my kids. But yeah I’m sure the pay is great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Rutgers is like a cross between UMD and UVA. Top in-state students want UVA. Maryland, especially with CS, retains many of the best Maryland students. Rutgers isn't seen as a state school which keeps home the best and brightest.

Maybe because of all the other choices available in the northeast-SLACS, Jesuits, private R1 schools. Or it's the wacky take a bus to class campus feel.

UVA and UNC are already insanely competitive to get into. I shudder to think what it will look like in 10 years.

Probably not the right thread for this, but how is Rutgers with OOS merit aid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

You keep saying that yet Big 10 universities in the so-called Rust Belt are enjoying a surge in applications. Lots of kids don't want to go south for different reasons and can get the big school, big time sports, fun party experience in the Big 10.

+1 Many of these midwestern schools are on fire: Purdue, Chicago, U Mich, U Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, etc. The small LACs in tiny towns in the Midwest, ok, I agree that many are struggling. But that is true almost anywhere. More of the college-bound population is being raised in urban areas, and they don’t want to live in the sticks at college.

+1 The flagships and highly rated private schools (say, <= 50 on US News) are generally doing well. It's the regional privates and directional state Us (e.g., Eastern Illinois, Indiana University at Kokomo, Ferris State and what have you) that I'd be very leery of.

I totally disagree. More and more bright kids from MC and UMC homes are attending these schools because they give great merit scholarships. I’ve been surprised by the “seller” schools that have been turned down in favor of these lesser known schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

You keep saying that yet Big 10 universities in the so-called Rust Belt are enjoying a surge in applications. Lots of kids don't want to go south for different reasons and can get the big school, big time sports, fun party experience in the Big 10.

+1 Many of these midwestern schools are on fire: Purdue, Chicago, U Mich, U Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, etc. The small LACs in tiny towns in the Midwest, ok, I agree that many are struggling. But that is true almost anywhere. More of the college-bound population is being raised in urban areas, and they don’t want to live in the sticks at college.

+1 The flagships and highly rated private schools (say, <= 50 on US News) are generally doing well. It's the regional privates and directional state Us (e.g., Eastern Illinois, Indiana University at Kokomo, Ferris State and what have you) that I'd be very leery of.

I totally disagree. More and more bright kids from MC and UMC homes are attending these schools because they give great merit scholarships. I’ve been surprised by the “seller” schools that have been turned down in favor of these lesser known schools.

Interesting. Where do you live? I'm in MoCo (kids in public, HS classes of '15, '19, '21, and '23) and I have seen a shift to state flagship/state flagship equivalents (both in-state and out-of-state), probably or possibly due to costs, but I'm hard pressed to think of any kids going to somewhere like IU Kokomo or University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh (i.e., out of state/out of region directionals). So they'll go to IU in Bloomington or Purdue, but not Purdue Northwest or IU Fort Wayne. U of South Carolina/Clemson? Yes. Increasingly very popular. USC Aiken or USC Upstate? Not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

You keep saying that yet Big 10 universities in the so-called Rust Belt are enjoying a surge in applications. Lots of kids don't want to go south for different reasons and can get the big school, big time sports, fun party experience in the Big 10.

+1 Many of these midwestern schools are on fire: Purdue, Chicago, U Mich, U Illinois, Indiana, Northwestern, etc. The small LACs in tiny towns in the Midwest, ok, I agree that many are struggling. But that is true almost anywhere. More of the college-bound population is being raised in urban areas, and they don’t want to live in the sticks at college.

+1 The flagships and highly rated private schools (say, <= 50 on US News) are generally doing well. It's the regional privates and directional state Us (e.g., Eastern Illinois, Indiana University at Kokomo, Ferris State and what have you) that I'd be very leery of.

I totally disagree. More and more bright kids from MC and UMC homes are attending these schools because they give great merit scholarships. I’ve been surprised by the “seller” schools that have been turned down in favor of these lesser known schools.

Interesting. Where do you live? I'm in MoCo (kids in public, HS classes of '15, '19, '21, and '23) and I have seen a shift to state flagship/state flagship equivalents (both in-state and out-of-state), probably or possibly due to costs, but I'm hard pressed to think of any kids going to somewhere like IU Kokomo or University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh (i.e., out of state/out of region directionals). So they'll go to IU in Bloomington or Purdue, but not Purdue Northwest or IU Fort Wayne. U of South Carolina/Clemson? Yes. Increasingly very popular. USC Aiken or USC Upstate? Not so much.

PP- what about the non-state flagships in MD? When we toured UMBC and Towson more than half of our (admittedly small) tour group was from out of state. Kids coming from Penn, NJ, Europe and Texas on our tours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any college in the depressing Rust Belt. There are too many better or equal options in growing regions with good weather and scenic surroundings.

I was in Pittsburgh for a week on business last year, and came away with the impression that it was a city on the rise. It was vibrant and well situated, and it seemed like it had shed its industrial past. YMMV, but I think it'd be a great place to spend four years. (I have no experience with the rest of the Rust Belt though.)

Let us know when you move there. Lol.

Where I work we’ve had at least three people move to Pittsburgh in the last year. Two went remote, and one quit.

It seems like an awesome city but got DAMN it's gray and dreary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general I think there will be a push to schools perceived as fun but with good educational rigor. The northeast schools will drop because they are perceived as grim grinds filled with backstabbing, unfriendly people. Political moderation will be appealing. I think this generation of kids, who suffered through covid, has little patience for schools where, fair or not, there is a perception of tolerance of drama queens and waste of education. This will also go with an increasing demand for good ROI.

Excessive drama, misery, and petulance is headed out, solid education, fun, and good ROI is in.

So kids weren't interested in schools that were fun before recently? And plenty of drama and backstabbing in the Southern sorority scene.

They were, but schools in the northeast used to be a lot more fun because there was more personality variety in who they attracted. They used to attract the population that made campuses come alive: the quirky geniuses, the smart frat and sorority kids, the theater kids who had the time in HS to really perfect their craft, etc. But those kids often don’t have the mid-career project management skills that getting perfect GPAs in a test-minimizing environment along with the requisite resume-polishing now requires. So these schools are instead filled with grim armies of Tracy Flicks who don’t understand what “fun” even means.

Have you been on the campus of some of these schools recently? What’s remarkable is how silent they are. It’s like walking through a library, but outside. It’s outright depressing and for some bright kids, that’s not going to be appealing no matter how shiny the name is.

I’ve visited nearly 100 colleges in the last decade. You are so right. Students walking to class at Williams were like zombies (and not in a GOOD way). Students at Michigan, Baylor, & Kansas State looked like they couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.

Since you brought up Kansas State, I was wondering if you could compare it to Univ of Kansas in terms of culture, student body, campus, and surrounding town. If you’re familiar! Thanks

NP. I am very familiar with both schools and towns.

KU also has very happy students. Many are from Kansas (and a lot from the KC area) but it’s also about 40% out of state. Lawrence is liberal and larger than Manhattan. More students from further away than KState. KState has more of a rural agriculture focus. Also a nice college town though. I love that Lawrence is so close to Kansas City and the airport. The KU campus is on top of a hill and very pretty. Easy to get around the town. More to do and less isolated than KState.

[Anonymous]

Texas schools are on the rise, great economy, warm weather,no state tax, good jobs, plenty of internships, affordable newer housing, dozens of medical schools accepting 90% in-state residents, make it an easy place to earn a good living and raise family.

Even with their republican state government, stupid laws and conservative majority,all major cities are liberal and diverse so easy to adjust to.

It's not hard to predict a sure shot rise for UT Austin, Rice, Baylor and SMU.