Higher ranked SLAC most people haven’t heard of VS. lower ranked big public everyone has heard of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I think you overestimate the average university knowledge of the median Google manager. I worked at Facebook until last year, we were mostly nerds really into tech but likely not super knowledgeable about colleges outside of big names. I’m a fan of Steph Curry, so know the name but also didn’t realize it was a top school until the college search process began for my kids. Maybe I’m not sophisticated either, but most Facebook tech people are not, maybe the finance group is?

That kind of misses the point. DS is a senior studying physics & cs at a slac. He doesn't expect managers to know his school but when he contacts alumni at those companies, they are really great about talking with him, referring him, and helping out as much as possible. They probably only get one or two calls a year from current students at most so it is easy to help.

Agreed that this is the main benefit of a SLAC. What they lack in name recognition, they can make up in alumni involvement. If you have the type of student that reaches out to alumni this can be a big plus. If you are just job searching through recruiters and job boards, then big state U may get more doors opened.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the point is that to most people if you throw out the name Davidson or one of the “silly” CTCL schools they won’t know the difference.

The employers who previous posters said are “prestigious” sure would. They get it.

I went to Penn and a lot of people assumed it was Penn State and people in general were/are confused even I would say Univ of Pennsylvania in Philly. Obviously employers and other people know the school. I do t think you go by whether they public at large knows the name. You go by where your kid would do best/be happiest and how the school will help their career.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the point is that to most people if you throw out the name Davidson or one of the “silly” CTCL schools they won’t know the difference.

The employers who previous posters said are “prestigious” sure would. They get it.

I went to Penn and a lot of people assumed it was Penn State and people in general were/are confused even I would say Univ of Pennsylvania in Philly. Obviously employers and other people know the school. I do t think you go by whether they public at large knows the name. You go by where your kid would do best/be happiest and how the school will help their career.

You want to Penn? Really? You sure don’t write like an Ivy League graduate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The kind of employer who knows Davidson is the kind of employer that DD should pursue. Undoubtedly, it'll be more prestigious and the people that she'll be working with will be running around in more elite circles than those who have only heard of schools like Penn State. Harsh, but true.

Maybe this was true back in the day, but this is no longer the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the point is that to most people if you throw out the name Davidson or one of the “silly” CTCL schools they won’t know the difference.

The employers who previous posters said are “prestigious” sure would. They get it.

I went to Penn and a lot of people assumed it was Penn State and people in general were/are confused even I would say Univ of Pennsylvania in Philly. Obviously employers and other people know the school. I do t think you go by whether they public at large knows the name. You go by where your kid would do best/be happiest and how the school will help their career.

Conversely, my son (a student at Penn State) has impressed my relatives from the Midwest that he got into an Ivy League school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:But the point is that to most people if you throw out the name Davidson or one of the “silly” CTCL schools they won’t know the difference.

The employers who previous posters said are “prestigious” sure would. They get it.

I went to Penn and a lot of people assumed it was Penn State and people in general were/are confused even I would say Univ of Pennsylvania in Philly. Obviously employers and other people know the school. I do t think you go by whether they public at large knows the name. You go by where your kid would do best/be happiest and how the school will help their career.

Conversely, my son (a student at Penn State) has impressed my relatives from the Midwest that he got into an Ivy League school.

That’s funny. I bet most Midwesterner’s don't even know that Penn is an Ivy League school.

[Anonymous]

Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

[Anonymous]

I went to Dartmouth and have met plenty of people who never heard of it, or who didn't know it was an Ivy League school, thought it was pronounced Dart-Mouth, and so on and so forth. This has never had any impact on either my personal or professional happiness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

Blah blah blah. You can study abroad from any school. Easily. One of my kids did it from a SLAC. Two others did it from State U. I did it from a Catholic U way back in the day.

My hunch is that a higher proportion of SLAC kids study abroad only because they feel like they’re suffocating in their small environments and feel the need to get away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:But the point is that to most people if you throw out the name Davidson or one of the “silly” CTCL schools they won’t know the difference.

Why the quote marks around silly? Or are you confused on their usage?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

Blah blah blah. You can study abroad from any school. Easily. One of my kids did it from a SLAC. Two others did it from State U. I did it from a Catholic U way back in the day.

My hunch is that a higher proportion of SLAC kids study abroad only because they feel like they’re suffocating in their small environments and feel the need to get away.

Actually, it’s a requirement at several SLACS and the kids love the experience. SLACS aren’t for everyone but they’re great experiences for some kids. I truly don’t understand why this bashing comes up time and time again. Some kids thrive in large state universities and there are great companies that recruit at them. Yes, there are also study abroad opportunities. No one denies any of these things about large universities. Other kids enjoy the small school experience and still find good jobs and end up in ranked graduate programs. College is not one size fits all and there are plenty of options out there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

Blah blah blah. You can study abroad from any school. Easily. One of my kids did it from a SLAC. Two others did it from State U. I did it from a Catholic U way back in the day.

My hunch is that a higher proportion of SLAC kids study abroad only because they feel like they’re suffocating in their small environments and feel the need to get away.

Actually, it’s a requirement at several SLACS and the kids love the experience. SLACS aren’t for everyone but they’re great experiences for some kids. I truly don’t understand why this bashing comes up time and time again. Some kids thrive in large state universities and there are great companies that recruit at them. Yes, there are also study abroad opportunities. No one denies any of these things about large universities. Other kids enjoy the small school experience and still find good jobs and end up in ranked graduate programs. College is not one size fits all and there are plenty of options out there.

It’s a requirement at exactly THREE colleges: Goucher, Soka University of America and Susquehanna. That’s it. I guess three no-name colleges (including one that’s basically a cult) qualify as “several.” I guess.

Liberal arts colleges highlight their study abroad programs as a way of reassuring applicants that there are ways to break up the monotony. No doubt about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

Blah blah blah. You can study abroad from any school. Easily. One of my kids did it from a SLAC. Two others did it from State U. I did it from a Catholic U way back in the day.

My hunch is that a higher proportion of SLAC kids study abroad only because they feel like they’re suffocating in their small environments and feel the need to get away.

NP. I find your bizarre hatred of SLACs so fascinating. You haunt these boards, often posting immediately when the word SLAC is mentioned, and have a pretty distinctive and identifiable writing style. What happened to you that has made you so obsessed? Did your child have a bad experience?

I went to HYS/big state schools and my kids look like they’re headed to the same, so it’s not personal. I’m just kind of fascinated by how someone becomes so crazy about one style of school.

[Anonymous]

Your child should not go through life caring about what most people think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not sure why but kids at SLACS seem much more likely to take a semester abroad than students at big state schools, if that is of interest. Was an incredible experience for my son and many of his high school friends from other SLACS were scattered across Europe first semester of Junior year, even those who played D3 spring sports.

Blah blah blah. You can study abroad from any school. Easily. One of my kids did it from a SLAC. Two others did it from State U. I did it from a Catholic U way back in the day.

My hunch is that a higher proportion of SLAC kids study abroad only because they feel like they’re suffocating in their small environments and feel the need to get away.

NP. I find your bizarre hatred of SLACs so fascinating. You haunt these boards, often posting immediately when the word SLAC is mentioned, and have a pretty distinctive and identifiable writing style. What happened to you that has made you so obsessed? Did your child have a bad experience?

I went to HYS/big state schools and my kids look like they’re headed to the same, so it’s not personal. I’m just kind of fascinated by how someone becomes so crazy about one style of school.

You’re confusing me with someone else. As I said, one of my kids went to a (top-ranked) liberal arts college. I’m just saying that it’s baloney that one of the advantages of liberal arts colleges is study abroad, because it isn’t. You don’t have to make up the benefits.