Would you allow your child to go to a college you’ve never heard of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I’m not talking Denison or Kenyon or Knox or St. John’s. My kid is interested in schools like Northland College, Green Mountain College, Berry College.

I've heard of Green Mountai. Very granola crunchy. Also check out Warren Wilson College.

And Hampshire College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the schools you mentioned are Christian. Does your kid have a particular desire to attend a Christian SLAC? Not criticizing that choice, but it’s just a possible explanation.

Northland and Green Mounrain aren’t. These are hardcore liberal environmentalist schools.

One is Unitarian and the other is Methodist. They’re on the liberal side of Christianity, but they’re still Christian.

Unitarian is a lot of things, but Christian ain't one of them.

They would disagree with you.

Also, you’re an ass.

I am Unitarian and do NOT consider myself Christian.

[Anonymous]

If my child wanted to go to a school I'd never heard of, I would learn about the school so I could help my child make an informed choice rather than assuming my ignorance reigns supreme.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the schools you mentioned are Christian. Does your kid have a particular desire to attend a Christian SLAC? Not criticizing that choice, but it’s just a possible explanation.

These schools are “Christian” in the same way that Carleton, Grinnell, Elon, Boston University, and Emory are. Aka not really at all.

Berry definitely is religious. They talk about Christian principles in their mission statement. The others are affiliated with churches, but appear less religious in an impact on everyday life sense. But don’t kid yourself; if a school is affiliated with a religion it makes a difference.

- Jewish Georgetown grad who definitely felt the impact of Georgetown’s Catholic identity

I am a Carleton grad and disagree 100%.

[Anonymous]

Even though I'd never heard of Berry, my DC is going there and I couldn't be happier. It was definitely the right choice. From my limited exposure, the academics seem solid and DC has definitely come into their own there. It might not be right for everyone, but finding the right fit is vital. For DC, it's the right fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The have you heard of it test is pointless OP. We’ve all heard of large state colleges with middling academics but great althletic programs. What percentage of Americans have heard of Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Haverford, Grinnell, Macalaster, Swarthmore, Davidson or Kenyon?

There are a lot of metrics on which to choose a college— size, location, strength in your area of specialty, graduate placement, cost, and very definitely, will my kid thrive there. But have I heard of it is a bad one. Most people have only heard of Ivys/top 25 national universities, big state schools, football/basketball powerhouses, and colleges in their geographic area. That leaves out a lot of excellent colleges.

Right, but with a couple exceptions in your list, those are well ranked, well thought of schools.

All of those schools are highly regarded. A couple are even considered Ivy League alternatives. Most people may not know of them. Graduate schools and hiring managers at top companies do. That's the real differentiator- what is the school's track record for outcomes- and it's not something that necessarily corresponds with how well the general public knows them.

[Anonymous]

Nope, I would not. if I haven’t heard of it, neither have most employers.

Ninety five percent of kids will do well at any college that has a major in their area of interest. This notion that fit is some concept that would eliminate tons of schools is nothing more than a marketing ploy for the lesser known schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, I’m not talking Denison or Kenyon or Knox or St. John’s. My kid is interested in schools like Northland College, Green Mountain College, Berry College.

I've never heard of these either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I’m not talking Denison or Kenyon or Knox or St. John’s. My kid is interested in schools like Northland College, Green Mountain College, Berry College.

I've never heard of these either.

very funny. You know you have heard of them (although I'm not too familiar with Knox to be honest).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the schools you mentioned are Christian. Does your kid have a particular desire to attend a Christian SLAC? Not criticizing that choice, but it’s just a possible explanation.

Northland and Green Mounrain aren’t. These are hardcore liberal environmentalist schools.

One is Unitarian and the other is Methodist. They’re on the liberal side of Christianity, but they’re still Christian.

Unitarian is a lot of things, but Christian ain't one of them.

They would disagree with you.

Also, you’re an ass.

UU here - and UU is based in Christianity and rejected the concept of the Trinity (thus the Unitarian). And historically, Jesus is revered as a great leader and man of faith, but not as a deity. That said, UUs borrow freely from other faiths and traditions, many UUs do not consider themselves "Christian" as such (being Jewish, Hindu, Wiccan etc.) and the cornerstone of the faith is the dignity and worth of ALL human beings no matter what, there is no dogma, and the Bible is just a book from which to learn.

It sounds like they are Jews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nope, I would not. if I haven’t heard of it, neither have most employers.

Ninety five percent of kids will do well at any college that has a major in their area of interest. This notion that fit is some concept that would eliminate tons of schools is nothing more than a marketing ploy for the lesser known schools.

Exactly. "Fit" is way overrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I’m not talking Denison or Kenyon or Knox or St. John’s. My kid is interested in schools like Northland College, Green Mountain College, Berry College.

I've never heard of these either.

very funny. You know you have heard of them (although I'm not too familiar with Knox to be honest).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, I’m not talking Denison or Kenyon or Knox or St. John’s. My kid is interested in schools like Northland College, Green Mountain College, Berry College.

I've never heard of these either.

very funny. You know you have heard of them (although I'm not too familiar with Knox to be honest).

? Have you been reading the DCUM college forum long? Where are you from?

[Anonymous]

To be devil’s advocate here, I went to one of the colleges a previous poster mentioned that are very highly ranked but relatively unknown to the general population, and at times it has been less than helpful with local employment. I have gotten jobs and admission to a graduate program partly on the strength of managers’ knowledge of this college, but local and less “big time” employers would definitely have been more impressed if they had seen University of Maryland on my resume.

As long as the student is planning on going to a large and well regarded grad school, this probably isn’t an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nope, I would not. if I haven’t heard of it, neither have most employers.

Ninety five percent of kids will do well at any college that has a major in their area of interest. This notion that fit is some concept that would eliminate tons of schools is nothing more than a marketing ploy for the lesser known schools.

Exactly. "Fit" is way overrated.

Agreed. Its for the kids who tank their SATs and have too low GPAs to have much scope in terms of competitive colleges.