Do mid-tier LACs lack name recognition?

[Anonymous]

A few DCUM type moms who have gone through the college process for their kids will know about SLACs. Other than that, no one else..

[Anonymous]

30-60 is not mid-tier. There are 223 LACs.

[Anonymous]

Oooh, just this week, I had a resume from a Swarthmore student who listed Swarthmore’s USNews rank on his/her resume. I snickered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oooh, just this week, I had a resume from a Swarthmore student who listed Swarthmore’s USNews rank on his/her resume. I snickered.

These high hitters need to realize that 99% of people who hire them never attended top SLACs or ivies. Moreover, 99% of the people they’ll be reporting to never attended one either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30-60 is not mid-tier. There are 223 LACs.

Correction, there are 223 liberal arts colleges that fall into the nationally ranked category. There are even more if you consider the "regional colleges" category.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone becomes an expert on these schools when they're applying to them or when their kid is- a few years later they forget. Williams is arguably the best undergraduate school in the country - how many people even know what it is

Anybody educated does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oooh, just this week, I had a resume from a Swarthmore student who listed Swarthmore’s USNews rank on his/her resume. I snickered.

Oh yikes that’s kinda cringey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m taking about schools ranked 30-60. Specifically schools like Dickinson, Denison, Occidental, Bucknell, Rhodes. I know they’re all in different regions, but I just want to if they have that sort of “name recognition” that an employer looks at when reviewing an application.

Yes.

[Anonymous]

This general “name recognition” thing isn’t how people get good jobs. The people who the people who went to Oberlin, Williams etc need to impress know what these schools are about. Grad schools and selective employers know the difference. People who are well educated and speak and write in a way indicative of a strong liberal arts education do well in competitive workplaces.

[Anonymous]

Dickinson and Bucknell are well known in this area. Lots of alums here. By contrast my SLAC is top 10 and has pretty low name recognition.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at Oberlin. And among the DMV UMC in my neighborhood and other kid’s school, 40% have never heard of it and another 40% have, but have no idea where it is. Maybe 20% of people could get to “small college in Ohio, known for music and science” on their own. So now, when Certain people ask, I’ll often just say they’re “at Oberlin, a small college near Cleveland”.

Life’s too short for me to GAF what my random neighbor with preschool aged kids thinks about my kid”s college choice. The people who need to know know (like grad school admissions). I have a neighbor with a daughter at Haverford. They don’tfcorrect their relatives who think it’s Harvard.

We have a lot of first gen Asian parents in our neighborhood or school. I think that’s parent of it. I have definitely dealt with some “I’m sorry your child failed at life” attitudes— especially among 1st gen Asian parents do toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Oberlin. And among the DMV UMC in my neighborhood and other kid’s school, 40% have never heard of it and another 40% have, but have no idea where it is. Maybe 20% of people could get to “small college in Ohio, known for music and science” on their own. So now, when Certain people ask, I’ll often just say they’re “at Oberlin, a small college near Cleveland”.

Life’s too short for me to GAF what my random neighbor with preschool aged kids thinks about my kid”s college choice. The people who need to know know (like grad school admissions). I have a neighbor with a daughter at Haverford. They don’tfcorrect their relatives who think it’s Harvard.

We have a lot of first gen Asian parents in our neighborhood or school. I think that’s parent of it. I have definitely dealt with some “I’m sorry your child failed at life” attitudes— especially among 1st gen Asian parents do toddlers.

I just tell people, “my kids at such and such school - it’s a school that no one’s ever heard of.“ No sense getting bent out of shape just because Plymouth rock descendants never heard of the school.

[Anonymous]

Speaking as a Smith College grad, name recognition helps. It helped me get a job on Wall Street right out of college. It helped me get into grad school. It helped me get a job after I returned from a motherhood stint. Yes, there are plenty of people that don't know my college. But, the ones that matter do know it. I would try to get into the best name school you can. It sets you up for life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Among your average Joe, most SLACs will have zero name recognition. Zero. But to the people who hire the Joes of the world, govern the Joes of the world, and help direct the future of Joe's world on many different levels, yeah, they know. They'll know Williams. They'll know Grinnell. They'll know Oberlin.

Depends where you live, I think. I grew up in Colorado and even among the "elite"...Oberlin and Williams and Grinnell aren't exactly household names.

Yeah but elite in Colorado? .. not saying much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oooh, just this week, I had a resume from a Swarthmore student who listed Swarthmore’s USNews rank on his/her resume. I snickered.

These high hitters need to realize that 99% of people who hire them never attended top SLACs or ivies. Moreover, 99% of the people they’ll be reporting to never attended one either.

It’s a catch 22 imo.