Top private vs public universities: quality of college experience and future job prospects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

“I don’t need numbers, I have three anecdotes” is about the level of critical thinking I expect from this forum at this point.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the student Op. Small colleges can be stifling. Students can wish they had more independence. For example, not having to convince an advisor (who might play favorites) when a student wants a spot in another major, or drop a class. A large university can be a great opportunity to excel in the big, wide world. No hand holding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on this post, I'm surprised that at a public university anyone can:

-Register for a class without camping outside the registrar's office for weeks
-Do research without bribing their way into a lab
-Navigate a campus without specialized GPS and wilderness survival training
-Find peers that care about learning rather than just partying
-Graduate with a desired major instead of settling for underwater basket weaving
-Graduate within the intended timeframe of this century

Apparently, public university students must possess superhuman determination just to overcome these insurmountable obstacles that private college students never face, thanks to those magical $60,000+ annual tuition payments that somehow eliminate all administrative hassles and provides a magical educational experience.

You forgot that they are all unhoused and have never interacted with a professor other than to be spat upon for being such an afterthought.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Top privates are always better than top publics. Classes are smaller and networks are tighter. Sure, Michigan has a bunch of alumni, but most of them are doing ho-hum jobs in the Midwest. It’s not the quantity, but the quality of alumni.

Maybe for some majors but not for others. The top eight engineering schools in the Big Ten clean up on the top eight Ivies for engineering.

THIS. If your DC is into engineering, they are much better off at a big ten. Plus they ALL have the same accreditation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - My advice would be to send your child to wherever they will be happiest and where you think they will perform best. These two factors are generally related, I think. I personally slightly lean toward public colleges and high schools because I prefer to avoid intellectual and economic snobbery when possible. I live in a wealthy area and know many of these "everything is better private" tools. We can afford private college and HS, so it's not an economic issue for me. My preference is for my children to be challenged academically while building their self-reliance skills. I also have been on several tours of private colleges and know when I'm being marketed to, both by the school and by others dug into perceived advantages.

A top public university will have all the necessary resources and opportunities to help your child succeed. The processes might be challenging at a larger public institution but nothing insurmountable. If your child is leaning toward a major where one school is substantially better than the other, then let that guide you. For example, I would think that a business graduate from Penn would have more opportunities than a graduate from Penn State, but an engineering graduate from Penn would fare no better than one from Penn State. Just my two cents.

ITA with this. I happen to have an engineering junior at Penn and an engineering freshman at Penn State. My younger son enthusiastically chose Penn State for the culture, the resources (the Engineering buildings and equipment are actually way better than Penn) and because he wanted a more robust social life. He is whip smart and knows that he is going to succeed wherever he goes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of choice-supportive bias here. You'll notice that most of the perceived advantages for private colleges listed are process-related, boiling down essentially to more hand-holding and easier-to-navigate campuses. While there are additional arguments, there isn't much more substance to them.

Some forum posters are so committed to their goal of securing a top private college that they cannot concede that excellent public alternatives provide comparable outcomes. This cognitive entrenchment makes it difficult for them to objectively evaluate educational options outside their chosen path.

Their whole framework is based on their private K-12 being superior to the public ones, and they cannot comprehend that college doesn’t work the same way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The attention a student gets at a public or private in terms of job opportunities, research opportunities etc is very much up to the student and how motiviated and a"go getter" they are. We have had kids at both public and private and the opportunities were similar and what each of them made of it.

+100
Absolutely true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

These myths are constantly pushed on this forum. My kids attend large state schools, have had excellent advising, gotten the classes they need to graduate in four years, and have established relationships with professors who have written their LORs for internships, etc. It's clear you have no experience with a great public university, so you continue to push idiotic stereotypes.
DP

Have you been on campus at a T30 smaller private University? Those are also readily available, and much easier to access. There are plenty of people at large State U (including Michigan) who have issues with all of the above. It's easier to fall in the cracks and for a student to have to negotiate to get these, where at a smaller school, it's much easier to get all of this.

So then, no - you have no experience with the large universities you're generalizing about. Maybe you need to stop generalizing and stereotyping schools you know nothing about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

DP. This is so amusing. You are actually making all of these claims about people you don't even know, going as far as claiming "MOST" had to sacrifice, settle, not graduate in four years, etc. Do you even hear yourself? The only people whose experiences you can actually validate are your own kids. You know absolutely nothing about what happens with "MOST" kids attending large state schools - just what you want to pretend happens. None of what you listed ever happened to my kids. All graduated in four years with majors they specifically wanted - two of them switched majors midway through and had no problem doing so. Did you really think you could just fabricate this narrative and no one would call you out on it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of choice-supportive bias here. You'll notice that most of the perceived advantages for private colleges listed are process-related, boiling down essentially to more hand-holding and easier-to-navigate campuses. While there are additional arguments, there isn't much more substance to them.

Some forum posters are so committed to their goal of securing a top private college that they cannot concede that excellent public alternatives provide comparable outcomes. This cognitive entrenchment makes it difficult for them to objectively evaluate educational options outside their chosen path.

+100
Well said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC vs UCLA is a prime example in LA job market.

Would yo like to add some context? I live in the greater LA area and there is no difference in job market success between these schools. Both are excellent across the board. There are many other schools considered their equals in the area as well. Any typical C5, Oxy, UCSB, UCSD, LMU, Chapman, etc. grad will have lots of alumni in the area and do just fine.

That’s just not correct. USC has phenomenal networking and job placement. They have a lot of resources devoted to it.

UCLA is a fantastic college, but its alumni don’t look out for graduates the way USC alumni help out USC grads.

Citations for this claim? Or is this just another one of your opinions you throw out as fact?
DP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

Not only more RAs but in addition to the RA for 15-30 are faculty in residence. No gatekeeping of majors. Divisions add sections when too many students need popular classes for the majors(calc, CS, chem) and sections stay relatively small. No one is shut out. Plenty of research opportunities for undergrads. More funding for undergrads than publics. Plus almost every student cares about learning and focuses on studies more than parties.
I had one at VT and two at different top10/ivy. It is very different at a big public.

DP. I have one at VT and they are having a fabulous experience. They know their professors within their major, some of them quite well. One of these professors nominated my DC for a very competitive internship, which she got. Excellent study abroad options, great advising. She's had the same advisor since before freshman year. No issues getting the necessary classes. This fall, she will be a research assistant for one of her profs.

In short, the opportunities that have been afforded to her would be extremely unlikely at a smaller, more limited school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on this post, I'm surprised that at a public university anyone can:

-Register for a class without camping outside the registrar's office for weeks
-Do research without bribing their way into a lab
-Navigate a campus without specialized GPS and wilderness survival training
-Find peers that care about learning rather than just partying
-Graduate with a desired major instead of settling for underwater basket weaving
-Graduate within the intended timeframe of this century

Apparently, public university students must possess superhuman determination just to overcome these insurmountable obstacles that private college students never face, thanks to those magical $60,000+ annual tuition payments that somehow eliminate all administrative hassles and provides a magical educational experience.

Seriously. My takeaway from reading this thread is that some private university parents feel their young adult college students need a tremendous amount of handholding. Also, that they are extremely insecure and to compensate, feel they have to make up nonsense about what occurs at large universities that they know nothing about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

“I don’t need numbers, I have three anecdotes” is about the level of critical thinking I expect from this forum at this point.

Right?! "I don't need numbers, I have my (very uninformed) opinions and that's enough for you!!"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

This is one of the funniest, not-actually-real things I’ve read on this forum.