I went to a Top School and I think state schools are the way to go

[Anonymous]

Impressive stat, but the original claim was off by a mere 450% - quite a whopper. Plus the stat applies to 20+ "Penn State" campuses. The, state colleges of New York and California would be much higher.

I think the PSU alum network is powerful in Appalachia and pretty strong in the mid-Atlantic, but not globally or even nationally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way only 700,000. Not when you are graduating 95,000 students a year go on Wiki. Also largest alumni association in the world. Did not have that 1 in 25 statistic but I know they said it.

Wiki is wrong. I got my stat from Penn State's website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No way only 700,000. Not when you are graduating 95,000 students a year go on Wiki. Also largest alumni association in the world. Did not have that 1 in 25 statistic but I know they said it.

Wiki is wrong. I got my stat from Penn State's website.

http://alumni.psu.edu/news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The cost of college is out of control. There are only two types of students that can afford the top private schools that don't give merit aid- super rich and students that will receive lots of financial aid(free money- not loans)

Or students who have parents that are affluent and willing to save for their college. If one is willing and able to save for a $60k a year school and starts doing it when kids are young, you don't have to be super rich. Though I guess you might define super rich differently than I do.

Really intelligent put-downs aren't so obvious. Please work on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, bless your heart!

Ewwwwww.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised that I don't see more private school alums speaking up for their alma maters. I was offered a full ride to Rutgers (Douglass College) and a seat in their honors program. I turned it down because I got a near equivalent offer from Lehigh University and I felt that the private school experience would offer much richer networking and career placement opportunities thanks to the deeply loyal alumni base. That proved to be true. I got my MBA at Georgetown and see the same strong alumni network in action there.

On the other hand, my husband received his undergraduate, masters and PhDs from state universities, and I see no evidence of any strong alumni ties. Could be just his personality, but I really think the strong ties to school and the tradition of helping other alumni are one of the strongest reasons for paying the differential for a private university.

I never regretted my choice, and I paid back my student loans early and then contributed funds to Lehigh to cover all the scholarship monies they invested in me.

So question - last time I checked Gtown was ranked 25th for MBA. Had you gotten into one of the several state schools that rank higher than Georgetown, would you have avoided the dirty poor masses and still picked Georgetown?

Instead of alumni ties, I used my skills and hard work to get where I am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm really surprised that I don't see more private school alums speaking up for their alma maters. I was offered a full ride to Rutgers (Douglass College) and a seat in their honors program. I turned it down because I got a near equivalent offer from Lehigh University and I felt that the private school experience would offer much richer networking and career placement opportunities thanks to the deeply loyal alumni base. That proved to be true. I got my MBA at Georgetown and see the same strong alumni network in action there.

On the other hand, my husband received his undergraduate, masters and PhDs from state universities, and I see no evidence of any strong alumni ties. Could be just his personality, but I really think the strong ties to school and the tradition of helping other alumni are one of the strongest reasons for paying the differential for a private university.

I never regretted my choice, and I paid back my student loans early and then contributed funds to Lehigh to cover all the scholarship monies they invested in me.

So question - last time I checked Gtown was ranked 25th for MBA. Had you gotten into one of the several state schools that rank higher than Georgetown, would you have avoided the dirty poor masses and still picked Georgetown?

Instead of alumni ties, I used my skills and hard work to get where I am.

A strong alumni network is a tool to leverage in addition to skills and hard work. But you knew that, right?

[Anonymous]

Alumni network is overrated. It's one of those things that on the edge might make a difference but overall it's not that big of a deal. Performance counts for much more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, bless your heart!

Ewwwwww.

LOL at the Ewwwww!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alumni network is overrated. It's one of those things that on the edge might make a difference but overall it's not that big of a deal. Performance counts for much more.

In some fields, like mine, the professors' networks are more important than your fellow grad students. Does the professor know someone who will look at your resume?

[Anonymous]

Sure, for your first job maybe, but once you are working performance counts for much more than a professors network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to state school, got accepted to a well ranked but not top grad program and work now with grads from Princeton, Harvard, MIT, as well some from George Mason. If you go into a field where your skills and intellect matter, a lot of that nonsense just fades away.

I graduated from UDC for undergrad and the majority of my colleagues are Ivy grads. An anomaly, yes, but not impossible.

[Anonymous]

For what it's worth - I'm from So. Cal - and no way is USC a west coast Ivy. Seriously. My niece just graduated from there. It's a party school for blondes and the greek life. I taught there once - students weren't interested in studies. And the kids graduate, as my niece did, with over 100$K in debt that she cannot pay off because she does not have a job. So much for those old good alum USC ties. Not impressed

[Anonymous]

That is just so sweet! And less competition for us. Bless you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what it's worth - I'm from So. Cal - and no way is USC a west coast Ivy. Seriously. My niece just graduated from there. It's a party school for blondes and the greek life. I taught there once - students weren't interested in studies. And the kids graduate, as my niece did, with over 100$K in debt that she cannot pay off because she does not have a job. So much for those old good alum USC ties. Not impressed

I'm from Boston, so I guess I get to add my two cents worth on Harvard. I never taught there, but I worked with a double Harvard Grad (undergraduate and law) who was dense as rock, not really motivated and was eventually counseled out - so I guess I can kick Harvard out of the (real) Ivy league?