Anonymous wrote:A lot of lower ranked schools rely heavily on adjunct professors. They are often well meaning, but have to cobble together 2 or 3 jobs to earn enough money to live. They also spend a fair amount of time doing things to increase their odds of getting a tenure track job. They might not be around when your kid needs a reference a couple of years from now.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally, universities of lower caliber advise their students better. Also, professors at lesser universities reach out to their students more and more want their students to be successful.

Well, this would appear to be a false premise based on mine at two different ivies and my work partners' kids at various universities.
Mine and their ivy friends are in varied areas: prelaw, premed, pre-phD. Professors and grad students gladly meet with undergrads for lunch or coffee and share their wisdom. Professors take undergrads to conferences, and offer to connect them to professors they know at other universities for summer work, and follow through to make calls and emails on behalf of students. Pre-law advising has contacts all over the globe for internships and research, they do interview workshops, customized review and planning of the list, personal statement honing. Premed provides GPA and MCAT ranges from the college that are competitive for certain tiers of med schools and help candidates have reach and match schools. Every undergrad who wants science research gets it, and most is paid.Shadowing is easily available with established programs(med school on or near campus for both). The advising is far more personalized than any colleagues kids with the exception of the kid who goes to Williams and also gets impressive advising. Other schools are not T20 or top LACs, and most are publics.
TLDR "lesser" ranked universities do not advise better than higher ranked.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally, universities of lower caliber advise their students better. Also, professors at lesser universities reach out to their students more and more want their students to be successful.

When I think of quality advising and caring professors, UCF is the first thing that springs to mind. 124 in US News, but each one of those 70k kids is known and valued

Ha! I know a kid there. If you really believe this I have a bridge to sell you.

Anonymous wrote:I think smaller size is going to be the factor that determines level of faculty involvement and advising, as opposed to low prestige. You're best off at Cal Tech or the WASP schools, which are both small and prestigious. Plenty of big state schools have lower prestige and crud advising.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to W&M which is considered lower prestige on the national stage. The relationships I developed there propelled my career. I still talk to many of my professors 15+ years out -- they helped me get my first job, go to any ivy grad school, etc. I have friends in more prestigious colleges that struggled in the job hunt and had no relationship with their professors or the TAs that taught them.

Obviously YMMV but I think advisement and the quality of professors is a HUGE factor in success

My kid picked W&M over UVA for this reason. He is a shy guy and will benefit from the close relationship with advisors and professors (nothing against UVA which is more prestigious and a great match for some - with his personality he just might have had a harder time sinking or swimming there).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Generally, universities of lower caliber advise their students better. Also, professors at lesser universities reach out to their students more and more want their students to be successful.

Also the grapes in the dining halls of higher caliber universities are sour anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I went to W&M which is considered lower prestige on the national stage. The relationships I developed there propelled my career. I still talk to many of my professors 15+ years out -- they helped me get my first job, go to any ivy grad school, etc. I have friends in more prestigious colleges that struggled in the job hunt and had no relationship with their professors or the TAs that taught them.

Obviously YMMV but I think advisement and the quality of professors is a HUGE factor in success

Anonymous wrote:I went to W&M which is considered lower prestige on the national stage. The relationships I developed there propelled my career. I still talk to many of my professors 15+ years out -- they helped me get my first job, go to any ivy grad school, etc. I have friends in more prestigious colleges that struggled in the job hunt and had no relationship with their professors or the TAs that taught them.

Obviously YMMV but I think advisement and the quality of professors is a HUGE factor in success

Anonymous wrote:If you have a kid who thinks they know more than any professor and that lectures in college are a waste of time because, really what does that PhD have to say about it anyway, then go for prestige. Prestige schools are sadly full of such students.

If you have a kid who wants to learn, pay attention to who is doing the teaching and make your choice that way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I second the comment on W&M - totally different (read:better) experience than UVA in terms of the close knit relationships that are fostered and encouraged between students and faculty. At UVA the majority of kids will never have a close relationship with a prof - at W&M it’s the norm - this is an indisputable fact

You aren't really sacrificing much prestige there though. Sacrificing prestige would be turning down UVA for Mary Washington

Anonymous wrote:Generally, universities of lower caliber advise their students better. Also, professors at lesser universities reach out to their students more and more want their students to be successful.