Anonymous wrote:I went to Syracuse University, and am now looking at big state public flagship schools with my daughter.

Honestly, comparing big public school vs. big private school with comparable academics - say, Penn State and Syracuse - I don't see much of a difference.

This is not always true though. My H works as a managing director in finance and does some hiring in his sector. He thinks Syracuse has a great finance program and will happily hire undergrads from there vs. places like Penn Syate (not that he gets a lot of applicants from there that I’ve heard) or even Cornell (does get a lot of applicants from there and hasn’t been impressed by them).

This is why the schools in question matter and you can’t answer across the board.

Smaller classes vs the 400 seat auditorium class. Real professors vs a teaching assistant. Some professors will actually know your name. The big state schools now offer online classes. These may be convenient, but as a parent, paying $$ for a class my kid has to teach himself is insulting. State schools also have a lot of added costs depending on major.

Big state schools neglect to tell you the horrors of class scheduling (might take you 5 years to graduate) and housing lotteries.

Anonymous wrote:I went to Syracuse University, and am now looking at big state public flagship schools with my daughter.

Honestly, comparing big public school vs. big private school with comparable academics - say, Penn State and Syracuse - I don't see much of a difference.

Thanks. Good luck and congrats on some good choices.

I went to Syracuse University, and am now looking at big state public flagship schools with my daughter.

Honestly, comparing big public school vs. big private school with comparable academics - say, Penn State and Syracuse - I don't see much of a difference.