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Having coached a high school sports team this winter, I got a lot of questions about college. The kids were worried about the recession affecting their ability to attend the school of their choice. After imparting all my knowledge that accumulated over the years like no 9 AM or Friday classes, I came upon the advice I wish I got in High School. This is sound advice during normal times, but especially useful during a recession. Go to State School! This advice obviously doesn’t work for everyone, but is the wise choice for large segment of people.
1) Affordability. Private institutions cost up to 50,000 dollars, while in-state tuitions could be as low as 15,000. You have to consider the opportunity cost of such an investment.
2) Quality. There is no reason to go to a private school if its not one of the best. It doesn’t look any better on your resume that you graduated from some third tier school, then coming from your local state college. If you can get into an Ivy, or one of the elite liberal arts colleges then you have a hard choice, but recent trends show that people are forgoing them to go to state schools. I recently came across a study that showed that people who got into Ivy League schools but decided to go someplace else were getting the same salaries 5, 10, and 20 years after graduation.
2a) Honors Programs. State schools have honors programs that are generally prestigious. They are also a lot easier to get into once you are enrolled in the general student body. At Umass, all you need is a 3. GPA and fill out an application.
3) Employment after Graduation. Pretty much nobody cares where you went to undergraduate school, unless it’s an Ivy League. There are so many colleges out there. Quick, who’s more prestigious Drexler or Butler? Truth is, I don’t know and don’t care. The same pretty much goes for your major. A good school has more recruitment and therefore makes it easier to get a good job straight out of college, but that only pertains to first job offers. Considering that our generation likes to change jobs frequently, the first job isn’t as important as it used to be.
4) Graduate School. This is the thing I wish I knew back in high school. Grad schools are looking for the next Einstein. If you went to a great school but graduated with a 3.0, then you have already proven to Grad school admissions office that you are not a genius. However, if you went to state school and got yourself a 3.6, which by the way is very doable, then you still have a chance to be the next Einstein. Obviously, you have to do well on your GMAT, LSAT and such, but a major component of your application is your GPA. It is much easier to get a good GPA at a state school then at a good private school.
So, if you’re contemplating between Tulane, Wisconsin, Arizona State and your State school, you should strongly consider your local university. It’s much cheaper, their honors programs are prestigious, and you will be able to get into a better graduate school after. Also, nobody will care where you went to school or what your major was soon after you graduate, so don’t fret, have fun, meet interesting people, and good grades.
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Comments
03.06.09
I agree with you for the most part. I think for many people's objectives, a state school would have served them better if they were able to do well there and would have been just ok at the private small college. But what your points don't aknowledge are that individuals have much more to gain from college than simply getting into a good grad school. Small colleges can help individuals develop passions, foster lifelong relationships with inspiring professors, become more open, thoughtfull and politicaly active people, develop ties that will connect them to important post college resources, and so much more. While I think your advice is sound for many, don't discount what many believe is an invaluable and lifechanging experience. Those wrestling students of your might not know what they could be missing.
03.06.09
I agree with you for the most part. I think for many people's objectives, a state school would have served them better if they were able to do well there and would have been just ok at the private small college. But what your points don't aknowledge are that individuals have much more to gain from college than simply getting into a good grad school. Small colleges can help individuals develop passions, foster lifelong relationships with inspiring professors, become more open, thoughtfull and politicaly active people, develop ties that will connect them to important post college resources, and so much more. While I think your advice is sound for many, don't discount what many believe is an invaluable and lifechanging experience. Those wrestling students of your might not know what they could be missing.
03.06.09
Anita,
I agree with you that if what you really want is a small tight knit campus then you should go for it. However, this post was meant to reassure people who don't want to go to State or who might have to go for financial reasons and are dreading it. Also, I think you can gain all the same valuable experiences, networks, community relationships, and awe inspiring professors at any school, you just might have to try harder.
03.06.09
Looking back on college now, I totally agree with you. I went to a state school and am glad I did, and it was a great experience. However, when you're in the shoes of a high school senior it's a tough pill to swallow, especially if you get into good private schools it's hard to give up on that in order to choose the seemingly more "practical" option.
03.06.09
Going to a state school was my first choice - even 10 years ago when I started my undergrad when the economy wasn't so bad. Back then UMass was 8K per year :-)
03.09.09
I, too, agree with some of this sentiment, but I also bristle at your assertion that it's "much easier to get a good GPA at a state school then (sic) at a good private school." That's a fairly narrow-minded viewpoint, and one that I find damaging as a whole. I also think that students at schools like UC Berkeley or UNC might have a bone to pick with you. Let's face it: just as you pointed out that not all private schools carry the same level of prestige, not all state schools were created equal. By that same token, it may be easy to get a good GPA in an English literature program at a school known for its school of engineering or aerospace, but graduate schools know the top programs in their fields. Let's not pretend that the prestige of an undergrad program doesn't play into graduate school admission at all.
03.09.09
A good state school (like the one I went to) provides an excellent education regardless of the economy. They're always a good place to look for value.
They're also very competitive. Just because it's a state school doesn't mean it's easy to get in, or to surpass your peers once you're there.
03.21.09
You neglect the fact that it can be much easier to get scholarships and financial aid at private schools that reduce their price down to a state school level. There are a lot of merit scholarships out there from full tuition to below and many private schools are generous with financial aid. The most important factor for choosing a college is fit. Some students don't function well in a large school or the state school location isn't right for them or it doesn't have their major. Some students need to have as low price as possible and that concern can be part of finding the right college in terms of fit. It's (almost) never worth it to go to a private school with large loans (if it's more than 30,000 over 4 years, forget about it) but the belief that state schools always save you money is false.
03.26.09
You make some valid points, but something else you should consider is the worth of any given degree plan from a particular school. In Texas, for example, if you want to major in Criminal Justice, you're definitely better off going to state school Sam Houston State University. However, alternately, if you're interested in majoring in some general liberal arts field, and potentially pursuing grad school, you're better off going to Rice University or some other out-of-state school.
Additionally, private schools are generally much better, price-wise, for graduate school - they often offer funding, waiver of fees, and assistantships, to everyone that's admitted.
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