My undergrad was free for me due to a combo of citizenship + academic scholarship. It’s outside of the US, so I don’t think it comes within their ranking system but last I checked the Princeton Review was giving it something like 97/100 selectivity rating so it’s fairly difficult to get into.
It was a great education (in more than the academic sense) but it didn’t do much for me career-wise. However, this had everything to do with the fact that 1) I studied something comparatively useless and 2) I was not motivated enough to go apply for the prestigious interships and public service opportunities available through my school because I basically sailed through there being quasi-mediocre (a B+ student). I feel that had I studied something like engineering or business my evaluation of my post-undergrad opps would have been markedly different.
OTOH, my sister, also a graduate of the same school, studied something fairly useful (some sort of complex science major with a business minor) and had close to a 4.0 gpa, but unlike me, she graduated smackdab in the middle of the recession so it didn’t do anything for her either.
The only good thing my undergrad did for me was give me interesting things to say on my law school applications and I got into a Top 25 american law school. That is fairly decent and many doors have opened for me as a result of my graduate education-but I can’t say the same for undergrad. The same result for my sister-she got into a great medical school and that has launched her career. However, we both know students in our grad schools who went to schools that are not considered that prestigious-but they did really well there and had the gpa + test scores to get into our graduate schools and it didn’t make much of a difference in their performance in law/med school.
Which is to say-it seems to be what you make of it and neither of us really did make anything of it except to go on to professional school.
I take mine off at night, but it doesn’t bother me. Some day it might come in handy if I have to punch someone in the face. I could be a geeky version of The Phantom, and leave a beaver instead of a skill on someone’s face.
I’m at #24 on the list; it’s one of the top schools in the country. Hopefully the reputation will do something for me once I’m out, because god knows this degree won’t…
I went to a top ranked college AND university. I just graduated from UCLA (#25 in 2006 US News poll, take that USC think you’re all fancy with your winning football team, and playing in the Rosebowl grumble grumble) and I know its a silly distinction, but since UCLA went out of their way to make my college feel totally separate from the main university, I can also claim to going to the #1 ranked Theater college in the country. So my college (the school of Theater Film and Television is its own college, not just a separate major) was ranked #1, and my University #25.
On the whole it was a nice life. Can’t say what life was like for a student at the main college, but TFT was a friendly and close knit community. We all partied together, everyone knew everyone else. Some of the professors would even hang out on weekends.
I also got the opportunity to take classes from some of the coolest people in the world. I got to talk to Francis Ford Coppalla about screenwriting (big master class with about 100 students), Fiona Shaw gave me lessons on the difference between the American and British approaches to Shakespeare (small master class with about 12), and attended lectures by the amazing Opera Director Peter Sellars (not to be confused with the hilarious dead comic Peter Sellers).
On the whole I would say those three things, along with getting to direct a fully staged one act play with the backing of the department made the experiance worth while. Oh, and Anthony Hopkins spoke at my graduation. Time of my life? Maybe not, some of the best stuff from that point in my life came from non UCLA related activities, but it was damn cool.
Hey no bagging on CCs! They’re above unaccredited Bible schools at least, and lots of kids at mine used it as a jumping off point to UCLA and Cal (A nearly 100% acceptance rate through the honors program to UCLA). I’m anxiously awaiting letters this spring myself, hopefully of the acceptance variety.
Statistics and actuarial science, eh? Whatever the reason was that engineering wasn’t for you, it couldn’t have been a problem with your math ability if you were able to handle that major. State college or no, I would assume.
Well, it looks like I got my undergraduate degree from Number 13 (UCSD), but I don’t think my experience was as worthwhile as it would have been if I’d been more motivated at a less prestigious school. Still I did manage to learn a lot and enjoyed the whole time a great deal. I think it was worth it, although I realize that, regarding the financial side of the equation, you can’t talk about a state-supported university the same way you do about the private ones that have been mentioned.
I went to the University of Chicago fo undergrad (#9 above). I loved it. It was the time of my life. The social awkwardness was part of its charm for me. I believe that I got a top-notch education. While I don’t necessarily have all the practicals down, I learned how to think. I’m sure you Dopers understand what I mean. I can’t stand getting into conversations with people who don’t use basic logic or put together coherent arugments. My degree is in psychology, but I like to think of it as a degree in skepticism. I don’t blindly accept whatever people tell me as true. I question things. I dig deeper. It’s why I love this message board.
That’s not to say that I wouldn’t be this way if I’d gone to, say, a good state school, like Ohio State (on my home turf) or somewhere second-tier but respectable. I’m inclined to think that I have a natural curiosity and thirst for knowledge. However, going to UofC immersed me in a culture of that kind of thinking. It wasn’t just my professors teaching me to think, it was my classmates and my friends. I went to school with a myriad of interesting and incredible people. I got a great research job at the University Hospitals after graduation. I met my husband!
Career-wise, I came out knowing how to write (an essential–all students are put through “The Core,” a boot camp of reading and writing about each of several fields of knowledge), which is more valuable than one might think. Putting a clear, coherent statement on paper is something that many college-educated people still can’t do well. I’ve been able to market myself as someone who can help write grants and scholarly articles (I’m getting published in a few months as a co-author–in Pediatrics!), which makes me an ideal reserach assistant and study coordinator for clinical trials. And name recognition is pretty sweet. If the fact that you went to a “prestigious” school gets your resume a bit more attention, it could be worth every extra dollar.
On the other hand, the UofC is a stressful, cold, sometimes miserable place. It’s not for everyone, but my heart’s still in Hyde Park. I miss it all the time.
Well, I’m a few years out of UPenn, and at #15 on the list, I guess I qualify.
I’ll say that I had a heck of a time there, even without going Greek. Sure, it had low points, but those were more me than the Institution.
The faculty that I got to deal with persoanlly were all fantastic, and most of them were the authorities in their fields. On top of that, while they were likely not the best teachers, their passion for their subjects drove me to work beyond my limits.
The standards were high, and I manged to do well there.
Post-graduate work is likely to be at UALR here in Arkansas, and I am curious as to how rigorous the coursework will be in comparison.
I went to Harvey Mudd College for my undergraduate years. I loved it, and I believe that it was worth every penny that my family paid, and believe me when I say that we paid quite a number of pennies.
The professors were amazing. First of all, many were among the most brilliant in their fields, anywhere in the world. More importantly, the college always placed high emphasis on teaching, and every one of these world-famous profs taught a full load of classes every semester. With a prof/student ratio of 1:6 they had plenty of time for helping us on an indvidual basis, and of course classes were very small. You could drops into a profs office, get the needed assistance for your homework problem and then chat for half an hour about anything you liked. Also, several of the profs gave away free candy.
The other students were also fantastic. Not just that many of them were brilliant, but that they were fun people to be around. On one occasion I walked into the on-campus pizza place at 11:30 at night. I couldn’t find an empty table, so I sat down with three people I had never met before. We had a conversation that started out being about quantum physics, then went through the works of William Faulkner and many other topics and ended up with a discussion of the philosophical implications of Conway’s Game of Life. Good times.
Also, there were many top-notch off-campus speakers.
I went to Northwestern. I considered U of Chicago, but the seriousness of it all and the student population kind of put me off, and I didn’t bother applying. Plus, NU simply had a much sexier campus, being located in Evanston on the lakefront and all.
If I were to apply again today, I’d equally consider U of Chicago. However, I had a very good time at Northwestern, and I’m glad I went to a prestigious school. In high school, I was quite used to slacking off and being in the top 3 in my class, but going to Northwestern was quite a change for me. All of a sudden, I was normal and surrounded by equally high-achieving students. Being surrounded by brilliant minds and professors was an inspiration to me, and I expanded and challenged myself in ways I never would have if I went to a more run-of-the-mill school.
I’m currently attending the Orlando Culinary Academy, a top-ranked “Le Cordon Bleu” school. I’ll be a pastry chef! I also got a bachelor of Science and a Master of education from the University of Florida.
Attended “THE Johns Hopkins University” – please, they are a bit touchy about “John Hopkin” – undergrad in the early 80s, Interdiscip Area Major in Natural Science; however did not finish due to inconveniently timed emotional/mental meltdown. Quite varied sampling of people and points of view, and the quality of the academic offering was top notch. The undergrad school, which is at a completely separate campus in an entirely different part of Baltimore than the Medical campus is relatively small so the crownd didn’t overwhelm you. Would do again, even though the “quality of life” factors at the time were at something of a low point (much improved since, from all reports). They, too, let you do your thing so your success or crash-and-burn was in your hands (in retrosp, could’ve used a little time to figure out what I really wanted, before plunging in. Very much a we’re-not-in-Kansas-anymore initial experience).
I went to University of Michigan which is #21 on the list.
To be honest though that list seems heavily U.S weighted, And I can honestly say That list certainly isn’t indicative of Undergrad education. It seems to be weighted to top end scientific research mostly, which really shouldn’t be related to prestige of education.
Hehe funny thing though. UM is drug down by a big 0 on Nobel prizes, even though it is highly cited and published. It kinda supports my theory that UM is the bastion of the “other theory” proponents. Such as when a field has a theory that is supported by the majority of scientists. But if there are proponents of an opposing theory or two that are resonable and not been disproven, those guys always end up at Michigan, with large grants and research budgets. I am constantly seeing “other theory” scientists on documentaries giving the opposing or counter viewpoint, and a startling number of times they guy work at UM. Not surprising they don’t win Nobel prizes.
Interestingly, I failed Calc I at my prestigeous college, but did much better when I had to retake it at some local state school that was know for being academically…flexible.
In Australia, there is an organisation called the Group of 8 - basically, Australia’s top 8 universities (which, and I’m sure it is no coincidence, also have med schools). For those abroad, Australia has a disproportionate number of universities for a country its size - it is a big exporter of tertiary education in the region.
UWA is one of those - I did my first degree there, and loved it.
