College/University Question

[SunDancer]

A student at Niagara University, a small private college, I noticed in a move to raise our student body, the board has lower acceptance standards. "Average students" with potential can be accepted now. However, it's a very good university (escp. my major department, which is prolly raking in the top 7 right now in the country). Do IVY Leagues, like Harvard or Yale, really any better?

[sooner333]

Well, not quite sure what your aiming for, I will attempt to answer anyway. Ivy League schools such as Yale and Harvard are very good in terms of quality of education. Does that mean that they are better than Niagra? Maybe, maybe not. A college experience, so I hear, is based on what professors you have, and what works for you. But, as far as national perception of a college goes, the Ivy leagues are going to be "ranked" higher in the minds of the public just because of the tradition and consistancy of being a top-notch university. People look to Harvard and see that as the standard whether or not it is really the best school. A small, liberal-arts college can be just as good, especially when comparing departments, but still be underrated because it doesn't have name recognition, or if we were talking about pro basketball players, "street cred". I hope that kind of hit what you were wanting to hear.

[RPI-Fan]

That's pretty much exactly what I meant to post (but some technical error caused it to not go through).

[Wolfpack]

My perception is that the Ivy League is a bunch of schools that are hard to get into (massive number of applicants for limited space), but are probably easier to get through. Remember there was a hue and cry raised last year when it seemed like 90% of Harvard's graduating class was graduating with honors due to massive amounts of grade curving going on (or something like that). I think this is something endemic to very popular or well-known schools, particular those who have concentrations in liberal arts, business, or law.

As a graduate of a tech school, it's been said of our schools that they're easy to get in and hard to get out, and that much I believe is true. I only got out in four because of my AP credits knocking out a bunch of hours I would otherwise have had to take.

[Leonidas]

My own personal feeling is most schools teach pretty much the same thing (I've had classes at 5 different schools and all pretty similar in content). But at an Ivy League school the quality you are competing against is so much higher. If you are grading on the curve and A at a lesser school might be a C at an Ivy League school.

Also, a degree is a degree. The real reason you pick a college is for the contacts you gain and how they effect your career. Going to an Ivy League school gives you a huge edge at finding jobs with good companies. CEOs usually come from better schools and are more likely to hire "one of their own" than some guy out of poe-dunk city college.

There's also the regional thing. This is why a school like The Citadel is so big in the South to get into. If you want to be somebody in South Carolina, you go to the Citadel. In Texas it's UT Austin or A&M. You get hooked into that whole alum channel and doors magically open.