Are elite colleges worth the cost for undergrad?

[LordFortius]

I have the opportunity to go to Stanford and get a bachelors in electrical engineering, but unfortunately, they are not giving me any financial aid. I know a lot of you work in that field, and I am curious about your opinions on whether a degree from Stanford would be worth 43k+ per year. Is it really going to open that many doors? Is it worth going into debt for? Or should I just go to a good state school, work a few years, then try and get into an elite college when I go for an MBA?

 

[z0mb13]

depends on which state school you are considering

for example, berkeley is REALLY good, but the CA budget is f-ed up, and I wont be surprised if u will be paying 13k per semester (unless you are a resident of CA)

 

[GasX]

You get the best professors
You get the best students to collaborate (& compete) with
You get a well endowed school
You get your resume put at the top of the pile for a few years

If you can hack it and excel at an elite school, you will see a payout. If you are a jackoff and graduate with a 2.5, you'd be better off saving your money and being a star at a lessor school.

 

[TheBDB]

I don't think it is worth it if you are going to get a graduate degree. I had a professor who worked at Cal Tech and he said it isn't worth it to get an engineering undergrad degree from there.

 

[maddogchen]

I've heard its easier to graduate from stanford than from berkeley or any CA state school. Just harder to get into Stanford. Also heard something about you can drop the class right before the final if you don't think you can get a good grade at Stanford.

 

[LordFortius]

If i go to a state school, it will probably be CU Boulder. No berkeley, but not po dunk u either.

I am not worried about being able get good grades if I go to Stanford.

 

[dullard]

If you want to go to grad school (like you mentioned) then your undergraduate school has virtually no importance. The name of the school is much more important at the graduate level than at the undergraduate level. Save yourself the $150,000 and instead go to another good school. Heck even if you get a job and don't go to a grad school, it'll be very difficult to ever earn back that cost.

You'll take the same classes, you'll use the same books, you'll cover the same material, you'll be taught by professors who got their degrees from the same places (due to the enormous number of people who want to be professors vs. the small number of available positions, pretty much all professors in all schools come from the Ivy League - thus can all be considered "quality"). Pretty much you'll get the exact same education. An education depends on how much work you do (homework, studying, outside interests), not the name of the location you are at.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
If i go to a state school, it will probably be CU Boulder. No berkeley, but not po dunk u either.

I am not worried about being able get good grades if I go to Stanford.

dude when u go to stanford u will make As easily..

unless you slack off like a mOFO

 

[bigdog1218]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
I have the opportunity to go to Stanford and get a bachelors in electrical engineering, but unfortunately, they are not giving me any financial aid. I know a lot of you work in that field, and I am curious about your opinions on whether a degree from Stanford would be worth 43k+ per year. Is it really going to open that many doors? Is it worth going into debt for? Or should I just go to a good state school, work a few years, then try and get into an elite college when I go for an MBA?

I could have paid 26K a year to go to carnegie mellon for chem E. instead I don't pay anything for Northeastern and I'll actually make money from going to college. If you do co-ops/internships, join engineering groups and work hard in classes and in getting to know people at your school and in your industry, it doesn't matter what school you go to.

Undergraduate curriculum between schools is virtually identical, especially for engineers, since there are pretty exact guidelines as to what the students must learn to qualify as engineers. The only advantage for going to one of the more elite schools is for graduate studies, where you'll have much more oppurtunities.

 

[cressida]

Originally posted by: bigdog1218

Originally posted by: LordFortius
I have the opportunity to go to Stanford and get a bachelors in electrical engineering, but unfortunately, they are not giving me any financial aid. I know a lot of you work in that field, and I am curious about your opinions on whether a degree from Stanford would be worth 43k+ per year. Is it really going to open that many doors? Is it worth going into debt for? Or should I just go to a good state school, work a few years, then try and get into an elite college when I go for an MBA?

I could have paid 26K a year to go to carnegie mellon for chem E. instead I don't pay anything for Northeastern and I'll actually make money from going to college. If you do co-ops/internships, join engineering groups and work hard in classes and in getting to know people at your school and in your industry, it doesn't matter what school you go to.

Undergraduate curriculum between schools is virtually identical, especially for engineers, since there are pretty exact guidelines as to what the students must learn to qualify as engineers. The only advantage for going to one of the more elite schools is for graduate studies, where you'll have much more oppurtunities.

Agree with you there :beer:

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
You get the best professors
You get the best students to collaborate (& compete) with
You get a well endowed school
You get your resume put at the top of the pile for a few years

If you can hack it and excel at an elite school, you will see a payout. If you are a jackoff and graduate with a 2.5, you'd be better off saving your money and being a star at a lessor school.

Please show me proof of that.

I KNOW the first part is really wrong. "You get the best professors" What do they teach that another prof. can't and also a lot of higher end schools the professor does not do much of the real teaching at all, yet their TA do.
I went to a state school and ALL my classes were taught everyday by the Professor. All the professors are made to do research and get published, etc...

 

[richardycc]

the education alone is not worth the price, but the chance of having a CEO's son as your roommate/friend, so you will have a good paying job waiting for you once you are graduated is well worth the admission price.

 

[ucdbiendog]

my faculty advisor has told me that the ME dept let in a couple of grad students who did their undergrad work at MIT and got a 4.0 and said they knew jack sh!t coming in here. on the flip side, he said they had some students from UCD (where i go) with 3.2s who did great grad work. I guess it just depends on the department. also goes to show that grades dont tell you everything about a student. anyway, just go to a good grad school

 

[Aznbruin]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
I have the opportunity to go to Stanford and get a bachelors in electrical engineering, but unfortunately, they are not giving me any financial aid. I know a lot of you work in that field, and I am curious about your opinions on whether a degree from Stanford would be worth 43k+ per year. Is it really going to open that many doors? Is it worth going into debt for? Or should I just go to a good state school, work a few years, then try and get into an elite college when I go for an MBA?

Depends on your career ambitions. If you plan on doing something more than EE in the future such as getting an MBA then going to Stanford would be better suited for you. Talking to admissions counselors for Sloan (MIT) and Columbia MBA schools they have told me that if you do go to an elite school you are automatically given some extra points off the bat. In addition the people that you will meet at these institutions will be valuable later.

Though if you just want to be a pure techie then Cali schools will suffice. I'm finding out now more than ever that going to an elite school has lots of intangible benefits that most people don't realize till later in life.

 

[labrat25]

if you're going to grad school it doesn't matter as much... if you're going to work after school it matters a lot

 

[WinkOsmosis]

If you think a grad school is going to pick a state school student with a 3.5 over a top 20 school student with a 2.5, you are lying to yourself or letting someone lie to you...

 

[LordFortius]

I don't plan on being a techie. Right now, my basic plan is to get a bachelors in engineering, and then get an MBA and do more on the business side of things. However, I will have to work for a few years in between as an engineer if I am going to get into a good MBA program.

I dont know if it would be worth it to pay for Stanford just so I could have a great engineering job for a few years before graduate school. On the other hand, would I be able to get into a good MBA program without going to Stanford?

 

[Aznbruin]

Originally posted by: ucdbiendog
my faculty advisor has told me that the ME dept let in a couple of grad students who did their undergrad work at MIT and got a 4.0 and said they knew jack sh!t coming in here. on the flip side, he said they had some students from UCD (where i go) with 3.2s who did great grad work. I guess it just depends on the department. also goes to show that grades dont tell you everything about a student. anyway, just go to a good grad school

I think people are just complaining about sour grapes when people make negative comments about elite insitutions. Naturally you will have one or two students that will stink from MIT, but most are amazing. I've worked with 4 MIT students and I've found them to be extremely intelligent (almost genius level). Any MIT student that goes to graduate school at a UC school isn't going to be the best of the best. Not to say that UCD isn't a great school, but it sure doesn't rank up near MIT or Caltech.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis
If you think a grad school is going to pick a state school student with a 3.5 over a top 20 school student with a 2.5, you are lying to yourself or letting someone lie to you...

Grad school acceptance is based on a lot more than just gpa and school.

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
If i go to a state school, it will probably be CU Boulder. No berkeley, but not po dunk u either.

I am not worried about being able get good grades if I go to Stanford.

they don't let you fail. at all. yeah yeah i heard someone that went there tell me the story of how they were graded on a bell curve, but really have you met anyone that failed out of an elite school? dropped out is different.

if you're going to grad school, you MIGHT be better off going somewhere locally and cheaper. but if you KNOW grad school is your goal, you MUST do VERY well in undergrad, and get awesome recommendations. they look at the last school attended, not your undergrad. the grad school you get into reflects how well you did in undergrad. for law schools, very few elite schools will look at your undergrad, but look solely at your numbers for a good number of admits.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: LordFortiusI dont know if it would be worth it to pay for Stanford just so I could have a great engineering job for a few years before graduate school. On the other hand, would I be able to get into a good MBA program without going to Stanford?

Honestly, most grad schools barely look at your undergraduate school (if at all). What really matters is (1) grades, (2) test scores, (3) additional experiences, and most importantly (4) personal visits and discussions with your potential advisor at the grad school you are looking at. Test scores count far more than they should. Location of undergrad is not an important consideration. Remember 50%+ of their students are coming from foreign countries in which their undergrad schools have no reputation to use in the consideration...

 

[Aznbruin]

Originally posted by: LordFortius
I don't plan on being a techie. Right now, my basic plan is to get a bachelors in engineering, and then get an MBA and do more on the business side of things. However, I will have to work for a few years in between as an engineer if I am going to get into a good MBA program.

I dont know if it would be worth it to pay for Stanford just so I could have a great engineering job for a few years before graduate school. On the other hand, would I be able to get into a good MBA program without going to Stanford?

I will be going to Columbia for my MBA next year. I went to UCLA for undegrad and was able to get into an MBA program just as fine as all the others. I personally think it is worth it. I only applied to UCLA and Berkeley for undergrad and if I had known what I know now I would have tried to apply for a top 10 school instead. This decision should be between your folks, but like I said the benefits are intangible. People that go to stanford are going to be of a higher calber than what you normally expect any UC school. In the end it really isn't what you know, but who you know. Just my thoughts.

If the argument that the curriculum is the same between all the schools then shoot I should just go to community college to learn my material.

 

[Aznbruin]

Originally posted by: freesia39

Originally posted by: LordFortius
If i go to a state school, it will probably be CU Boulder. No berkeley, but not po dunk u either.

I am not worried about being able get good grades if I go to Stanford.

they don't let you fail. at all. yeah yeah i heard someone that went there tell me the story of how they were graded on a bell curve, but really have you met anyone that failed out of an elite school? dropped out is different.

if you're going to grad school, you MIGHT be better off going somewhere locally and cheaper. but if you KNOW grad school is your goal, you MUST do VERY well in undergrad, and get awesome recommendations. they look at the last school attended, not your undergrad. the grad school you get into reflects how well you did in undergrad. for law schools, very few elite schools will look at your undergrad, but look solely at your numbers for a good number of admits.

It is a selling point for many graduate programs to say they have x number of graduates from ivy league programs. Check out the Harvard Law or Business School student registries. All of them have listings of where they went to undergrad. There is definitely a higher ratio of elite schools represented than non ivy league programs. I don't think anyone is going to put this in the brochure, but going to a good undergrad will help out.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Mwilding
You get the best professors
You get the best students to collaborate (& compete) with
You get a well endowed school
You get your resume put at the top of the pile for a few years

If you can hack it and excel at an elite school, you will see a payout. If you are a jackoff and graduate with a 2.5, you'd be better off saving your money and being a star at a lessor school.

Please show me proof of that.

I KNOW the first part is really wrong. "You get the best professors" What do they teach that another prof. can't and also a lot of higher end schools the professor does not do much of the real teaching at all, yet their TA do.
I went to a state school and ALL my classes were taught everyday by the Professor. All the professors are made to do research and get published, etc...

Well, the first part is a bit suspect - I grant you that. It depends on the firld and the university (and your goals) Stanford professors are more likely to be leaders in their field and there is a lot to be said for that if you learn how to take advantage of that. From a pure teaching perspective, a lot of "top guys" either suck ass at teaching or have their lackey's do it...

 

[HamSupLo]

If you have the opportunity to go to a school like Stanford, definitely go for it. People here are right in saying any school is a good school, but if you already made it pass the hardest hurdle of getting in, why not try to hack it there? In the ideal world, the school shouldn't be the only factor in judging a person's academic/professional ability, but in the upper echelons of business and government, Stanford will open far more doors for you.