I Never Heard of That School

A co-worker of mine told me to pick a bigger school because he never heard of Fort Hays. He graduated from a small college, and didn’t think I should make the same mistake as him.

After talking with him for some time, I feel like he assumes a school is good academically based off their athletic reputation or conference. It seems like a lot of people do this. I’m not sure if I explained it as well as I wanted, but I think people will get the point.

 

In general, ignorant people haven't heard of a lot of things, so don't base your decisions solely on what they say...

 

Sometimes bigger schools that have successful athletic programs have better name recognition on a national level. Maybe that's what your friend means. However, where I live there are many small liberal arts colleges and they are known locally to have excellant academic reputations. That's one reason why parents are often willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars more for their children to attend. For most distance learners, who typically are working professionally while they earn their degrees, the degree/school is only a small part of their career track. How they preform professionally is what usually counts the most when they go on a job search.

 

Colleges and universities that don't have football teams are degree mills.

Just kidding, of course. lol

 

I've always thought that students should pick an online school that has a B&M presence in the area of the country in which they wish to live. For example, if I lived in the midwest I might pick Bellevue University or Chadron State or UWisconsin Whitewater or if I lived in Texas I'd pick Texas A&M -Commerce or UT. Of course, there are many other factors that one could use to pick a school but sometimes name recognition helps offset the "You did your degree online?" response. Just MHO.

Where do you live (in general terms)?

Not one person has looked askance at my Regis MBA. When asked, I tell Seattle folks that Regis is a Jesuit school similar to Seattle U that is located in Denver. One previous boss's son went to Regis and played soccer there, so he knew the school.

 

..don't forget that there are a lot of Universities / Colleges out there and just because he has not heard of FHSU or the like doesn't mean that it's not a good school. Sure, most everyone has heard of Harvard, Yale, etc. but those are Ivy League Universities.

Don't forget that Senators and other US Gov't officials have cited undergrad and graduate degress from FHSU, so it certainly is a reputable school.

 

There are about 3500 colleges in the United States. Unless you went to a Top 50 school, it's unlikely that most employers will have heard of your school before, especially if it's in a different region. I'm sure that most people are aware that Harvard and Yale are Ivy League Members, but they likely couldn't rattle off the names of the other six schools.

I live in the southeast and used to work with a woman who held a degree from University of Georgia, yet she had never heard of Auburn.

 

It's true, Me Again! When was the last time you saw skinny guys in horn-rim glasses from Cal Tech or MIT playing football on Saturday afternoon TV? Degree-mills!

(Actually, Cal Tech did have a football team in the 1950's, and I understand that it had the country's longest losing streak for a while there. It couldn't win football games but its fans were famous for crazy and very elaborate stunts.)

Yeah, I was thinking about that too. Many people (myself included) might say that the better liberal arts colleges probably provide the best undergraduate education in the country (and arguably the world). They are highly selective, filled with the top 10% of high-school graduates, who stimulate each other (memorable conversations) and enjoy professors who know everyone and mentor them personally.

But are Williams, Carleton or Bowdoin really household names? Nevertheless, graduates of these schools do very well indeed. (Of course, many of them have family connections that ensure that they would probably do well even if they didn't attend college. And for the rest, they've had four years to network with those who do.)

Right. I think that's the bottom-line for mid-career distance learners. It's unlikely that people will encounter a situation where an employer will be choosing applicants based simply on the national name-recognition of their school. Professional experience will weigh heavily.

The exception might be specialized degrees where employers might favor graduates of programs with reputations in a desired area. I'm thinking of fire-science at Worcester Polytechnic, explosives at New Mexico Tech, or lots of hiring at the doctoral level.

 

I call BS. Considering that Auburn has played Georgia nationally televised, and that Auburn (until this year) had the largest student body in the state of Alabama, and the state of Georgia has Auburn University car tags and the number of cars running around with these tags in Georgia, your friend must have graduated from the University of Georgia in Russia to not have heard of Auburn.

War Eagle!

 

I agree! I just can't see somebody graduated from Georgia and not hearing about The Barn.

 

LOL, idiots we all work with them

 

good school.....

A long time DL provider

 

True.

I saw Dave's post and had to laugh. It's the quote of the day for me. I thought of using it in a sig line.

Roscoe

 

My opinion: if you are looking to complete your undergrad, choose your school based on the following factors: affordability, quality, and program offerings. Set aside name recognition for now (unless, you are vying for a top-50 national university or liberal arts college).

Finish your Bachelor’s, don’t break the bank, absorb all you can, get good grades.

When it comes time for your Master’s degree, shoot for the stars. I went from UMUC to Georgetown. There are other people who went from Excelsior to an IU Kelley MB, for example. Just make you sure you maintain noteworthy during your undergrad career.

 

this might help

I think it's the best listing:


http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ/state/

 

Great advice.

I'm finishing my degree at Marshall University (RBA). I plan on transferring next fall.

 

That list is unreliable. I noticed at least one unaccredited school (California Pacific University) on there.

To identify an accredited school, I recommend using the following:

U.S. Department of Education's Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions
http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/Search.aspx

Council for Higher Education Accreditation's Database of Institutions and Programs Accredited by Recognized U.S. Accrediting Organizations
http://www.chea.org/search/search.asp