Undergrad school does it matter?

[keefe]

Oh god, that's a good one.  "Could you tell me a little about the preschool you attended and what it meant to your 5 year goal at that time".  lol.  Where's the reset button.

Obviously you don't live in that world so you don't understand it. Competition for the best pre-schools is very real.

In Japan, it is life defining.

[Disco Hippie]

Obviously you don't live in that world so you don't understand it. Competition for the best pre-schools is very real.

In Japan, it is life defining.

Well I lived in that world for most of my adult life until moving to the suburbs a couple of years ago and I don't understand it either.   Not saying the competition in NYC isn't real.  It definitely is and we had deal with it ourselves with our child when he was younger.  That doesn't mean it's remotely rational or true.  It has far more to do with social status and keeping up with the Joneses as It's DJOver rightly points out.  I thought it was total BS!   

Now the high school in our suburban town is definitely a pressure cooker and there is intense competition to gain entrance to the most prestigious colleges and universities.   A lot of that is nonsensical as well given the consensus that undergrad school doesn't matter all that much which for the most part I agree with.  Has as much to do with parent bragging more than anything else.

Most of the research that I've read seems to conclude that the biggest beneficiaries of IVY League and elite higher education are the students of low income parents who are the first in their families to go to college due to their presumptive previous lack of exposure to the professional world.  For your garden variety upper middle class or even upper class rich kid, it makes no difference.   

If true, that's a shame because the conclusion is that it's not about what you learn but who you meet.  I've never heard a better argument against higher education in my life.

[rocket surgeon]

Is it worth extra $$ to go to Marquette or other Private undergrad university?  My son will be a freshman next year, undecided major.  He has delayed choosing a school due to covid.   I am looking for input regarding: is it worth it to go to an undergrad at Marquette, DePaul, or Loyola versus a state school such as UW-Milwaukee or UW-whitewater.   He does not want to go to UW-Madison or Univ of Minnesota due to size of school.   After scholarships cost difference is about $14,000 per year.   Is networking, contacts made, professors, etc.  better in the private schools?     Major undecided but most likely business or liberal arts😕.  He is really struggling with decision as no school jumped out as being "the one".  Thanks in advance.

  i had 3 or 4 dental school classmates who completed their undergraduate studies at UW-parkside

[warriorchick]

  i had 3 or 4 dental school classmates who completed their undergraduate studies at UW-parkside

But it was Marquette Dental School, so in Disco Hippie's world, that's about as prestigious as a medieval barber apprenticeship.

[vogue65]

Are we talking about being a "preppy"?
Either you are or you are not.

In my day Marquette was probably 30% preppy.
Today I would guess it is 80% preppy.
Please set me straight if I'm off base.

Networking needs to be taught from very early in life.  Networkers have parents who network.  It is a learned skill.   Snobs hang with snobs.

It is not the college, but the class polish that matters.

Class matters, read Hillbilly Elegy.

[Hards Alumni]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLEIun5deEU

[vogue65]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLEIun5deEU

Where do I sign up?

[keefe]

UW-parkside

Is that really a school?

[GOO]

So, a few of us have been in the camp that Marquette needs to plan for the future for a downsized school, more selective. That the future, online schools, not needing a degree, etc, is part of the future.  Sure, those with money will want the traditional education/college experience, etc.  Why not.  But, traditional colleges will be undercut.  Leaving top colleges, the rest, and then online/non-degree options.

instead it seems that MU is acting like the big ship in the ocean, slow to change and doubling down on staying large with a tuition based model.

These discussions were all way pre-corona virus (which to me makes this trend/future even more obvious, of course).

I came across this today:

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/07/13/google-announces-certificates-in-data-project-management-and-ux.html

FYI: Parkside is a "real" school and actually has some decent programs and a very good pre-med program.

[The Sultan]

I just don't see how "not needing a degree is part of the future."  Sure there will always be professions where that is the case, but the gap in lifetime earnings between those with and without degrees continues to grow.  Online schools sure.  But those have been a thing for awhile and haven't dented the traditional model all that much yet.  Of course that can change with what is going on now, but that's hardly a given.

[GOO]

Going forward, it would/will be great to have a four year degree, sure. For those with money, that will be the way to go.

But it won't be needed to get a great job at great companies and advance - the question will be (is) can you do the work, etc.  And now, we can easily and cheaply test if you can in fact do the work before we hire you.  And if you can do the work and manage people as well, you can advance.  The degree won't/doesn't matter like it used to for a lot of positions.

Online College will be accepted as a degree. 

Pressure on Colleges as fewer students seek the 200K traditional college degree. Doesn't mean it doesn't matter and that those in a good position won't seek out the four year traditional degree.  I just don't see it being as important.

[The Sultan]

Going forward, it would/will be great to have a four year degree, sure. For those with money, that will be the way to go.

But it won't be needed to get a great job at great companies and advance - the question will be (is) can you do the work, etc.  And now, we can easily and cheaply test if you can in fact do the work before we hire you.  And if you can do the work and manage people as well, you can advance.  The degree won't/doesn't matter like it used to for a lot of positions.

I'll be honest, I have been hearing this for almost 30 years, only to see the value of a degree continue to increase versus the value of not having one.

Until I see that actually change, I am skeptical of statements like these.

Online College will be accepted as a degree. 

Pressure on Colleges as fewer students seek the 200K traditional college degree. Doesn't mean it doesn't matter and that those in a good position won't seek out the four year traditional degree.  I just don't see it being as important.

I don't disagree with this however.  A lot of bias to overcome still.

[Babybluejeans]

If your kid can get into a top 25 school, he/she should go regardless of cost. Most of my high school friends went to Ivies (or thereabouts) and their networks—meaning their college friends—are highly accomplished. Those networks are now mine too, which is awesome, but also (like many things in life) lucky. MU connections have been helpful and I absolutely loved my in-class experience there...but I leverage my high school network way more than MU.

Which is to say, go to a top school price be damned or, failing that, go to an affordable school and work your ass off to get into a top grad school. 

[JWags85]

Going forward, it would/will be great to have a four year degree, sure. For those with money, that will be the way to go.

But it won't be needed to get a great job at great companies and advance - the question will be (is) can you do the work, etc.  And now, we can easily and cheaply test if you can in fact do the work before we hire you.  And if you can do the work and manage people as well, you can advance.  The degree won't/doesn't matter like it used to for a lot of positions.

Online College will be accepted as a degree. 

Pressure on Colleges as fewer students seek the 200K traditional college degree. Doesn't mean it doesn't matter and that those in a good position won't seek out the four year traditional degree.  I just don't see it being as important.

What great companies are going to suddenly say "hey, college degrees aren't important anymore, here's a test that puts you on par with the kid with a degree from (insert good not great school here). I just don't buy it at all.

And unless there is a true and pronounced shift in online degrees from legitimate brick and mortar schools (like we've seen in graduate degrees), I still remain skeptical on the broad adoption of online degrees as appealing to employers. With the exception of "non-traditional" older students or military vets, I've never encountered an applicant from one of the online only schools that didn't red flag. It's not the same sort of foresight as someone who went to CC for 2 years and transferred, or like my future BIL who went to an affordable low level 4 year school in NYC and then crushed it with his sole focus on the top 5 law school he ended up at.

There are always exceptions, but I feel it's far more likely we see a reckoning and student loan bubble popping that forces colleges to rethink financials than us see degrees be de-emphasized and U of Phoenix/DeVry/Capella, etc... become on par with even a UWM, Illinois State, Directional Michigan sort of realm