Comments on: General Advice on Picking a College (Also: Should You Consider Academic Department Rankings?)

By: Gracchi

Gracchi — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 00:07:00 +0000

Rutgers sounds horrible. Yes Colleges behave in their own interests but if the US is like the UK, it is really the academics and friends you make that have value. This may just be me being demob happy though- having handed in the PhD at bloody last! Good post as ever Ashok.

By: Iconoclast

Iconoclast — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:59:00 +0000

@ brattknee – I have twin cousins; the _LESS_ intelligent one went to Princeton, the smarter Colorado. She received an excellent education (this was circa 1975). She also could write proper English, including far “bettar” spelling – obviously not a typo where you mis-spelled it twice. IIRC, this was one of my 3rd grade word lists back in the 1950s. It appears Colorado’s standards have slipped dramatically in the past thirty years, eh?

@ Ashok – good one, amigo.

By: Ashok

Ashok — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:24:00 +0000

@ Josh – I think all schools do what Rutgers does when they can. I sound harsh, but I’m actually not meaning to be – this is the nature of the beast.

But I also think learning can happen at most schools, just that what one puts into it matters a lot more than the school itself, because schools have become this problematic. One really has to know what one wants to do to make school work.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:14:00 +0000

Hey, Ashok, the past is past man - let it go. I know that Rutgers purposely screws up every student that passes through it's decrepit halls, but that doesn't mean ALL schools do that. Does it?

At any rate, you do hit the nail on the head. You should write a book about it, then charge $49.95 a copy for it at Borders. What won't be included, and will cost another $35.55, is the in depth school rankings worksheet and tallies. Then, for an additional $14.95 a month (recurring automatically), you could offer updates that they subscribe to. This way, everyone will have the opportunity to find the "right" school.

Hope all is well!

P.S.

Then you could offer a graduate studies version for around $123.99 a copy, $59.99 for the worksheet, and $39.99 for the monthly updates.

By: Brattknee Spheres

Brattknee Spheres — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:12:00 +0000

i went to the university of colorado and have been to many other schools of lesser rank or whatever and also have been to schools of greater rank and i generally observed the self fullfiling prophecy where the bettar the school the more socioeconomically successful a person is which really reflects networks and capital before during and after school but i felt in my personal school experience that my mind was expanded beyond my conservative upbringing and am a bettar person because of that