Private Colleges

[BigSlideHimself]

Is there any real benefit to going to a private college vs. a state college? Obviously there's some really high tier private schools, I'm talking about Christian colleges versus a regular state school. Do admissions officials to graduate/professional programs usually think higher of private schools? I'm curious of the experiences from those who went to private college, pros/cons.

[dissent]

smaller class sizes are fairly typical for private schools, I think, as opposed to large state universities. Easier access to the prof. Can't say anything regarding graduate degrees - I've never tested the waters after getting my BS.

[Kilarin]

Is there any real benefit to going to a private college vs. a state college?...
I'm talking about Christian colleges versus a regular state school.

The primary benefit of going to a Christian college is getting a Christian education. It really IS worth it.

[DCrazy]

Jesuit colleges/universities (any of the Loyola Colleges/Universities are a prime example) are great because their mission is to expose you to all viewpoints and spur development of critical thinking. They don't \"feel\" like Catholic colleges, but they do feel private, in that they're smaller and the student body tends to be more affluent (i.e. preppy).

Public universities, on the other hand, tend to offer a lot more programs and receive substantially more federal aid, which comes in handy especially for sciences. University of Maryland, for example, has a bona fide wind tunnel that some DoD contractors, including Lockheed Martin, use on a regular basis to test their stuff. You won't get that at 99% of this country's private colleges.

It's all about tradeoffs. I put it to myself this way: do I want a well-rounded education, or do I want a well-supported but specialized education? I opted for the former.

[Samuel Dravis]

Private colleges are much more expensive than public ones. Much. -_-

I checked out the University of Dallas (private christian liberal arts college), but wasn't too interested. It was nice, and a friend going there showed me around. They do have small class sizes (~20 or so).

[De Rigueur]

I got a BA from both a Christian and a state university. As far as quality of education goes, I think to a large degree it depends on the individual's initiative and commitment. The reputation of a school doesn't always correlate to its size.

If your primary concern is getting into a good grad school (not necessarily an elite one), then having good grades, gre's, etc can make up for going to a lesser known school.

Another thing to consider is that a school will usually try to mold and shape your beliefs and values. Spend some time thinking about what kind of person you want to become and let that be a factor in your decision.

[ccb056]

I went to a Jesuit high school. I now goto Purdue University (public). I prefer Purdue over Notre Dame, but I'm studying engineering, and Purdue ranks higher.

It all depends on what you want to study.

[Bad@sskow]

You cannot get financial aid from the government for private colleges (most that is... those religious ones). Has to do with the whole seperation of church and state. So yea, it will be a lot more expensive.

[De Rigueur]

I don't think that's true. I was able to get government grants and loans when I went to private (religious) schools. They're not supposed to discriminate on the basis of religion.

[Kilarin]

I was able to get government grants and loans when I went to private (religious) schools.

Yep, students at religious colleges are elligable for most grants. (Which I'm not actually comfortable with, mind you)

[Foil]

I'll third that. It was just as easy to get financial aid for my B.S. degree (a private Christian university), as it was when I went to a state university for my graduate work.

Since I've had experience at both, I'll also echo the earlier sentiments:

Some of the advantages of a private college/university are:
- Breadth of education (some of the required coursework which didn't have anything to do with my major ended up being some of my favorite and most thought-provoking classes)
- Smaller populations, both in class and around campus (I found that the comraderie and friendship with both peers and faculty was much closer when I was at the private university)

One of the advantages of a public/state college/university is:
- Depth of education (private schools are often limited in how far the degree programs go, or how much support they have; for example, at the private university, their funding for the Sciences was much lower, so we had to work with lab equipment which was inferior by state school standards)

[ccb056]

ID is considered a science at some schools ....

Oh, a benefit of not attending a Jesuit college is not having to write 'AMDG' at the top of all your papers.

[DCrazy]

Bad@sskow: that's a lie. As long as a school does not discriminate against people based on religion, its students are eligible for financial aid.

ccb: went to Jesuit high school and college, never wrote AMDG on a paper, except for my Management Information Systems midterm two months ago where the bonus questions was \"what is the four-letter abbreviation on the top of the sign outside campus?\"

And no school that has a science program you want to be a part of would consider ID a science. That's an easy way to ensure your program doesn't get accredited.

[Top Gun]

My own school (University of Delaware) kind of straddles the line; while we do receive substantial financial support, we're privately controlled. I don't really know how we really fit into the grand scheme of things, but I do know that we have some excellent programs in the sciences and engineering, many of which have corporate/government involvement (I know that some of the research in my physics department receives support from DARPA). I'm actually very happy that I didn't have to take a massive amount of non-major-related courses; they're always there if I feel like taking them, but I wouldn't want to be forced into it. Also, the size of a school's population isn't automatically an indicator of how it \"feels.\" My school has somewhere around 18,000 undergrads, but you would never guess it by walking around on-campus; it has the \"feel\" of a much smaller university, which is one of the things I like about it. The bottom line is, I don't necessarily think that admission to a graduate program will be determined in any major way by whether you went to public or private school; your work should speak for you, not your alma mater.

[Jeff250]

Clear off your desk and draw a line through the middle. Label the left side \"Posts from Users from State Universities\" and label the right side \"Posts from Users from Private Universities.\" Now put all of the posts from users going to public universities on the left, and put all of the posts from users going to private universities on the right. Give all posts points for intelligibility. Find the mean intelligibility score for each side, and then whichever side has the highest score, go to that type of university.

[ccb056]

Exactly, because the DBB is a large enough pool to draw information and conclusions from.

Goto as many private and public colleges that rank high for your intended major. Spend the day there. Goto some classes. Maybe even get an upperclassman to show you around. You would be surprised at the number of colleges doing this. Then, base your decision on first hand knowledge of the campus, the professors, and anything else.

[DCrazy]

ccb056 is right. College tours are usually useless for gathering unbiased information (and I give them, but I try to be as completely honest as I can without getting fired). Finding some friends and spending the night/attending a class or two is the best way to gauge the actual environment, 'cause, well, you're in it.

[Jeff250]

Exactly, because the DBB is a large enough pool to draw information and conclusions from.

See, we already have our first contestant.

[Topher]

I think it depends on what you plan to major in. Try to find out who recruits out of what schools. Pick the companies you think you want to work for and go to schools that they hire from.