Matt Ulmer investigates how the best name U.S. schools do not necessarily offer the best education or career advancement

If a student goes to a top ranked university in the United States, he or she will receive the best education possible, right?

Isn’t that how it works - an institution earns prestige because of the high quality education it offers, so a student who attends that institution will learn more and have more opportunity to succeed than attending a lesser known institution?

In America, it’s not that simple.  A wide variety of institutions, many of them unknown overseas, offer something special for everyone, and one school that might be ideal for a particular student and offer the best potential for growth, development and, ultimately, a successful career, could be one a student has never heard of before.

U.S. higher education is an open market.  To achieve true success, students must shop for the best opportunity, not the best name. 

EXAMPLES OF A BEST OPPORTUNITY

Much of the classroom environment in a U.S. university requires student participation through heavy debate and independent thinking.  A student from an educational system that has not helped develop these skills could quickly feel lost and overwhelmed.  Image, then, the powerful impact of an intimate class environment where professional professors who have devoted their lives to academia really get to know students and understand their natural abilities and dreams.  Who work closely and personally with the students to make sure they don’t feel lost or fall behind.  Imagine how an international student could thrive in such an environment, where the tight-knit group of fellow learners are all like-minded, and the student could be mentored by a renowned scholar or bright scientific mind.

Or consider a student who may want to attend university in a setting directly related to his or her field of study, such as a vibrant city for urban planning, an ocean beach for marine biology, or some of the world’s most productive farmland for agricultural studies.  The publishers of rankings would like you to think it’s in all students’ best interest to attend an elite institution, perhaps one of the “Ivy League” schools in Boston, or a “football school” in Nebraska.  But Boston is far removed from farmland and Nebraska has no beaches or marine life; classes at these top universities can consist of more than 300 students taught in a large auditorium, where lecturers never even learn their students’ names and students are expected to figure things out for themselves; and many of the professors are busy doing their own research and publishing, leaving most classes to be taught by graduate students instead of actual educators.

This is not to say that elite, top ranked institutions don’t offer a superb educational environment - they do.  The optimal environment for each individual student, however, is most impacted not by the name or rank of the institution, but by the various unique aspects of that university, such as location, size and sense of community.

As a final example, consider a student who wants to study broadcast journalism.  While a top ranked institution may offer an exceptional engineering degree or have a world-class MBA program, its broadcast journalism program may not be as prestigious, and its local television and radio shows may be operated not by students but by professional staff.  Alternatively, a small school with a lesser known name in the middle of Vermont may offer state-of-the-art video equipment and let their freshmen perform important tasks like operate equipment, lead a news show broadcast to the surrounding neighborhoods, or serve as a radio DJ.

It is easy to assume that the small university in Vermont could actually provide this student a better learning environment and offer a better education than the top ranked school.  This is because, to truly succeed at an American university, students should put aside the rankings and focus on the elements that truly interest and excite them.

THE BEST METHOD FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT

Most students who leave their country to study in the United States do so to help advance their career.  The common misconception is that attending a well-known university is the best way to achieve this.

Yes, the name on a college diploma may get a foot in the door for a job.  Certainly a connection from a fellow student could help land an entry-level position.  But the best path for long-term success in a career is the confidence and practical experience gained through higher education.  This can only be achieved on a campus well suited to the student, where he or she can excel in studies, receive recognition for work in extracurricular activities, and nurture peer and faculty relationships to be leveraged upon graduation. 

Essential to recognize is that U.S. higher education is revered for its many high quality universities, not just a few top ranked ones.  There are more than 4,500 colleges and universities in the United States, not all of them boasting world-renowned names.  But what they do have are knowledgeable, dedicated faculty running quality education programs that develop strong graduates destined for success.  The positive experiences students have at universities that are ideal for their goals and abilities give them the knowledge, confidence and motivation to excel in their chosen fields.

THE IMPORTANCE OF FIT

U.S. students are taught that the most important factor when choosing a university is “fit.”  If a student doesn’t connect to a campus, doesn’t relate to staff and peers, doesn’t have an interest in the extracurricular activities, than the student is less likely to be happy, and therefore less likely to learn and grow.  A top ranked institution could have a great name and a great reputation, but because so much learning takes place outside the classroom, if the student doesn’t connect to the campus and surrounding community, the student is less likely to succeed there.

The student may also have no interest in the elements that make an institution highly ranked or well known.  If a university is ranked well because of its top-notch engineering program, what does that do for the student who wants to study business?  If a university is popular because it has a winning basketball team, what does that mean to international students with no interest in American sports? 

In the New York Times Blog The Choice - Demystifying College Admissions and Aid, the executive director of a non-profit organization called Colleges That Change Lives, Martha O’Connell, declares that many rankings are based on the academic stature and acceptance rates of incoming classes.  “One of the biggest flaws in starting the college search process by using ranking lists,” she says, “is that the lists tout entering-class statistics, rather than focusing on what happens during the four years those students are enrolled.”

She goes on to quote Loren Pope, author of the books Looking Beyond the Ivy League and Colleges That Change Lives, as saying that, “choosing colleges based on the entering statistics of the freshmen class is like choosing a hospital based on the health of those in the ER - ultimately, it’s the treatment that really matters.”

The point these experts make is that, when investing the levels of time and money that go into a university experience, students and their families should make sure they will get the most from their education.  That means spending the next few years learning and growing and preparing themselves to succeed upon graduation; not simply earning a diploma with a well-known name attached, in an environment that may not have been ideal and may not have provided the best education possible.

THE PROBLEM WITH RANKINGS

Rankings try to make objective something that is subjective.  This rarely works.

For example, not everyone likes a movie because it was rated highly by a film critic.  Not everyone has a pleasant dining experience at a restaurant because it is reviewed well in a food magazine.  As Martha O’Connell writes in that New York Times blog: “If you had to choose a friend, spouse or partner for life, would you use a publication ranking him or her by income, IQ scores, and reputation - as reported by others who have never met the person?”

Movies, restaurants and companions are all subjective things that depend on each person and what he or she is looking for.  Few things are as subjective as a college experience:  to fit in on a campus, to feel inspired by professors, to be self-motivated to push for an important internship. 

Many parents may say the subjective elements don’t matter - that it’s only the reputation of the institution that counts.  But if a student doesn’t connect to the university, and its faculty, and the other learners; if the student can’t feel happy and inspired and ready to learn and grow and try new experiences, the student is not going to learn as much or as well as he or she could.  The campus environment, the extracurricular activities, the student body; they mean everything to the overall educational experience.  If a brand name school has nothing that interests a student except the brand name, the student is at risk of learning and achieving less than his or her potential.

It’s true that the name on a college diploma may get a foot in the door for a job, or a connection from a fellow student may help land a position.  But an education at a university that is the “right fit” will prepare a student for a lifetime of success in the chosen field. 

Matt Ulmer is Manager of Communications at IDP Education, USA