Elite schools

By definition in your mind what is an "elite" school

OK, TR, I'll bite. My criteria for a college or university to be classified as an elite school are:

1. A faculty where at least 95% have attained the top degree offered in their field.
2. No TA's. Professors only (even for freshmen).
3. A student to teacher ratio of approx 9-1.
4. A school with a reputation of attracting the best in private business, seeking graduates who have attained high levels of achievement while in school.
5. A school that can offer a complete range of NCAA athletics for their true student/athletes.
6.Access to publishing works; undergraduate access to research in the sciences.
7. An active alumni.
8. A substantial endowment that helps students without the means to be able to gain admittance. I am not talking about student loans.

TR, and what might be your criteria before you'd call a college "elite"?

Did you even review the article referenced by the link, Tom? Uber-liberal NYT headlined the article "Do Elite Colleges Produce the Best-Paid Graduates?" It is not my study. It is not my news article. I simply shared something that I thought was interesting and also pertinent to some people who read these forums.

" attending one relatively elite college (like Harvey Mudd) rather than another (like Harvard) doesn't much affect a student's future income. Rather, it's the student who matters. Hard-working, ambitious students will do well wherever they go "

What good is comparing medians ?

I think the rankings in the PayScale College Salary Report can be a bit misleading for several reasons. For example, the type of education a school specializes in can greatly influence salary. Note what the article states: "In general, engineering schools produced the best starting salaries, and represented eight out of the top 10 schools in starting salary." If you're a left-brain thinker, that's great, but it's not so good for the right-brainers out there. Geography can also come into play. Schools in the northeast or West Coast will naturally have higher starting salaries because salary levels are higher in those regions. Even social connections can have an impact on earnings potential. For example, I doubt that SMU is a superior school academically to Texas A&M and the Univ. of Texas, but its graduates make better salaries. However, the study doesn't take into consideration that SMU students are extremely well-connected socially and most likely get a lot more help in obtaining a high-paying job than someone at A&M or UT.

Back in December, Smart Money magazine ran an interesting piece on college earning power. Here's an excerpt:

quote:

In a new twist on traditional college rankings, SmartMoney took a crack at quantifying the long-term value of a college education. Our goal was to spotlight the relationship between tuition costs and graduates' earning power. Working with consultant PayScale.com, which recently published a groundbreaking survey on alumni salaries, we first looked at what graduates from 50 of the most expensive four-year colleges earn in their early and midcareers. Then we factored in their up-front tuition and fees. The result? A unique "payback" ratio for each school.

In the end, our scorecard may be music to the ears of many state-school admissions deans—not to mention a lot of struggling parents. After all, who would've guessed that Texas A & M, No. 1 in our survey, would deliver a payback more than two and a half times that of Harvard? Or that the state universities of Delaware and Rhode Island would beat out every Ivy in the ranking?

Make sure to read both pages in the following link:

http://www.smartmoney.com/Pers...es-For-Making-Money/

http://www.smartmoney.com/Pers...lleges-that-pay-off/

Did you get your discount ?

" Other private schools, including the Ivies, say that many of their students pay less than the full sticker price we used for tuition, because of grants and scholarships. (True, but public schools also discount their tuition, especially for in-state students.)"

I have found that some of the highest paying jobs are in the financial sector. If you are good at it those salaries look like chump change. The thing is it doesn't matter what college you went to.

I was just happy to see "Aerospace Engineering" at the top of the list! ...but where's "Baseball?"

I'm a big believer that you get out of it what you put into it. A great education can be attained almost anywhere for those who want it.

No surpises here....

quote:

just happy to see "Aerospace Engineering" at the top of the list! ...but where's "Baseball?"

I'm a big believer that you get out of it what you put into it. A great education can be attained almost anywhere for those who want it.

Baseball is anywhere between 10 to 300 times greater than Aerospace Engineering.

NACE’s Summer 2009 Salary Survey report shows that engineering disciplines account for 80% the highest starting salary offers.

This is the $$$ path.

Yep, agree engineering jobs are in the mix right now. But so are jobs in health care industry.

quote:

Baseball is anywhere between 10 to 300 times greater than Aerospace Engineering. Big Grin

You will get no argument, whatsoever, from me on that.

I just looked at a ranking of best paid jobs and health care was near the bottom.
Financial services are where it is at.

Gee, I did not realize that doctors were so low paid.

and by financial services, you mean like mortgage brokers - do you think there is a big need for more of those right now?

Kudos to those who have the brains -- and desire --to be engineers or financial experts or heck, even doctors , but I would absolutely hate for either of my children to pursue something simply because it pays well. I can think of no worse fate than to be stuck in a job you can't stand just because the money's good. Those golden handcuffs can get mighty uncomfortable.

You got that right!

I've got an idea, let's ask all of those Investment Bankers how they like their striped suit tailors?