How to know how reputable a school is?

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: aswedc
US News Rankings

Pitt is there, and Penn State. No Grove City!

Penn State is ranked #50. Grove City College would not rank very high up there. I have heard good things about the school but from what I hear it doesn't compare to many other places.

In terms of?

I've heard mixed things, myself. For engineering, it seemed to be more distinguised than Penn State.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: aswedc
US News Rankings

Pitt is there, and Penn State. No Grove City!

Penn State is ranked #50. Grove City College would not rank very high up there. I have heard good things about the school but from what I hear it doesn't compare to many other places.

In terms of?

I've heard mixed things, myself. For engineering, it seemed to be more distinguised than Penn State.

That's the thing. Those rankings take into account so much that means so little.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: aswedc
US News Rankings

Pitt is there, and Penn State. No Grove City!

Penn State is ranked #50. Grove City College would not rank very high up there. I have heard good things about the school but from what I hear it doesn't compare to many other places.

In terms of?

I've heard mixed things, myself. For engineering, it seemed to be more distinguised than Penn State.

I don't know about that, PSU's engineering program is pretty damn good from what I hear. Top 20, I guess.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: aswedc
US News Rankings

Pitt is there, and Penn State. No Grove City!

Penn State is ranked #50. Grove City College would not rank very high up there. I have heard good things about the school but from what I hear it doesn't compare to many other places.

In terms of?

I've heard mixed things, myself. For engineering, it seemed to be more distinguised than Penn State.

I don't know about that, PSU's engineering program is pretty damn good from what I hear. Top 20, I guess.

Where is the top 20 from?

I wonder how my friends will like the Erie campus.

Hopefully my buddy will steer towards Penn State, probably Behrend, though, and not main.

I had a hard time deciding if Grove City was the right choice or not over Penn State main. Really...it was tough.

 

[frankie38]

Check out some College guides such as the princeton review, etc.

I do believe reputation matters. I knew a CFO that made unkind remarks about Ramapo College graduate.

With that said, does Slippery Rock have an excellent academic dept that may overrride the overall schools rep.

 

[Deeko]

Going to the satellite campuses is bottom of the barrel, right above community college. He should go to Rock over a satellite campus. Main over Rock.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Kipper

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: aswedc
US News Rankings

Pitt is there, and Penn State. No Grove City!

Penn State is ranked #50. Grove City College would not rank very high up there. I have heard good things about the school but from what I hear it doesn't compare to many other places.

In terms of?

I've heard mixed things, myself. For engineering, it seemed to be more distinguised than Penn State.

I don't know about that, PSU's engineering program is pretty damn good from what I hear. Top 20, I guess.

Where is the top 20 from?

I wonder how my friends will like the Erie campus.

Hopefully my buddy will steer towards Penn State, probably Behrend, though, and not main.

I had a hard time deciding if Grove City was the right choice or not over Penn State main. Really...it was tough.

Between the two, I'd probably go to PSU as I wouldn't fit into Grove City's uhh.. environment.

Oh yeah, I would only go to University Park, as the satellite campuses are well, yeah.

Edit: I was going off USNews' report on engineering grad schools, not undergrad.

 

[archcommus]

I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as a problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

 

[mwtgg]

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

And if you hate it or it isn't right for you, you can always cut your losses and transfer out.

 

[Apathetic]

I'm from Erie and went to school at Slippery Rock. I also worked for the university for a few years so I can proably answer most of your questions.

Some things you should know:

Slippery Rock is a VERY small town and there isn't a lot to do besides drink. There are lots of intramural (sp?) sports, but after a while it gets old (at least it did for me). If you want to go out and see a new movie, you'll need a car.

What is your friend thinking about majoring in? Some degre programs at SRU such as Education and Physical Therapy are actually quite good (historically, it's a teacher's college) while some are rather bad (e.g. Communications & Art). Hmmm... actually, are there any GOOD communications departments anywhere?

Feel free to email me if you want to ask me some questions offline.

Dave

Edit: stupid typo

 

[Deeko]

People bitch a lot about hard schools. Thus they get low ratings. Drexel has the same 'problem'. But whenever I talk to people, and say I go to Drexel, they always seem impressed - more than I would expect them to be. Grove City is a good school, don't worry about what the pundits say.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: mwtgg

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

And if you hate it or it isn't right for you, you can always cut your losses and transfer out.

Yes, but that would be such a last resort that I would probably never bring myself to do it.

I can't imagine what I'd want to do on campus that I wouldn't be allowed to. I don't see the rules as an issue. What I DO see as an issue is the extreme difficulty of the courses, the resultant GPA, and the reputation of the school. As the one epinion said, the reputation is only regional and can't be counted on elsewhere in the country. How do I know if that's true, though? 80-some percent of GCC's students obtain jobs within three months out of school. That's an excellent fact that can't be ignored.

And the difficulty of the education. Yes, that could be so, but how am to know the guy who wrote that isn't a retard who didn't study and work hard?

If I got there, saw it was hard, and was earing Bs and Cs, I couldn't simply transfer out to PSU or somewhere else because of that. I would feel like I was "quitting," so to speak, because it's too difficult, and that I need to be trying harder instead.

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: Deeko
People bitch a lot about hard schools. Thus they get low ratings. Drexel has the same 'problem'. But whenever I talk to people, and say I go to Drexel, they always seem impressed - more than I would expect them to be. Grove City is a good school, don't worry about what the pundits say.

Grove City has a very good engineering program.

Dave

 

[aswedc]

For what? Overall ranking? Drexel is horrible at some majors, so of course they don't have a high overall ranking. Pitt's business school, as far as I know, is ranked pretty high. Drexel's IST program is #1 in the nation, as well as having a very well ranked engineering program, and one of the best co-op systems in the country. You can't just look at numbers, you have to get more specific than that.

Undergraduate Engineering
Penn State - #16
Drexel - #51

That said, my friend at Drexel just finished his first year and is looking for an architectural engineering position for the next semester. I was very impressed by Drexel's career services and their system - he got 9 interviews! There is nothing even close at Penn State at the freshman/sophomore level.

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Apathetic
I'm from Erie and went to school at Slippery Rock. I also worked for the university for a few years so I can proably answer most of your questions.

Some things you should know:

Slippery Rock is a VERY small town and there isn't a lot to do besides drink. There are lots of intramural (sp?) sports, but after a while it gets old (at least it did for me). If you want to go out and see a new movie, you'll need a car.

What is your friend thinking about majoring in? Some degre programs at SRU such as Education and Physical Therapy are actually quite good (historically, it's a teacher's college) while some are rather bad (e.g. Communications & Art). Hmmm... actually, are there any GOOD communications departments anywhere?

Feel free to email me if you want to ask me some questions offline.

Dave

Edit: stupid typo

You graduated from Slippery Rock?

Small town, eh? Well, I can certainly vouch for that, Grove City is right down the road.

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as a problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

You realise that Grove City is a Christian school, right? Religion classes are mandatory and you can expect to have the occasional class on Saturday (before noon) - especially as a science major.

Dave

 

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Apathetic

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as a problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

You realise that Grove City is a Christian school, right? Religion classes are mandatory and you can expect to have the occasional class on Saturday (before noon) - especially as a science major.

Dave

Yes, of course, and I don't see that as an issue. There are no religion classes, but you are required to attend two 20-minute church sessions a week. I don't see that as a problem, either. If I went to another school, I would probably stop attending church entirely, and most likely be upset with myself for doing so.

The questions are, will I be able to handle the curriculum, and what is the TRUE value of their repuation? I've known it to be good, but then I read other opinions, and feel that their name truly won't mean much when I go looking for a job. I don't know the truth.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: aswedc

For what? Overall ranking? Drexel is horrible at some majors, so of course they don't have a high overall ranking. Pitt's business school, as far as I know, is ranked pretty high. Drexel's IST program is #1 in the nation, as well as having a very well ranked engineering program, and one of the best co-op systems in the country. You can't just look at numbers, you have to get more specific than that.

Undergraduate Engineering
Penn State - #16
Drexel - #51

That said, my friend at Drexel just finished his first year and is looking for an architectural engineering position for the next semester. I was very impressed by Drexel's career services and their system - he got 9 interviews! There is nothing even close at Penn State at the freshman/sophomore level.

As I said above...Drexel gets ranked poorly because people whine about it...people whine about everything with this school, mainly because its extremely hard. the tDEC program(Drexel Engineering Curriculum), the first 2 years that all engineering majors take, is insane. That's why Drexel is relateively easy to get into...tDEC weeds out a lot of people.

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Apathetic
I'm from Erie and went to school at Slippery Rock. I also worked for the university for a few years so I can proably answer most of your questions.

Some things you should know:

Slippery Rock is a VERY small town and there isn't a lot to do besides drink. There are lots of intramural (sp?) sports, but after a while it gets old (at least it did for me). If you want to go out and see a new movie, you'll need a car.

What is your friend thinking about majoring in? Some degre programs at SRU such as Education and Physical Therapy are actually quite good (historically, it's a teacher's college) while some are rather bad (e.g. Communications & Art). Hmmm... actually, are there any GOOD communications departments anywhere?

Feel free to email me if you want to ask me some questions offline.

Dave

Edit: stupid typo

You graduated from Slippery Rock?

Small town, eh? Well, I can certainly vouch for that, Grove City is right down the road.

Yup. I graduated in May 1990 (B.S. in Computer Science) and worked there from 1995-1998 in their IT group so my information may be a bit dated.

Dave

 

[aswedc]

As I said above...Drexel gets ranked poorly because people whine about it...people whine about everything with this school, mainly because its extremely hard. the tDEC program(Drexel Engineering Curriculum), the first 2 years that all engineering majors take, is insane. That's why Drexel is relateively easy to get into...tDEC weeds out a lot of people.

Eh...

The rankings are based solely on a peer survey of deans and senior faculty that asked them to rate each program theyare familiar with on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distin-guished).

I sure hope their opinions aren't being swayed by whiny students!

 

[Apathetic]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Apathetic

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as a problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

You realise that Grove City is a Christian school, right? Religion classes are mandatory and you can expect to have the occasional class on Saturday (before noon) - especially as a science major.

Dave

Yes, of course, and I don't see that as an issue. There are no religion classes, but you are required to attend two 20-minute church sessions a week. I don't see that as a problem, either. If I went to another school, I would probably stop attending church entirely, and most likely be upset with myself for doing so.

The questions are, will I be able to handle the curriculum, and what is the TRUE value of their repuation? I've known it to be good, but then I read other opinions, and feel that their name truly won't mean much when I go looking for a job. I don't know the truth.

If you don't mind me asking, what are you thinking about majoring in? Keep in mind that ANY decent engineering school is going to be a living hell the first couple of years.

Dave

 

[acemcmac]

PA has Pitt, Temple, University of Pennsylvania, Penn State, Villanova and *THEN* a whole 'nother class of schools

There are a whole group of schools run directly by the state called the PA State System of Higher Education... http://www.passhe.edu

I think 13 schools in all. All are completley and perfectly acredited, will provide a "get the job done" education, go easy on the wallet thanks to 50%+ subsidies per student, etc.... NY has a comprable system

Some schools...

Indiana university of PA.... 14k enrollment, out in the middle of nowhere, crazy party school
West Chester University of PA... 13k enrollement, known for its criminal justice, education and music programs...
Bloomsburg... bunch of Bloom students have transfered to WCU....
California University of PA
Cheyney... a formerly all black school near West Chester that the State took over to save it from bankrupcy... if there is one school I'd avoid, it would be this one, but not because there's anything wrong with it's education....
Clarion
East Stroudsburg
Edinboro
Kutztown
Lock Haven
Mansfield
Millersville
Shippensburg

enjoy

YGPM

 

[acemcmac]

Originally posted by: Apathetic

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Apathetic

Originally posted by: archcommus
I know everyone hates the satellite campuses, but I've only heard great things about Behrend in Erie.

Okay, allow me to be frank: Concerning Grove City, I've only heard good things about the quality of the education and of the school. Considering its price, closeness to home, and that excellent reputation it became my top pick, which I'm now entering this fall. Yes, there are rules, which is why so many people bash it, but I don't see this as a problem. I'm not a partyer and don't think I will become one. I would also probably never live in an apartment due to the price, so living on campus isn't a problem, either.

I headed over to Epinions and read some stuff on Grove City. It was scary and rather depressing, let's hope it doesn't turn out bad. Basically, they said the school is so incredibly difficult that your GPA will suffer, and as such it will be harder to land a job out of school than if you went somewhere easier like PSU. They said the quality of the education is excellent, but its reputation is rather regional, so you can't bank on that "good name" when applying for jobs elsewhere.

Geez, didn't like reading all that.

You realise that Grove City is a Christian school, right? Religion classes are mandatory and you can expect to have the occasional class on Saturday (before noon) - especially as a science major.

Dave

Yes, of course, and I don't see that as an issue. There are no religion classes, but you are required to attend two 20-minute church sessions a week. I don't see that as a problem, either. If I went to another school, I would probably stop attending church entirely, and most likely be upset with myself for doing so.

The questions are, will I be able to handle the curriculum, and what is the TRUE value of their repuation? I've known it to be good, but then I read other opinions, and feel that their name truly won't mean much when I go looking for a job. I don't know the truth.

If you don't mind me asking, what are you thinking about majoring in? Keep in mind that ANY decent engineering school is going to be a living hell the first couple of years.

Dave

to my knowlege, no school in the PA state system has an engineering program.... these schools are designed to bring higher education to the masses, not pioneer new feilds...

 

[akubi]

Originally posted by: acemcmac

to my knowlege, no school in the PA state system has an engineering program.... these schools are designed to bring higher education to the masses, not pioneer new feilds...

carnegie mellon has a really good one I think.

(edit. oh, state school. nvm)

 

[acemcmac]

Pat Croche (sp?) went to west chester....

a bunch of people who did really good things with their lives went to PA state schools... if one of these schools has the major you want in an atmosphere you can deal with, I'd highly reccomend them....

also, as a rule, they don't use TA's... ever.... you always get an approachable prof, even in the rare (like 4 classes a semester per school) large lectures, you can always find your prof and the prof will always want to work with you...

In that regard, these schools are 1000x better than penn state