Top School Graduate, Top Honors In Life!
Author: DaneMasters Total views: 16 Word Count: 531
Quite a few junior and senior high school students dream of achieving a degree as the next step. But, most of them feel that it is just the degree that matters, not the place from where it is obtained. They do not believe in wasting thee precious years, studying--they would much rather be having fun! The future can take care of itself. A few others believe in putting in just that little bit more effort so that they can gain entrance into a top class college; they are the ones who will work for that higher GPA.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. Studies have shown that both grad schools and employers still prefer applicants from top ranked colleges over those from second-tier or unknown schools. In addition, most of those enticing salary figures that you notice for recent grads usually apply to those people who have attended a well-known school. For example, when you read a newspaper article that says young MBAs are pulling down an average of $100,000 a year, you can bet that number is skewed in favor of people who went to schools like Harvard, Northwestern, or the University of Pennsylvania. Working hard to get into a top ranked college would definitely be to your advantage.
School rankings are calculated differently by different sources, so it's important to understand how the rankings were determined before accepting them as valid for your purposes. It's also important to note that the order of the top ranked colleges changes year after year. Sometimes these changes are for significant reasons, such as loss of funding, fewer academic programs, or lack of a distinguished faculty; however, sometimes the changes are for minor reasons that happen to carry weight with a particular ranking system. You should read the source explanations thoroughly in order to understand how the rankings were derived and which factors can change them.
Many students ask whether it's better to go to a top ranked college that's higher in overall ratings or that's higher in the particular subject area that they wish to study. For example, Yale might have the highest cumulative rating out of all schools in a given year, but MIT might have the highest rating for engineering programs. If you're fairly certain that you want to be an engineer, then by all means, you should go to the top ranked college in that discipline. But if you think there's a chance you might change your major halfway through your sophomore year, then going to a school that scores well in cumulative ratings would be the better choice.
Where can you find a current list of top ranked colleges? Well, you probably already know that a national magazine devotes an entire issue to this subject, so that would be a good place to start. Beyond that, there are several other sources you can check, including books, websites, and annual school guides.
Yes, diligence is required during the high school years for admission into a high-ranked college. But if one has an eye on a bright future, then the effort will be well worth it.
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Dane Masters is an accomplished niche website developer and author. To learn more about top 10 party colleges, please visit colleges in Houston Texas for current articles and discussions.
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