Where did you attend college? Was the college you attended your first choice and do you think you got your moneys worth education wise?

I went to Wellesley when there were fewer choices for women who wanted an excellent liberat arts education. So that was my first choice. Today I would pick a challenging co-ed school.

I am attending Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Though not ambitious, it was my first choice.

I attend McGill University in Montreal, my home town for my B.Sc. I went to University of Western Ontario for my M.A. in London, Ontario and University of Manitoba in Winnipeg for my Ph.D.

I went to the local community college then the local state college. When I moved to a new state I went to the local community college then the local state college. This took place over the course of 26 years. My first choice was MIT.

I went to my local community college because of circumstances going on with my family. I wanted to go away to college, but I didn’t get a chance to do so.

Sadly, I did not attend college. I’ve always regretted that.

I went to Clark University in Mass. I didn’t have a first choice, not really. I had a really hard time choosing, and ended up at Clark because I knew I’d do the 5-year program and get a free Masters degree. Now, halfway through my free Masters, I think it was a great choice. I don’t have to be out in the work force this year!!! :) I do think that college is what you make of it. Almost anywhere can be the best place for you personally. It’s a combo of making it work, and luck.

I went to Minneapolis Community and Technical College, and Brown College in Minnesota. My first choice would have been a university, for the whole experience of that. But, I did learn alot.

I did not attend my first choice college, nor any other choice. I attended a college that asked me to apply. Me being me, I assumed the school (which I’d never heard of before) wasn’t a very good school. lt was my safe school. Later on, I learned it had a better reputation than I knew. Who turned me down? I think I’ll pretty much always remember: Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Stanford and Amherst.

I did manage to graduate from my school, and after five years working, I went back for a Masters Degree, which I received from one of the schools that rejected me the first time around. While there, I came to understand that it was probably a good thing they had all turned me down. They weren’t my kind of people. The school I went to had scads of my people. Scads.

Now I work at a university. Maybe I’m not a Professor, but I still work in academia, which is something I always wanted to do.

I went to the University of Alberta for 7 years. It was the closest university to where I live, so I didn’t really have a choice (the others were too far away). I think I got my money’s worth——my 3 degrees led to an okay job and secure and fairly comfortable lifestyle.

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was my first choice – still is my first choice (I’m a freshman)! I had my doubts about whether or not I belonged there my first few weeks, but I’ve settled in nicely and I don’t regret it one bit :)

I went to the University of Hong Kong. Definitely not my first choice. First choice would’ve been anywhere in the US. Honestly, the education wasn’t so important, but I feel like my life lessons were a little hindered by not having the standard college life.

It was good bang for the buck though, have to admit. A college degree in 3 years, each year was only US$5,000

I went to a community college 10 miles from home for the first 2 years, got an Associates Degree in Accounting, transferred the degree to a state university 2 hours from home, but maybe 20 miles from my dad’s sister’s family where we went often anyway, got my Bachelor’s in Accounting with a minor in Business Administration and an emphasis in CPA studies…I took the CPA exam right out of school and passed ¾ of it on the first try (only about 15% of test takers accomplish this). Basically, my classes cost 20 to 30 bucks a credit, let’s say $30 average over the course of the 4 years, I had 193 quarter credits, so add in books and the cost of a dorm the last 2 years, my entire education cost less than 10 grand from ‘89 to ‘93. Even though I’ve had a few extended periods of unemployment.

Looking at what I’ve made as a professional accountant since my first temp job about a year after finishing college vs. what would have happened if I went to work right after high school, I figure that I’m at least $150,000 ahead if I assume I would have started at $8 an hour and managed to get a 4% raise year after year and remain constantly employed doing something without a degree. So, I’d say that’s a pretty good investment.

Now, I think if I was a person who wanted to be at the top of my career, reach for the brass ring, climb the ladder, I could probably be a partner in a CPA firm, making high 6 figures with a 7 or 8 figure net worth by this point in my life, which if I were that kind of go getter, I could have gone to an Ivy League school, spent 10 to 20 times as much, but then instead of pretty much working 40 hours a week at most of my jobs, having a wife and child and never being a workaholic, I would have had to put in 80 to 100 hours a week and had no personal life. Yeah, the money would be nice, but not worth it. I think if all a person wants is an honest job that pays well, go get an education, any one is just as good as any other for that purpose, unless you want to really be a career oriented person, a power player in your field, any one college is just as good as any other.

My little state university gave me classes with about 20 students, and teachers whom you could speak with any time, and managed to attain some of the highest CPA exam scores in the nation. I never had any desire to go anywhere beyond what was necessary for me to learn a career, that’s what I did…and I just don’t see why you’d buy a Cadillac when a Geo will get you there.

I went to a selective private university. I went to work for a large company right out of high school. The company paid my tuition and I attended classes in the evenings.

I’m currently attending a community college (it’s my first semester) and I will transfer after my two years here is up. I’m going for Public Relations/Wedding Planning! Luckily because of things that have happened in the past and current situations as well my tuition is fully covered by a few grants. The most I’ve had to pay out of pocket is around $32 and I usually end up getting a few hundred back from the grants.

Notre Dame. It was my “first choice” once my family got wind that I was considering it. Due to unmanaged medical issues that cause major depression, crappy weather, and an overtly repressive atmosphere, it sucked royally, and I am still paying on loans 15 years later. It is a part of my identity I’d just assume dump in the garbage, since I’m no longer Catholic or give a rip about Irish football. The academics were good, but I’m sort of at a point where the utility of that is questionable as well.

someone call the waaaambulance

Michigan State University. It isn’t my first school, and I don’t really enjoy it. I guess you could say I settled for it because it was close enough to commute to, allowing me to save all sorts of money. If I were more susceptible to the idea of moving far away to spend tons of money on college, I could have gone to any number of schools. If I go to grad school, it definitely won’t be here.

University of Georgia. But I went to a community college for 2 years first and learned what college was about before going up there. Because of that, when I got to the university and past my core classes, I was able to focus on what I was supposed to be doing rather than trying out the college experience. It was my choice to do it this way and I think it worked out for the best. I have far more and better friends from the small college I was at first than the large one that I went to later. Education is funny in that no matter how much you pay for it, you get out what you put in. I got very little out of some classes and a whole lot out of others. Overall, I think I got m money’s worth. :)

I am a junior at ESSEC Business School’s “EPSCI” program (their BBA), in France. It was my first choice by far. I actually applied to only two selective universities. This one and another called the ESCE, which was my safety school. Got into both through the same common exam, and I did not hesitate a second when the website asked me to pick a school. My mom was going crazy, saying I should have put more thought into it, yadda yadda yadda. ^^

If I had not been admitted to ESSEC, I would have gone to a public university to study Economics. I was admitted based on my hs grades to the University of Toulouse, supposedly one of the best public unis in the field (according to my HS econ teacher, who was also a professor there). Not bad, but not my first choice.

Although, like in most schools I think, my school causes some administrative frustrations, and offers classes one may not see the importance of, I think I did get my money’s worth as of now. We have a great alumni network and a strong brand name, some very good professors, and the curriculum is such that you have a lot of international and work experience. EPSCI students usually go on to good grad schools as well, such as the LBS, the LSE, McGill, etc., which is a big plus.

But obviously, that will depend on me :-)

One of the things I do regret however is the school life. It’s very intense, especially after 10 pm, but does not have that US college “feel”. I guess it’s because the campus is pretty small. And because it’s in France ^^

I went to a Canadian College because It Had a low admision standards…I didn’t realize that they had low stardards for proffesors and staff as well so I didn’t get my moneys worth…but then I… deleted by me

@talljasperman: I would bet that its English department didn’t get a five-star rating either.

I did a lot of research before deciding to go to California College San Diego. One of the reasons I chose the college was their career-focused degree programs. I pursued a bachelor degree in accounting and I am pretty happy with my education. In fact, the degree can be earned on a fast track in just about 36 months.