Old Microbiologist
Recycles dryer sheets
I know I’ll get some flaming over this but I’ll throw in my 2 cents. The decision is very important. In the US it is all about where you went to school and secondarily what your major is. I have multiple degrees with an AS from Baylor, a BS in Microbiology from Cal Poly, a MS in Laboratory Management from CSUF and a PhD in Immunology from Cornell. I did well as a senior research scientist BUT it was the degrees from Baylor and Cornell that opened up doors for me. I will add that the AS was a freebie from the Army obtained while I attended a 1 year long military advanced course as a Medical Laboratory NCO. My BS cost roughly $72 a Quarter and the same for the MS but that was back in the 70’s and early 80’s. The Cornel PhD was again free to me but not actually as I had to pay the military 2 years of service for each year at Cornell so 7 years of service. My point is you can find ways to get around paying exorbitant fees and tuitions.
I retired to Hungary where University up to all levels are free. There are courses at Semmelweis University in English and the education is excellent. The same is true in other European countries such as Slovenia where everyone speaks English as a second language. My point is, and this is a real thing, if you don’t graduate from one of the big universities in the US then it doesn’t matter at all where you go. A degree from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, or Purdue is going to be a career booster because of inside connections. There are others but I am ranking based on what I see in the world. Secondarily is what you major in. Both my kids ignored my advice and got useless degrees (my son in history as George Mason and my daughter in Film Arts at Temple) and have been struggling since. I warned both of them not to do that and now they realize what I was saying. A degree now must be in something that pays well and should pay back the insane tuition costs within 3 years. A JD at Yale or Harvard assuming you graduate in the top 1/3 of the class (another very important distinction) will pay for itself. The same for medicine from one of the big 5 or dentistry from anywhere. If anyone knows of a poor dentist it is news to me. If a professional job isn’t attractive then make certain they major in something which has a future. Internet Security is one, Artificial Intelligence is another, Quantum Math is definitely going to be important as are material sciences. To a lesser degree chemical engineering, aeronautical engineer, etc. Financial stuff is also never going away and anyone who masters algorithmic trading is going to be safe and secure for their entire lives. My PhD was actually very heavy in non-parametric statistics and I had serious trouble finding any professors anywhere who could help me to understand this extremely complex theory. There aren’t any as anyone who has that education works on Wall Street as it runs out that statistical modeling is what is used to predict markets. I was using it to model animal responses to develop aerosol infection models. Biological systems are complex and very difficult to model so I actually ended up inventing my own statistical modeling methods. The weather is also predicted using the same systems. Anyway, my main point is don’t waste your money on stupid degrees at bad universities. If it isn’t one of the biggies then it is a waste of time and the child should focus on how to get a professional degree. I would suggest for medical school as an example a lesser degree in something easy (to get a maximum GPA) at a lesser but still respectable school like Emory U. followed by a 3 year medical degree at some excellent place like Johns Hopkins will pay for itself quickly.
I retired to Hungary where University up to all levels are free. There are courses at Semmelweis University in English and the education is excellent. The same is true in other European countries such as Slovenia where everyone speaks English as a second language. My point is, and this is a real thing, if you don’t graduate from one of the big universities in the US then it doesn’t matter at all where you go. A degree from Yale, Harvard, Cornell, Columbia, MIT, Stanford, or Purdue is going to be a career booster because of inside connections. There are others but I am ranking based on what I see in the world. Secondarily is what you major in. Both my kids ignored my advice and got useless degrees (my son in history as George Mason and my daughter in Film Arts at Temple) and have been struggling since. I warned both of them not to do that and now they realize what I was saying. A degree now must be in something that pays well and should pay back the insane tuition costs within 3 years. A JD at Yale or Harvard assuming you graduate in the top 1/3 of the class (another very important distinction) will pay for itself. The same for medicine from one of the big 5 or dentistry from anywhere. If anyone knows of a poor dentist it is news to me. If a professional job isn’t attractive then make certain they major in something which has a future. Internet Security is one, Artificial Intelligence is another, Quantum Math is definitely going to be important as are material sciences. To a lesser degree chemical engineering, aeronautical engineer, etc. Financial stuff is also never going away and anyone who masters algorithmic trading is going to be safe and secure for their entire lives. My PhD was actually very heavy in non-parametric statistics and I had serious trouble finding any professors anywhere who could help me to understand this extremely complex theory. There aren’t any as anyone who has that education works on Wall Street as it runs out that statistical modeling is what is used to predict markets. I was using it to model animal responses to develop aerosol infection models. Biological systems are complex and very difficult to model so I actually ended up inventing my own statistical modeling methods. The weather is also predicted using the same systems. Anyway, my main point is don’t waste your money on stupid degrees at bad universities. If it isn’t one of the biggies then it is a waste of time and the child should focus on how to get a professional degree. I would suggest for medical school as an example a lesser degree in something easy (to get a maximum GPA) at a lesser but still respectable school like Emory U. followed by a 3 year medical degree at some excellent place like Johns Hopkins will pay for itself quickly.