very affordable vs highly ranked/known

[surfinnn]

Hello! I am a first time poster here but I have been reading these forums for awhile.

 

So, I recently found out that I got into my reach school, a highly ranked and well known graduate program.  I also got accepted to a relatively unknown school that is low ranked, in state and smaller, and I recieved a very generous graduate assistantship there. 

 

With the financial aid from the lesser known school it will be less than half the price of the highly ranked program.  For me, I am not as concerned about going to a "big name school", I mean it is a consideration because I worked hard in undergraduate so it is nice to have that recognition, but what I am most concerned about is the quality of education that I will receive. 

 

So, basically what I think I'm asking is do you think it's silly of me to pay tens of thousands of dollars more to go to a well known and highly ranked school, or do you think a smaller lower ranked school will prepare me to become a speech language pathologist just as well because they are both ASHA accredited institutions, and I'm going to be learning the same material (looking at the courses offered, they seem to be very similar)?  I don't want to compromise my education but I also don't want to be in mounds of debt when I get out of school if I will be just as prepared at a lower ranked school.

 

thanks guyssss

 

[Papaya91]

I'm in a similar predicament. I'm waitlisted at my top choice (which is my most expensive choice), so it's not as much of a problem for me now, but if I get off the waitlist it'll be really hard to choose. As long as the program is ASHA accredited, you'll learn what you need to know. The big name doesn't matter so much once you're out of school. The higher ranked program might have better connections for placements, though, which could affect your CFY, which could then affect how easy it is for you to get into the setting you want to make a career in. Hospitals typically like to take people from medical CFYs, for example. Also, if the high ranked program has someone who's an expert in a certain area you're interested in (like autism), and the lesser known school doesn't, it might be worth it for you. I'll be interested to see what other people have to say.

[goingtobeslp13]

I'm in a similar situation, except I'm still waiting to hear from the very affordable school. My thoughts are that if I get into the affordable school, I'm going there. I really don't want to get myself into a lot of debt and it actually has a fantastic reputation despite how cheap it is. If I don't get in there though, I'll probably take the debt for Columbia because if I'm going to pay a crazy amount for any private school, why not get the connections and name recognition Columbia offers? However, I've heard numerous times that it REALLY doesn't matter very much where you go to school, as long as you get your masters and get your CCCs, you'll be fine getting a job. I think there are really 2 exceptions to this - 1 if you know you want to specialize in medical placements (which I don't), or know you want to eventually get a PhD (which I might), then it might be worth it to go to a bigger name school that offers exactly what you want.

Edited March 18, 2014 by goingtobeslp13

[surfinnn]

These are good points.  I see from the PhD and medical side it could matter.  I think I want to go the early intervention, private clinic, or school setting route though so that's why I'm having a tough time justifying the high ranked and expensive schools.

 

It's tricky because if you are not sure about the medical/PhD route and you don't want to limit yourself, you end up just going to the expensive place. But then say you end up not pursuing those, then you may be limiting yourself in ANOTHER way by putting yourself in loads of debt and ending up not having the quality of life you want after grad school.  That's my other thought for myself on this which makes it tricky.  I feel like debt isn't talked about a lot but it seems like it would be a big issue in reality.

[plmgis]

I've been thinking about this too, and another factor you may want to consider is location.  It's not necessarily a HUGE huge deal, but the higher ranked, well-known school I'm considering also happens to be very far from where I see myself living permanently (and where my family, friends, and significant other are-- the NY/NJ area).  So although the school is well-known and would probably help me get a good CFY placement anywhere, it won't have direct relationships with hospitals/schools in NY/NJ and so I'm not sure that shelling out the extra money just to have a boost in clinical placement sites will be worth it.  Because of that, I am focusing more on the quality of the programs themselves.. if the local, cheaper option has a comparably high-quality program, I will likely go there if accepted.

[surfinnn]

That is also something to consider, location and other factors in life.  I'm in a similar situation as you actually, my significant other actually just got a very good job in Tennessee.  Neither of the schools I got into are anywhere close to Tennessee but we want to live there after I get my degree and the less highly ranked program actually offers great flexibility in where you can do your last semester externship (so I could possibly move there a semester early and do my externship there), whereas the higher ranked program has some prestegious placement sites but they are only in state.  I don't want to compromise my education for moving somewhere 6 months early, but it's just interesting to think about since I was considering that school already. It's a pro because if I want to live down there anyway it might be good to get a head start with an externship there.