Don't you just love those perfume ads? "If you like Eternity, you'll love (insert cheap brand here)." Many public schools tout their programs as just as good as or better than  

Ivy League schools

 ' like Harvard, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania. (Not to mention the lower price tag!) These schools want you to think they're comparable to the big--wigs.

Ivies rely on long--held reputations as "the best colleges" to justify $30,000 tuition costs, but who determines what makes a school "the best?" The annual rankings by U.S. News and World Report may be the most--recognized list of top colleges, but there are many alternative ways to rank schools: Measuring the number of Nobel Laureates on the faculty, contrasting availability of study--abroad programs, or even comparing football scores. (Did you know the term "Ivy League" was originally created to designate a football league? If you ranked colleges by successful football teams today, the Ivies wouldn't even make your top--10 list!)

The best way to cut through the hype is to ask students attending Ivy and state schools what they think of the value of their educations. You might be surprised at who thinks they're getting their money's worth and attending the "best" college.

Value for Your College Dollar
After trying an expensive private Ivy, Nancy Chaney found the cost wasn't worth it. She turned down a scholarship at the University of Washington (UW, Seattle, WA) when she was accepted to the University of Pennsylvania (Penn, Philadelphia, PA). Allured by the school's prestige, she flew to Philadelphia to attend Penn's Wharton School of Business - only to transfer home to UW for her junior year.

"Penn wasn't the right fit for me," Nancy explains. "I was flattered to have been admitted to an Ivy, and anxious as a small--town, West Coast girl to experience the wider world. But the cutthroat Wharton atmosphere was not my style." Also realizing business was not for her, she transferred to the International Studies department at UW - a well--respected department with more international regional study centers than any other university. "I attended UW as an upper--level student in a small, competitive--admission department, and pursued an area of study I really liked," she says. "My UW education was a far better deal than Penn."

David Maynard, a junior at the University of Massachusetts (UMass, Amherst, MA), started out attending a private school, but chose to transfer to UMass primarily because of the lower tuition cost. Balancing his demanding civil engineering major by racing on the university bicycle team, David is satisfied with his cost--conscious college choice. Impressed by UMass' diversity, he says, "Virtually anything you want to do, you can find here. Overall, I believe my education is just as good as that of most private schools."

The Best School = The Best Match
Choosing the best college doesn't have to mean relying on reputation. Loren Pope, author of Looking Beyond the Ivy League (Penguin Books, 1996), and founder of the Washington, D.C.--based College Placement Bureau, which helps families of college--bound students make informed choices, warns against "designer--college syndrome," or applying solely to famous--name colleges. He strongly advises, "The key to a rich, full, successful life is in examining oneself honestly and critically, and making the college choice that is suitable rather than fashionable."

Pope debunks the myth that an Ivy degree guarantees a successful life. "Five years out of college - and usually a lot sooner - a person's own qualities will decide whether he gets a raise, a promotion... or has the vision to see new opportunities and the imagination to create a new career," he says. "Even if the name on his diploma helped get the first job because it was taken as evidence of his intelligence, that would be about the limit of its leverage." He recommends disregarding famous names and instead, confronting yourself with some basic questions such as "Why am I going?" and "What do I want out of this experience?"

John Cooper admits he didn't do much soul--searching before attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In fact, he didn't do any research whatsoever. "My father went here, my sister went here, and it's a prestigious school, so I didn't bother applying anywhere else," he says. The first time he ever visited the bustling campus was for a 15--minute orientation.

Now a senior, John wishes he'd put more effort into his college decision, finding UCLA too big and impersonal for him. Considering the low cost of tuition, he thinks his degree is a good deal, but is frustrated with the overall experience. "The administration doesn't necessarily seem to care about whether students succeed or not since there are so many students," he says. "Also, it's L.A. - a lot of the students are about appearance, not substance. They just care about getting the grade.

"A couple of the private schools I've visited recently, like Harvard, seem much more personal, and I can see that a smaller environment would have fit me better," he continues. "I realize now I should have looked for a school where I felt comfortable, and used a more intelligent decision process than 'my father went here, so I'll go here.' I never even had a conversation with my parents about whether they would have helped me pay for tuition at a different school."

Rose Brill, on the other hand, thought hard about her college options before applying to schools. After serious consideration, she decided to study the hospitality industry and chose to attend Cornell University's Hotel School program in Ithaca, NY. "Its reputation as a leading hotel school sounded fun!" she says. Rose didn't choose an Ivy school simply because it was an Ivy, however. She focused on a single, unique department that could provide the college experience she wanted.

"I'm getting my money's worth," she says. "The finance and real estate departments are particularly strong, and I believe learning from industry rule--makers gives me an edge in the business world." Cornell's price tag is worth it for a student like Rose who has found her college fit.

Harvard Schmarvard?
Jay Matthews, Harvard grad and author of Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That Is Best for You (Three Rivers Press, 2003), emphasizes, "A college, like a new suit, has to fit. I don't care if it is number one on the U.S. News & World Report list and has an endowment of $20 billion. If it doesn't offer the courses and activities that feed your soul, it's no good."

The bottom line is that neither an Ivy university nor a state school guarantee happiness and success if the school isn't right for you as an individual. The only one who can answer which college is best for you is you.

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