Is a Name Just a Name?

This week I took my daughter to a new playgroup that is run through an actual franchise, rather than our regular playgroup that meets at our local community center. And I must admit, and I think my daughter would agree, the name-brand franchise was more structured, had better equipment, more energetic teachers, and in a word seemed ‘better’ when compared to our significantly cheaper group. I was joking with friends and family that my daughter already has a preference for things that are name brand.

This experience made me revisit a conversation I have had several times before with many individuals who weigh in all over the place with the issue: does the name of your college matter? And the subtopics related to that include: 1) Do students from name-brand institutions receive some benefits, if not advantages in the real world? 2) Do non-name brand schools suffer inferiority complexes? Should a person willingly pay an extremely high tuition for a school with a seriously generic name or one that is only known locally and/or regionally?

Well first and foremost, the admission counselor in me wants to believe that students should not select their school based on the name of the school. Rather it is more important to go where you can be comfortable, can be successful, and ultimately graduate.

However, as a person who wants to help students leverage their education so they can reach their goals, I do think in real life that names do matter. I believe that college prospects leaning towards a non-descript name school should include that variable in with all the other pros and cons they are considering when considering an institution. Please understand that I am not saying that students should only consider the schools that everyone has heard of, but there is a difference in the response people, interviewers, clients, and so forth have when you can say you attended a school that people have heard of, or at least think they have heard of.

For four years I worked at a rather pricy institution that not only had a non-descript name, but even worse, it had a double directional name. During my tenure the school was engaged in a serious marketing campaign to help improve the school’s image and reputation not only among prospective students, but also with local residence who were under the impression it was a two-year community college, and even the current students who often mocked the name of the school.

So why didn’t they change their name to a more prestigious one so they could attract more students, reposition themselves within the community, and improve morale among the current students? One word, alumni. Two words, alumni dollars. When the idea was proposed to change the name, many of the alumni didn’t want to lose their connection with their institution, and threatened to take away their donations and promised money, forcing the school to work with what they got. It should be noted that some other schools in similar positions did change their name, take for example Beaver College who changed their name to Arcadia University, they immediately saw an increase in applications and the perceived prestige of the institution by those unfamiliar with them http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/11/20/embarrassingbeaver.ap/.

So I think even some schools have to admit, that the name of the school is important. Life in the real world is hard enough and I don’t think there is anything wrong with strategically positioning yourself by attending an institution that impresses people.

So my real world advice for students, especially those going into extremely competitive fields, should seriously consider the name of the school you are interested in attending. Remember it is a name that will be on your resume forever!

Even if the school is not large, or in reality not well known, if it sounds collegiate, people will likely act like they know it and you’ll have one less thing you’ll need to explain about yourself. Because names do matter!

Cordially,
Chrystal