[speaker001:] Well, Steve, did you go to college?
[speaker002:] Yeah. In fact, I'm still going.
[speaker001:] Oh, that's good. So you probably could give some great advice.
[speaker002:] Uh, well, I don't know about that, [breathing] but I, in fact, I'm in the process of trying to choose a P H D school.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] [Breathing].
[speaker001:] Well, what's your ca-, what's your interest, your, uh,
[speaker002:] Uh, well, computer science and cognitive science.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] So,
[speaker001:] That, that's similar to what, I'm in a P H D program right now.
[speaker002:] Oh, I see.
[speaker001:] And, uh, my area of expertise, it's information systems, which is a little bit less technical, I think, than, uh, than computer science. But my area of expertise is, uh, uh, human computer interaction.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] And I think that's one reason why I'm part of this study, uh, because it's of, I'm working with voice systems.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Yeah. So, so, good luck. I guess we should talk about giving advice, though. Wh-, what, what type of advice do you think you'd give to a, a parent?
[speaker002:] To a parent?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Well, you know, the thing is, when you're a kid
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and the kid at that age, especially if they're going into undergraduate, it seems like they think they know what they want.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] An, and, I mean, choosing from my experience, you know, I thought, you know, my, I know what I want a lot more than my parents know what I want.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] But, uh, I don't know, at the same time, you have to decide what is important about the school, you know, the size of it or,
[speaker001:] Yeah. I think that's more important probably than even the career vocation, because most people change.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I kn-, I know very few people that, uh, started in one field and stayed with it. You know, they, I think that's what you just said, you know, having to do more with the size of the school, the environment of the school, uh, I think that's much more important. I, I think I'd, I'd advise a parent to send a kid to a school, though, that has a number of different types of programs, you know, that, uh, some of the smaller schools might be very limited in what they can offer, but some of the, uh, the small, some of the larger small schools, you know, I guess around three or four thousand students
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] have a, can offer a broader range of curriculums and things, so if the kid does change, they don't have to transfer, or they don't have to, uh, uh, I don't know, they don't have to give up years of, you know, of credit transfer and things.
[speaker002:] Yeah. That's disruptive.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] [Breathing].
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] I normally, and, and parents hate to hear this, you know, because I, I actually teach college, I hate to, uh, I hate to talk to the parents because, um [lipsmack] one of the reasons is because, you know, the kid doesn't know exactly what they want, and I always say make sure you major,
[speaker002:] [Talking].
[speaker001:] in something that you like, even if it's not going to be your career vocation,
[speaker002:] [Talking].
[speaker001:] because you'll get better grades. I, I think most employers would probably rather hire, you know, a, a three six in, um, [lipsmack] in history, uh, to be a salesman than someone with a two oh in business administration.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] Does that make sense?
[speaker002:] Yeah. Well, yeah, I see what you're saying.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I always, you know, tell them that you should major in something you, you're going to get good grades in.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Because that, that's always, I think, more important, you know, overall. I don't know.
[speaker002:] Uh, [muffled] give me five minutes.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Oh, you, you're at the office now?
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] At work? Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I'm just getting ready to go to lunch [breathing]. Uh, yeah, that's like what we were saying, though, would you, uh, advise a private school, or a public school,
[speaker001:] I would, I would,
[speaker002:] you know, what's the trade off there, what,
[speaker001:] it would, I, I tell you, I live in Maryland, and the public schools here are,
[speaker002:] [Talking].
[speaker001:] pretty good. I teach at a public school, actually, and I know that the S A T scores for our admitting freshmen are higher than a lot of the public sch-, a lot of the private schools. And, um, I actually, I would full time at a, at a public school, and then right now I'm teaching part time at a private school, at a [NOISE] Catholic institution.
[speaker002:] Oh, I see.
[speaker001:] And, um [lipsmack], and I really think, I think I'm getting a better [NOISE] caliber of student at the private school, because I think their parents pay more, and I think the kids are a little bit more challenged, because their parents are probably college educated, where at the public school, I don't think as many parents are public, are, are college educated, and I don't, I think because it costs less, the kid doesn't take it quite as serious, you know, they're not, th-, it, it's the minimal cost. But [beep] I think you can get a good education at public or private [beep] but I think you can also get a bad education at public or private, you know, I
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] you have to really, you have to look around at the school. I, I think the bad part is that most parents or kids don't know what to look for.
[speaker002:] Yeah, yeah. I think, uh, I would agree with that. In fact, the thing that, I'm going through the same thing, where in graduate school,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] I was trying to choose. You know, a particular institution might be better
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] for my area
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] yet, like, say, you know, the University of Small Town in Arkansas or something,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] might have some top specialists in my area.
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] Yet, if I go to U of I or C M U or, you know, some, you know, any big name school, my quality of education might not be that much better, but it's the same thing, there's, you know, what will the name recognition,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] get me,
[speaker001:] Yeah,
[speaker002:] kind of thing.
[speaker001:] does it have a big ten football team or,
[speaker002:] Yeah, [LAUGHTER] yeah [breathing]. That's [breathing] that's usually the basic criteria.
[speaker001:] Yeah. I mean, uh, yeah, is it a PAC ten school, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] But I think, yeah, see, I'm, I'm at the University of Maryland, so in this, this region, um, though I go to a smaller branch of the University of Maryland, my diploma will still say University of Maryland.
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] Um, [lipsmack] you know, it doesn't, doesn't differentiate on my diploma, though I would put it on my resume, what program I went to. But I, I think, you know, I'm actually at a smaller program, I'm not at the col-, the big College Park campus, you know, that's the big one with the football team.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So I, I think, um, I think you're right, that there's a lot of, there's difficult decisions there based on name recognition. Um, [lipsmack] you know, when I first was applying for graduate schools, I applied to some big programs, you know, in this area, like Stevens Institute of Technology, which is recognized in the Northeast as, as, you know, one step below M I T in a sense,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] you know, so it's got big name recognition in this area, a big science school, no football team, but a big science school,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] and technical people know that. But I don-, yeah, I think you're right, you really have to think about that for the job. I went to a very small state college when I got my bachelor's, and when I, now, I was in education at first when I was looking for jobs, I was going to be a teacher, I was just a high school teacher, so most people recognized that institution because it was a teaching school sort of,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] you know, but then when I went, um, [lipsmack] for graduate work, you know, or for a new job, people said to me, you know, Shippensburg State, where is that, you know [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Yeah, [breathing] yeah [breathing].
[speaker001:] And, you know, when I went into higher education, even at other universities, they weren't aware of it, you know.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] So I think yeah, that's important, um, [lipsmack]. I think it depends on if you want to be a, if you want a regional job or a national job, you need that first,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] job or so out of school, too.
[speaker002:] Yeah. I, I guess another thing that concerns me is, uh, so many people, it seems like everybody today is still in that job market [speaker talking to someone else in room] and, uh, um, where was I at? Oh, go-, in going to school, you get taught the things you learn in school, but there is also a whole other dimension, I mean the growing up while you're going to school part.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh, yeah.
[speaker002:] And, uh, actually, in the Midwest especially, a lot of the schools have, like University of Missouri, will have a main campus like Columbia, which is big, multi disciplinary,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] and they'll have a satellite campus in a, usually in a smaller town [breathing] that specializes in the technical field. So you've really, uh, I guess sacrificed
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] some social
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] exposure to different groups and everything.
[speaker001:] Yeah, depending on your technical areas. Yeah,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I could see that. But, you know, at some of the large schools, I know that at, at, at University of Maryland where I am, you know, in a P H D program, I, I haven't even met, uh, someone outside of my area of information systems except for,