[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 but I in fact I'm in the process of trying to choose a PhD school
[speaker001:] uh-huh well what's your career what's your interest your uh
[speaker002:] uh well computer science and cognitive science so
[speaker001:] uh-huh that that's similar to what I'm in a PhD 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 what what what what type of advice do you think you'd give to a a parent
[speaker002:] yeah to a parent well you know the thing is when you're a kid
[speaker001:] yeah um-hum
[speaker002:] and the kid at that age especially if they're going into undergraduate it seems like they think they know what they want an and I mean choosing from my experience you know my I thought you know my I know what I want a lot more than my parents know what I want
[speaker001:] yeah 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 know 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 small some of the larger small schools you know I guess around three or four thousand students 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
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] 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 I I normally and and parents hate to hear this you know because I I actually teach college I I hate to uh I hate to talk to the parents because um 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 in something that you like even if it's not going to be your career vocation because you'll get better grades I I think most employers would probably rather hire you know a a three six in um in history uh to be a salesman than someone with a two oh in business administration
[speaker002:] oh yeah yeah well yeah I see what you're saying
[speaker001:] that make sense yeah I always you know tell them that you should major in something you you're going to get good grades in because that that's always I think more important
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] you know overall
[speaker002:] uh give me five minutes
[speaker001:] I don't know yeah oh you you're at the office now you are at work yeah
[speaker002:] yeah yeah I'm just getting ready to go to lunch uh yeah that's like what we were saying though would you uh advise a private school or a public school you know what's the trade off there what
[speaker001:] I would I would it would I I tell you I live in Maryland
[speaker002:] could you get me those
[speaker001:] and the public schools here are pretty good I teach at a public school actually and I know that the SAT scores for our admitting freshmen are higher than a lot of the public school 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 Catholic institution
[speaker002:] oh I see
[speaker001:] and um and I really think I I think I'm getting a better 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 it it's the minimal cost but I think you can get a good education at public or private uh but I think you can also get a bad education at public or private you know I 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 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 I was trying to choose you know a particular institution might be better
[speaker001:] um-hum right
[speaker002:] for my area yet
[speaker001:] uh-huh
[speaker002:] like say you know the University of Small Town in Arkansas or something might have some top specialists in my area yet if I go to U of I or CMU or you know some you know any big name school
[speaker001:] um-hum right
[speaker002:] my quality of education might not be that much better but it's the same thing as you know what will the name recognition get me kind of thing
[speaker001:] right yeah does it have a big ten football team or is it
[speaker002:] yeah yeah that's that's usually the basic criteria
[speaker001:] yeah I mean uh yeah is it a PAC ten school you know but I think yeah see I'm I'm at the University of Maryland so in this this region
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] um though I go to a smaller branch of the University of Maryland my diploma will still say University of Maryland um
[speaker002:] oh
[speaker001:] 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 college 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 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 MIT in a since you know so it's got big name recognition in this area a big science school no football team but a big science school and technical people know that
[speaker002:] yeah yeah
[speaker001:] but I don't 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 you know but then when I went um
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] for graduate work you know or for a new job people said to me you know Shippensburg State where is that you know and you know when I went into higher education even at other universities they weren't aware of it you know
[speaker002:] yeah yeah yeah
[speaker001:] so I think yeah that's important um 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 job or so out of school too
[speaker002:] yeah 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 and uh um where was I at oh going 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:] um-hum 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 and they'll have a satellite campus in a usually in a smaller town
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] that specializes in the technical field so you've really uh I guess sacrificed some social exposure to different groups and everything
[speaker001:] um-hum right yeah depending on your technical areas yeah 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 PhD program I I haven't even met uh someone outside of
[speaker002:] yeah
[speaker001:] my area of information systems except for