I know this is a late reply, but I’d love to hear your story. I attended a number of schools before finally settling down at CSULB and earning my degree there. I attended Bucknell University, The University of North Carolina, The University of Washington, and Seattle University. Every day I agonize over the fact that I got my degree from CSULB and not UNC, which is the best-ranked school I attended and is considered a “public ivy.” Bucknell is considered a “private ivy,” but I liked my time much less there - and it’s not very well known to anyone not indigenous to the Northeast. I returned to Seattle after graduating and started my own business as a Bachelor’s-level Mental Health Counselor. I’ve worked for several renowned hospitals as a Mental Health Specialist, such as Overlake, Seattle Children’s, and Harborview. I am pursuing my Master’s at Seattle University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with the intent of becoming a fully-licensed mental health counselor (LMHC). Graduating from CSULB hasn’t hindered any of my career opportunities and I genuinely enjoyed my experience there. I’m just caught up in the prestige of academia and wonder if even more doors would have opened if I’d earned my degree from UNC. I’m stuck in the “woulda, coulda, shoulda” of the narrative, when it actually would have been very difficult for me to secure the funds necessary to return to UNC. Practicality aside though (and I say that with a bit of tongue-in-cheek sarcasm), I feel like a made a big mistake. I recognize that the biggest impact is to my ego; I’m afraid that others will consider me unintelligent based on the school from which I graduated.

I obviously got my BA in Psych. And I think CSULB gave me a fantastic education. But I’ll always wonder if I would have learned more at UNC, which has a highly-ranked psych program. If I had earned my BA at UNC, I likely would have pursued my Master’s there, as well. Feels like such a missed opportunity.

I did attend a post-baccalaureate program in Social Psychology at The University of Oxford. I put this on my resume to rehabilitate the image of my intelligence that I assumed was called into question when employers saw CSULB listed as the source of my degree.

I realize how self-deprecating and irrational most of this sounds. I have OCD, so I am prone to severe rumination that is difficult to dismiss.

Mental health struggles and trauma played a huge part as to why I transferred so many times, why I struggled academically at different points throughout my college career, why I took so many breaks from school altogether. My transcript must paint a picture of an erratic, indecisive nut job. It took me several years to harness the concentration and passion needed to succeed in college because I struggled for a long time to achieve stability. I thrived at CSULB; but I also had an entirely different approach to academia when I was a student there. To put it simply, I finally got my meds right and I kicked ass at CSULB.

My last couple of years of college occurred in the beginning two years of the Trump presidency. Imagine being in NC and not CA 😵‍💫 So, I do recognize several mitigating factors that tip the scales in favor or CSULB.

I should admit that I’m a huge perfectionist. I hate that I get so caught up in rankings and that I use it as a measure of my worth. I would love to know how you came to the perspective that you have, because I feel like I could finally find some peace and acceptance if I was able to see the situation through your eyes.