(Biola) Biola is a terrific school for a lot of people

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Date: Feb 23 2013
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Biola is a terrific school for a lot of people. I really enjoyed my time there and met a lot of great friends. It developed my spirituality and I learned a lot about Biblical things. Unfortunately, my long term plan was lacking. Remember one thing. Name recognition. Biola is virtually unknown outside of southern CA or the west coast. Even religious organizations on the east coast have never heard of it and assume that it is some small Bible college. This is a huge problem if you head east and look for work. Now, I could have gone to a much better school and looking back, I probably should have. I struggled for 4 years since I graduated barely able to find work in my field or in Christian ministries. Now, I'm back in school, at law school in a T20 school, hopefully to turn my career around. If you know what you want to go into (like Missionary work, Christian ed, Ministry, or grad studies elsewhere) and you know you want to stay where Biola is recognized, go ahead. Otherwise, seek elsewhere. My new advice for all students looking at colleges is, in this economy, go to the best school you can. Biola was not that the best school I could have gotten into and I have had to deal with the ramifications of that for quite some time.

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A lot of the admissions folks tried to tell me that Biola is well known around the world, but it's only obvious that admissions folks are getting paid to say things like that. You were exactly right when you said that Biola isn't well known in other states. Even in Cali, it's not prestigious. A lot of people think that it's just some ordinary Bible school, it's nothing special. I got in with a 2.5 GPA, so that's nothing special.

Is it true that Biola doesn't prepare you for a tier 1 or even a tier 2 graduate program like law school? To me it makes sense as I think that Biola's classes are ridiculously easy. What do you think?

Like other alumni, I found out too late that outside of La Mirada, Biola isn't prestigious because most people haven't even heard of it or they think that it's a school just for future ministers. In other words, people doubt if Biola is a real college.

Law school is a lot tougher than Biola was. And yes, I'm in a tier 1 law school, not top 15, but in the top 20. But, I'm not sure that Biola is necessarily "easier" than anywhere else. I think it depends a lot on your major, mine was a cakewalk. As far as getting in to graduate studies? I can only really speak to law school and I will tell you it does not matter. At least not a lot. If you get good grades and a good LSAT score, it doesn't matter where you went. No matter what anybody tells you law school is a numbers game. It doesn't even matter what your undergrad degree is in. Now, if your 4.0 from Biola is against a 4.0 from Princeton, yes, he's going to get the upper hand. But a 4.0 from Biola and a 3.5 from Princeton? Law school cares most about that number (because it helps their rankings with USNWR). But, a good LSAT score is much more important. A good LSAT score can erase some of your poor grades, but good grades will not erase a poor showing on your LSAT.

I should mention that my acceptances into law school were on par with my GPA and my LSAT scores, so I don't think my Biola degree hampered me in the admission stage. Law school admissions counselors generally know about Biola (but that's because it's their job to know about all the colleges…)

The following is a response to the current top 20 law school student. Thank you for explaining everything. In my opinion, Biola is easier than elsewhere, no matter what one's major is because the classes are what you can experience in any high school. There are a lot of Biola students who didn't get more than a 2.9 in high school or junior college. The other point was about law school admissions know about Biola and the other 3rd tier colleges because that's part of their job to know. Exactly right. That's the only reason why these counselors would know. Everyone familiar with Biola knows that it is a cinch to get accepted here as long as you have a minister's recommendation. The world's top 20 graduate programs aren't impressed with Biola because of its high acceptance rate and because it only ranks in the third tier of universities. As for the Biola name, I want to say this. Intelligent people in the U.S. and abroad recognize California universities like Stanford, USC, and Berkeley. But if you mention Biola, people don't know anything about it. They don't even know what state it's located in.

I'm a former student who can tell you that Biola isn't famous. If I had to say just two words of advice, they would be "FORGET BIOLA!"

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