Excelsior's name

[LatinTea]

Can you tell me why you do or do NOT like Excelsior's name? I know Thomas Edison sounds, well, intelligent since it is Thomas Edison afterall. And the State College after that makes it official.

I looked up Excelsior in the dictionary and it says, "Long, thin wood shavings, used for packing". But on Wikepedia, it states that Excelsior is a Latin word meaning "superior", "lordly", "ever upward". If you look there further, it gives you all the instances where Excelsior is used. I guess it's the popular culture statements bother some people (I had never even heard of any of those!).

Thanks in advance for any comments on this.

[jonasling]

I think people are swayed by the word "State" and the fact that it's a private college. My guess is that if the names were "Thomas Edison College", "Charter Oak College", and "Excelsior State College" instead, they would have less to say about the name Excelsior. Just my guess.

[dc67]

As a soon to be Excelsior graduate, I will say that the name between the big 3 anyway, didn't matter to me. EC is regionaly accredited and served my purpose. Would I prefer my diploma said The Ohio State University? Of coarse I would, but at 41 years old and woking full time, OSU wasn't an option. I am not ashamed of EC or my degree, I know I worked hard for it. You can look at the 2 extra months at the end where I failed the same test twice, that is wasn't just a diploma mill. The are many predjudices in this world, this I am sure is one of them. As distance learning becomes more mainstream, it will make our degree's more accepted. That's just my opinion, there are many more on here I am sure.

Doug

[alissaroot]

I agree with dc67. The name of the school should be a factor, sure, but i just didn't see any reason it should be the deciding factor for me. I don't understand why people find the name "Excelsior" so offensive, except that it is just unfamiliar. This will change soon since they have such a large enrollment and as more and more of their graduates become successful the name will just become more well known. Everything else about Excelsior was a better fit for me than the other schools.

The first time I heard the name "Excelsior", I thought of Excalibur. But my first impression of the TESC name was, well I wondered why they didn't just throw the "Alva" in there, too. TESC isn't the best-sounding name, either, imho. I even thought Charter Oak sounded a bit funny. I mean, they named their school after a tree, right? These things are just personal preference.

If the name is really going to bother someone, then by all means, go with another school. But the other factors such as cost, flexibility, customer service, academic levels, etc, should be considered as well. Excelsior won all these arguments for me, so the name was not important. I'd just hate to see someone choose a school only based on it's name and then be sorry for that choice because of a knee-jerk reaction.

No matter which school a person chooses though, I will do anything I can to help them on this crazy trip. Everyone here is pursuing the exact same thing. We are all in this together on a parallel course. It is not a head-to-head competition, but more of a collaboration and comparison. None of the Big Three is the "best" one. It's just which one is best for you, not which one is best for someone else.

Go Globes!

[MISin08]

"Long thin wood shavings, used for packing"

You have to ask? But they are a credible-enough choice for a business major.

Edison was not uniformly worthy of the hero-worship that is commonly accorded him. That leaves Charter Oak, which actually sounds nice. I'd buy the sweatshirt if I went to COSC. But they don't offer proper majors, so that's out.

[a4tunatemom]

First, let me say that I think Excelsior is a great college! Second, I think Alissa may have hit upon the issue with the name when she said that she thought of Excalibur when she first heard heard it. Some people would not be comfortable graduating from a college with a name like "Lancelot University" or "King Arthur College" and for some people Excelsior has a similar connotation.

Danielle

[kati02]

The first time i came across 'excelsior' i right away thought it's from the word 'excel'. However it just did not sound good to me.i struggled for a while to come to terms with it. I guess it's psychological;we associate familiar sounds with certain phenomina.Non- the-less After much scrutiny of the program of my interest,i was convinced it was superior and comparably better than similar programs from 'better sounding' institutions. Though i would really have liked a different name for excelsior, i am more interested in the quality of their program as well as its suitability for me.further more i believe that if graduates of excelsior college perform well out there,come up with recognizable works,they cd elevate the school's reputation and eventually it's name will be psychologically associated with high achievement,and will even start to 'sound' better. So am going EC with my head high and let my works speak for my education.

[gcalvin]

"Excelsior" is the motto of the State of New York, and that's why the college chose that name when it went private, and was no longer Regents College. The speaker at the 2008 commencement exercises, Stephen Joel Trachtenberg (former president of George Washington University), commented on the dual meaning of "excelsior" and told us graduates that it would be up to us to determine which meaning would apply in our lives. :o

-Gary-

[bawhitsett]

I thought the name was hokie but I agree with the others, that their program is in some ways superior to the other 2. The fact that they offer actual majors and have excellent customer service has me considering a second, part-time bachelor's thru them.

[LatinTea]

I'm glad I finally asked about the name. I thought maybe I was missing something here 'cuz I kinda like the name. :o

Maybe I associate it with 'excellence' and associate TESC with them kinda using Thomas Edison's name without his permission!

Thanks again. I guess I ought to remember to always read the book and not just the cover.