Minerva Schools at KGI

As part of the 5 Cs or 7 Cs depending on who you talk to (Pomona, CMC, Pitzer, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, KGI, CGU), Minerva is a great alternative to the traditional 4-year college experience where you pick a school and campus and perhaps travel 1 or 2 semesters abroad. At Minerva, you travel all 8 semesters and live in 7 different countries. For some people it's a great opportunity to see the world, meet new people, face day-to-day challenges, and live independently. Not everyone wants this kind of college experience. First of all, there are no in-person classes or no real campus except for a small building in SF, CA. So you have to take all your classes remotely on a proprietary distance learning app platform where everyone dials in. For people that struggled with Zoom calls these last 3 semesters of HS, this is probably not going to be a good way to go. Also, many Freshmen look forward to meeting their cohorts on campus and going through the rites of passage that their parents and perhaps grandparents went through: joining clubs, Greek life, taking interesting classes with students taught by cool Professors who have office hours, going to parties, sporting events, and hanging out with their schoolmates. Minerva reminds me of the Bourne Trilogy, where Jason Bourne is basically on his own, assimilating into different parts of the world and keeping up different identities. One month you are in Korea, then you pop off to Berlin or Buenos Aires. You check in with your handler, get your assignments, execute your orders and write up a report on your project. Honestly, it seems lonely to me. There are only 100 students in Minverva so this analogy of a global spy network still works for me. Cost-wise, it's 1/3 of the price of private uni. Until there is more traction, I don't think the Minerva degree carries much clout like Stanford or MIT CS degree. If you want an adventure, do it. It reminds me of Deep Springs College in the middle of nowhere with a 5% acceptance rate. You work on a secretive private ranch that no one gets to visit you at and all your classmates are eccentric and quirky. Its still an experiment to me.

At least from the tuition standpoint its about half as much as any other private college. The only thing is travel expenses, which, when you consider you're going from India to Argentina could add up. It's online I believe, which isn't for everyone, too.