<p>i think this question is really field-dependent.</p>
<p>engineering-wise, brand name isn't that important. However, as people mentioned in this thread, not all BS-Eng people want to/end up in engineering. Many become quants on wall st. or go to business consulting and enjoy higher salaries than their pure engineering counterparts.</p>
<p>employers like technical achievement, teamwork, communication skills...i go to a 60th or so ranked school (just finished the MS part of BS/MS) and got job offers from GE and BAE Systems. I also interviewed at Raytheon, got selected for the final round at Shell Gasoline, and began talks with Exxon). I signed with BAE Systems for 70k or so before bonus (Defense and Energy are the hot areas right now).</p>
<p>and if you get an engineering job with a Fortune 500, you will have alot of career possibilities. Usually they will say at the outset choose "Pure Technical" , "Management", "Hybrid". Alot of Corporate managers are former engineers that worked up through project management etc. </p>
<p>If you choose a BS-Eng and work toward the top of your class, I'm sure you will at least get a chance to interview at fortune 500 from many schools.</p>
<p>However, other fields are very brand-name oriented. If your goal is Finance or Management Consulting, you need a top school. You won't get an interview at Goldman coming from Random school X (even with a 1600 on ur SAT etc). This is because business/finance is so competitive that they can afford to recruit at top 20 only and still ensure a top of the line staff. I remember applying to banks etc and not even getting a courtesy rejection ;).</p>
<p>PS as far as I can tell for Law School, it is highly "numbers based". As in GPA/LSAT. Little else apparently matters. </p>
<p>From that angle, it may be best to go to a lesser known school where you have a shot at a higher GPA and also get to save up some money for law school. I'm sure a 3.9/175 LSAT from Zoo-Mass would get into Harvard Law, whereas a 3.5/160 from MIT would get rejected.</p>
<p>Its the last school you attend that matters, so if grad school is on the horizon, save money and go to a cheaper school where you can be a shining star.</p>