<p>BS from and average school and a masters from a top 10 in engineering. Will employers even look at where you went to undergrad if you go to a top 10 grad school for engineering?</p>
<p>I’m not sure but they only care about where you obtained your highest degree. Also how long did it take you to get your MS in what type of engineering? Did you have to pay or were you funded? Did you get declined from a directphd or did you only want an MS?</p>
<p>im a senior in highschool that is looking to get a masters in compter or electrical engineering. I live in PA and will apply to CMU, penn state, pitt, maybe virginia tech. I was asking this question because i wanted to know if it would hurt me at all to go to pitt for bachelors and then maybe go to like illinois or something for a masters</p>
<p>Better schools on a resume get interviews easier, but not necessarily jobs. The MS degree carries more weight than the BS degree. However, once you get to the interview, the slate gets wiped clean and schools lose their meaning, barring meeting alumni with preferences, or the occasional biases (nothing you can do about it, just is). People with great skills, or personalities, will shine no matter which school(s) they attended.</p>
<p>You have no idea what will happen over the next four years, and since for most engineers grad school, if accepted, is a free ride, shoot for the best education you can get, and afford, now. This keeps your options open. You can succeed coming from any school, you just might have to work harder to prove yourself in the very short term.</p>
<p>so what would you suggest with those schools i listed</p>
<p>For engineering, Pitt is not really in the same league as the other three. You could probably pull off what you outlined, but with the option to go to Penn State in-state instead of Pitt, why would you want to?</p>
<p>just because i live 40 minutes from pitt and have been a pitt fan all my life</p>
<p>It would be easy to justify going to Penn State since it’s somewhat better for engineering, the campus doesn’t smell like trash, and the girls are better looking (and Penn State is going to destroy Pitt when the football series resumes in 2016). 
But if you’ve been a Pitt fan all of your life, you should probably go to Pitt. Your career probably won’t turn out all that much different and you might fit in better there.</p>
<p>thanks that helped</p>
<p>Sorry, lost the internet for awhile. I did not pick a particular school because you can go anywhere from anywhere. But to directly answer your question, in your place I would pick the school with the best reputation at all times first, if I could afford it. For computers, from your list, CMU, VA Tech, Penn, Pitt in that order (CMU and VA Tech are close). If finances are not an option, and if you have fallbacks in place, then try reaching for even more distant locations. Going to school can be a great way to explore other places. Best of luck.</p>
<p>i thought cmu was like top 5? is vt really that close?</p>
<p>VT is very good (as UVA grad I hate saying this :-). I too would go CMU first, but VT has got some name power too ([Virginia</a> Tech | Overall Rankings | Best College | US News](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/virginia-tech-233921/overall-rankings]Virginia”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/virginia-tech-233921/overall-rankings)). As to “close,” I guess I don’t look at it that way. Sticking to your original question, I look at it as “does the school’s name mean automatic separation to look at the resume twice (large group of schools in this category), or does the resume only get one shot to impress me (much larger group of schools fit this category)?” Both schools would make me look twice. This really only applies for the first job, after that the school name has less power compared to practical experience.</p>