<p>Does it really matter where you get your degree at? Like my mother told me, isn't a degree a degree? So you mean to tell me if I get the same degree at, let's say, Cornell university instead of MSU, I would get a better job? I mean, it's the same degree! This probably something I should already understand, but I don't. Could someone elighten me? Thank you.</p>
<p>The smarts and ambition that get many kids into selective colleges in the first place can count for more than anything that they get from 4 years at such institutions. Research bears this out. (Google Alan Krueger and Stacy Berg Dale). If you work hard and distinguish yourself at any of the top few hundred US schools, you will find open doors into graduate schools and jobs in your field.</p>
<p>What snarlatron said.</p>
<p>What you do when you get to college is a lot more important that what college you go to.</p>
<p>Yea but the kids who coast in highschool and attend lesser schools aren’t that likely to suddenly have a spark of ambition and become successful. Whereas kids who went to ivies were highly motivated from the start are likely to succeed.</p>
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<p>We’re talking about the same student, who presumably would have the same spark of ambition no matter where s/he went.</p>
<p>And you’d be surprised at the number of kids who were not motivated in high school but do indeed develop a spark of ambition when they get to college (including CCs). Not all, perhaps not most (which is a big reason that less-selective schools tend to have lower sophomore return rates), but a substantial number.</p>
<p>hmm… I agree with all the above comments. Even though academically, Cornell is certainly more prestigious and higher ranked than MSU, I still think Michigan State is a good school and certainly has a lot to offer for those who are willing to work hard. </p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - 2010 MSU President’s Report: Milestones](<a href=“2010 MSU President's Report: Milestones - YouTube”>2010 MSU President's Report: Milestones - YouTube)</p>
<p>Here is my thinking about it: Historically good schools are very selective and find some of the brightest students in the world. Because of the fact that Ivy league schools for instance or even “mini-ivies” are so well-known for finding these really ambitious children, the most intelligent well-connected people, let’s say, “feed” on these places; great minds think alike, as they say, and intelligent, well-connected people go to these schools because it is easy to find students that are really interested in changing the world at them.
So, the difference between any degree and a degree from a school that is known for its outstanding academics is that the smartest, best-connected people with international networks of people are looking for students at THOSE places, not just any school. So, I don’t think that it really does follow that a degree is a degree is a degree, a degree from and respected by intelligent powerful people will make for an intelligent and powerful student.
Does that sort of make sense? That is why I am really hoping to find an outstanding school and am willing to work hard to be competitive at one of those schools: the opportunities it presents in terms of meeting people and becoming involved in powerful world organizations.</p>
<p>Are you planning to go to graduate school? The prestige or lack thereof of your undergraduate institution isn’t very important if you are going to grad school. Employers will look at where you got your last degree(s), and most grad schools know that a student at the top of ‘less well known school’ is as bright as the average kid at ‘selective school.’ </p>
<p>That said your undergraduate degree may make a difference in getting your first job - it depends on what field you are in and where you are looking to work. If you plan to stay in the area that your school is located, you will have that alumni network available to you. If you are planning to move far away, then you might want a school with a network there: The prestige schools tend to have networks in all the major urban areas and that can be useful.</p>
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<p>Not true at all. Look at this 2006 list of where the Fortune 50 CEOs went to college. Only 3 from Harvard. Plenty of representation from regular old colleges:</p>
<p>[Where</a> the Fortune 50 CEOs Went to College - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1227055,00.html]Where”>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1227055,00.html)</p>
<p>there is a state school by by home. It’s not highly ranked, because it really is only strong in about 4 areas…engineering, business, the sciences and nursing. But, the kids who graduate in those majors get great jobs…because the university is located near many high-tech companies.</p>
<p>So, where a school is located is important…and what majors that school is strong in is also important.</p>
<p>*Yea but the kids who coast in highschool and attend lesser schools aren’t that likely to suddenly have a spark of ambition and become successful. *</p>
<p>We aren’t talking about those kids. </p>
<p>We are talking about academic-minded kids who go to “good schools” and avail themselves of what is offered, look for research opps, apply for REUs and such, etc.</p>
<p>Yes, it makes sense now. Thank you for explaining it all to me.</p>