<p>Hello, I am a senior in HS right now planning to enroll in a less prestigious 4 year state university in Michigan next year. I would go to a better school, but financially it makes sense, and I was able to get decent merit aid here. So I was wondering how likely it is that I will be able to get a job assuming I graduate with a degree in Computer Science? I am willing to move to look for jobs as well.
Thanks</p>
<p>To make your resume more impressive
- Get a very very high gpa.
- Get CS jobs, internships early on.
- Contribute to open source projects, there are plenty out there.</p>
<p>When it comes time to seek internships and post-graduation jobs, you will need to be more aggressive at finding companies to apply to, rather than hoping companies come to your school’s career center to find you.</p>
<p>Companies tend to recruit either at well known universities, or at local universities. For example, “Silicon Valley” computer companies may travel to recruit at the best regarded non-local universities like MIT, UIUC, Texas (Austin), Michigan (Ann Arbor), etc. while also doing inexpensive recruiting locally at San Jose State and UC Santa Cruz (of course, UC Berkeley and Stanford are both well regarded and local to them, so they tend to be very attractive to these companies for recruiting).</p>
<p>You should be fine.</p>
<p>Not saying that my case is normal but my B.S. is from Michigan State in Computational Mathematics. I added the “hot in demand” computer science courses as electives (databases, networks, operating systems & graphics) and pretty much constructed my own “dual Math/CS” degree.</p>
<p>Now like the other posters said, you will probably have to still stand out so make sure you:</p>
<p>1) Take the advice of BusyMei and UCBAAulmnus in their posts
2) Keep an “ear to the street” as far as what is “in demand” around the time you plan to graduate.
3) If you cannot get an internship, try to obtain some sort of position on-campus or off to have some experience. I actually worked at MSU’s College of Medicine…for LESS money than my other job…just to get some experience since I did not secure any internships.</p>
<p>Again, you should be OK. If there is any major/job-industry that can be gainfully achieved with lesser-known schools, it’s computer science and software.</p>
<p>bump any other opinions or insight?</p>
<p>I have a friend who got a ~3.0 at a lesser known school (lower tier CSU) and now works as a software engineer at Microsoft. How? He did lots of side projects and internships while he was in school. He was able to demonstrate that he had the skills and discipline to succeed at hard, real-world projects, even though his academic record was mediocre. </p>
<p>I’m not saying you shouldn’t do your best in school, but I’m just pointing out that if you seek out opportunities and can prove through experience that you are a good software engineer, you will be fine, even with a lesser known school.</p>