<p>She's at harvard. Why is latter best, gomestar? Then you would just fear insecure ...:)</p>
<p>because i considered the student body to be an important part of the college selection. It's nice to be at a school where getting completely wasted until unconscious on a tuesday night isn't the only pressured option. Although Partying is fun, i reserve it for weekends. </p>
<p>Being at the top of my other school wasn't very hard. In fact, it was cake and got really boring. I was dual-enrolled at two colleges (the CC right down the road) meaning i was taking 26-32 credit hours per semester, working 24 hours a week at the local Target and i still managed to pull close to a 3.9 GPA. Give me a break!!! Though i have a 3.6 at Cornell, the classes are much more challenging. It's nice to be pushed by both teachers and students.</p>
<p>I got a 3.6 at Cornell and worked my freaking tail offfffffff, if it wasn't for bio, i would have a 3.85. No Joke here</p>
<p>How is life in Cornell? Someone told me that classes are large though...</p>
<p>the majority aren't. The only ones that are big are some intro level classes, such as bio 101. What's with this stigma that large classes are bad?? I've only had 3 big classes, and they all rocked!! It's nice to be in a class that 20 of your friends are also in. I've had my fair share of big classes, medium sized classes (30-40 students) and small classes (20 or less). It's nice to experience each one of them.</p>
<p>Well, I personally dont prefer big classes, since most of my classes are of 15 people and therefore we have great discussions. I've never had a super big class before so I really cant say anything about that, but may it wont be as personal...</p>
<p>:::::bump:::::</p>
<p>all of the big classes break into discussion groups of 10-12 people once a week for an hour or two.</p>
<p>on average, a cornell student takes around 40 classes to graduate. At most, only 5 of these will be "big" classes. Nothing to fret over. Attendance grade is also never an issue!</p>
<p>Attendance grade? Well, how the students and discussions in Cornell?</p>
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<p>My friend dropped out of BYU, because he was offered an entry level Software Testing position at Microsoft up in Seattle, which paid $50,000+. I don't buy it. Unless BYU is a "top" school, your theory is not fool proof.</p>
<p>Is it Brigham Young? If so, it's not a bad school.</p>
<p>i'm not talking about the $50,000 jobs, i'm talking about $100,000+ to start off with. BYU is an excellent school, I know a few really smart people that didn't get in. And no, my theory is not fool proof, but 98% of the time big companies like this will rely on graduates from top colleges. And this isn't my theory - one of the VPs of HR recruitment from Microsoft came and spoke to my class about their recruiting. Alot of the stuff i have said in this thread came from what this dude said. Cheers! ;)</p>
<p>dxu - the discussions are the best part of Cornell!!! It's the one big advantage of going to a school with crazy smart people. Everbody knows how to make and present an argument, and there's always somebody bringing up a point from "the other side." It's nice to be at a school where everbody has an opinion and is willing to express it and stick up to what they believe in. Everybody was sooo apathetic at my previous school.</p>
<p>and besides - according to your post, you dont even need a college education to be an entry level Software Tester.</p>
<p>A names matters generally only when you are going into the business world or a field in which a graduate degree is required for mobility. But if you don't care about business, a bachelors degree from say Walla Walla College will do you fine.</p>
<p>Graduate degree is what counts. My dad went to, what was then, Cal State Hayward. He then recieved his Masters and Doctorate from Stanford, which is what has carried him so far, all the way to Vice President of Harvard Medical Advancement, no regards to B.A. from Cal State, never brought him down or held hm back.</p>
<p>Microsoft has jobs that start an undergraduate with little to no experience off at $100,000+? I'm not buying that one.</p>
<p>If you have proof of this, I'd love to see it.</p>
<p>i'm talking about big corporations in general, i cannot speak only for microsoft. This is what the dude told me from his guest lecture. He has a Harvard MBA, so i take it he's pretty smart and wasn't talking out of his ass. Look at the recruiting schedules for some of the big I-banks - might resemble the US-New's rankings of the top colleges. IBankers make big bucks, right out of undergrad. One of the case studies i looked at was for SG Cowen - they were hiring for consulting positions that started at $115,000 and yes, they were hiring new college grads. And yes, they were hiring only the best of the best from the best schools. None of the candidates had the crushing 4.0 GPA, but they were all strong in their communities and strong leaders. It was quite the intersting case study. </p>
<p>I'm glad you brought up the point of experience!!! Yet another reason top colleges pay off - their strong alumni connections makes for fantastic internship opportunities. This winter break, i will be doing an internship in Buffalo, NY with a judge. This opportunity will pay me a lovely $25 an hour. Though I will only be working for a few days, I will now be able to afford the books for spring semester in less than a week. My hook? The judge is a Cornell alum. All I had to do was submit my resume, and the job was mine. I should note that this internship is available only to Cornell students. :)</p>
<p>I think a lot is being said out of context. The statement that people ONLY consider top-tier-college-graduates for top jobs is untrue. From what I've heard, the college/grad school one comes from is important, but what is even more important is one's record. </p>
<p>Doesn't it make sense that the contributions you made to your last job, the performance indicated by your former boss, and the character traits you show during your interview would be just as important (if not more) than where you went to college? Also, it's important how well you -do- in college/grad school. A .3 difference in GPA may not make a huge difference, but a 1.3 difference sure will. So it's more important to go to a college which you feel has a good environment conducive to studying and building up the traits and knowledge that you will need later.</p>
<p>Moreover, even if you don't make it into the very TOP levels of a company immediately out of college, you can work your way up.</p>
<p>experience of course comes first. I'm talking about the importance what college you came from matters to first time job seekers. And i'm sorry to say it, but the statement is true. In a competitive position, there'll be hundreds of applications from elite colleges, and to back up what ket said, they will then pick out a dozen or so of these applicants based on their records. After so many years on a job, performance and character traits become the most important. It's just alot easier to start out at a top company and to advance from there. It's getting that first job that can be very important.</p>
<p>Yep, that is true. For your first job, what college you came from is definitely important because it is about the only information available to the hiring company. However, what your first job is does not necessarily define how good a job you will be able to attain in the future. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe most people who hold high-paying jobs worked their way up rather then landing them on the first try. So non-top-tier-ers still have much hope! :D</p>