<p>delivering packages?</p>
<p>I would pick the program that most closely fits what you want in a grad school. The rest will follow. You will be chosen for jobs by what you accomplish, not just the name of your college. </p>
<p>I don't know how well Brown's name is known overseas. I think there are just a few US universities known by the masses over in Europe but I would think that certain professions and companies who do the hiring would be familiar with colleges beyond just that handful. </p>
<p>I also agree with the poster who mentioned that in Europe, beyond a few places like Cambridge, Oxford, Sorbonne, etc., the names of the European colleges are not as big of a deal to them as Americans make over here about American colleges. </p>
<p>Anyway, while not the same as someone coming from graduate school (which is what you are mentioning), I will mention that my daughter worked in a firm in Paris this summer (she attends Brown and is a senior now). She sent a resume blindly there as there was no advertised opening or recruiting. She was hired. She was one of three interns in the firm and one came from India and one attends college in Beirut and both were much farther along in their education than she was. I have no clue if the firm recognized my D's college's name or not, but they did hire her in her field and her college is not known for this field either. She was given work to do that often those already with a degree might do (and this work was used with real clients). She also held another job in an unrelated field the previous summer in France and again, I have no clue if the name of her college had anything to do with it. Of course, you are talking of grad school and not undergrad. But I feel that your work, credentials, and accomplishments will speak for themselves and also that employers may have heard of more US colleges than the average person overseas, as they receive resumes all the time (if they hire international employees).</p>
<p>MovieBuff, I agree. I only mentioned HYP, Oxbridge and Berkeley but La Sorbonne is very prestigious in Europe too.</p>
<p>By the way, which university is really LA Sorbonne? Like Paris I or Paris II or what?</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have no clue if the firm recognized my D's college's name or not, but they did hire her in her field and her college is not known for this field either.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I doubt it, really. Maybe they have heard of Brown but I don't think the name helped her. That is, if she had been attending SUNY Albany she might still have been hired - it's probably her resume, interview, personality that impressed the employers.
The whole "college A is strong in this field; college B is strong in that field" mentality is also rather unknown over here.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have options at Brown, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt and Rice University that I could use but I had thought that Brown would be the best investment. What do you guys think?
[/quote]
I can only comment on your hiring chances in EU: It doesn't matter.
Focus on other characteristics - professors you'd like to work with, costs, environment, whatever.</p>
<p>Texas, the "delivering packages" comment was a pun on UPS and Brown. Ever seen the commercials for UPS? Their tagline is "What can Brown do for you?"</p>
<p>Rister...I agree that the name of my D's school (Brown) may have had nothing to do with her being hired. But just to clarify, she was hired on her resume....and a cover letter written in French, and any emails subsequently but no interview or personality aspects at the time. There was no interview as she was in Providence and the firm is in Paris. She also had to send samples of her work. As I have said, I think it is the person who gets hired, not the name of the school they came from. Sometimes the name of a school might get someone to look, but you must have the "meat" behind that.</p>
<p>By the way, The O.C. (or 'O.C. California' how it's called in German television) is totally en vogue over here, so Brown's popularity might increase - not so much among 'grown-up folks' but perhaps among the younger people ;)</p>
<p>Rister....do you live in Switzerland? If so, my D traveled around Switzerland a few weeks ago and absolutely loved it.</p>
<p>So bascially what you guys are saying is that in the EU the school's name doesn't really matter OR that unless it is HYP, Oxbridge or Sorborne it will not make a difference in the EU? </p>
<p>It is strange how in the US we make it seem it is like Ivy League or bust, but that majority of the ivies are pretty much unheard of around the world. I mean I find it quite suprising that when I ask a lot of international students about american schools that Michigan is up there with HYP.</p>
<p>Hehe, yes I do live in Switzerland. I'm glad that she liked it. Where did she go?
Any particular places or experiences she talked about? Any anecdotes?</p>
<p>I will leave Switzerland next Sunday for a few weeks to travel around the USA... :)</p>
<p>
[quote]
So bascially what you guys are saying is that in the EU the school's name doesn't really matter OR that unless it is HYP, Oxbridge or Sorborne it will not make a difference in the EU?
[/quote]
To be safe, I don't say that it will not make a difference AT ALL. But the impact of your alma mater's name is very small, yes.</p>
<p>I think the reason is that in Europe (at least it's the case for Germany, Switzerland and Austria) only [the academic top] 20-30% of the people attend a college. The rest usually makes an apprenticeship.
Thus, just the fact that you have a Bachelor's degree gives you some sort of "respect".
Also, because we have a very different secondary school system, students who are eligible to attend a college (that is, they received a certain diploma, like Matura, Abitur or Le Baccalaur</p>
<p>Rister....I don't mean to derail the thread off topic....but don't wanna ignore you....so...</p>
<p>She went to:
Geneva
Interlaken (LOVED it....also surrounding area)
Lucerne
Fribourg
Lausanne (I think?)</p>
<p>In Interlaken and Lucerne she was traveling and camping alone. I know she rode a train up in the area out of Interlaken to villages in the Alps and on glaciers and one such stop she went to was Wengen. In Geneva and Fribourg, she met up with someone she knew who she competes against in collegiate sports and who has family in Switzerland.</p>
<p>you guys (posterTROLL) are lucky all the actual Brown students are starting classes</p>
<p>Does Brown atleast have any clout in the UK where I am eager to go?</p>
<p>I wouldn't say it has "clout."</p>
<p>Brown? He's the Prime Minisiter...I say he has definitely some clout...</p>
<p>On a serious manner, yes Brown does have some "recognition factor" in the UK but only for a few people (just think about how many AMERICANS know Brown U - and then imagine how the situation looks like in overseas). But, as repeatedly stated in this thread, your alma matter doesn't matter much. No university has "clout".
If you're worried, consider the example of soozievt's daughter - she could land an internship as a Brown student in France. It's more about you than your college.</p>
<p>"It's more about you than your college."</p>
<p>That's only true to a certain extent. There are reasons why the general rule is that you should go to the best college you can get into. Graduates of top programs enjoy enormous advantages in terms of graduate and professional placement.</p>
<p>Thou shalt not take quotes out of context.
We're talking about his chances of being employed in the UK and which school he should attend (deciding between Rice, Brown, ND, I forgot the other). And I pointed out that he shouldn't sweat it too much.</p>
<p>And by the way, the advantages of graduates of top programs are at least partly due to the abilities of these graduates (i.e. a Harvard Pre-Med had mostly likely better SAT scores than a State U Pre-Med and will therefore also have better MCAT scores and thus a better chance to get into JHU Med.)</p>
<p>It is true that a lot of Americans have never heard of Brown. So I can only guess that even fewer have heard of it overseas. Supposedly Simmons is trying to ammend that by fostering a program to promote Browns name alongside HYP overseas. I think Brown is a really underated school.</p>
<p>Texassoocer: If you are looking at graduate schools or employment opportunities, the reputation among the general public of the schools that you have listed is not material. Reputation among graduate/professional schools will be more subject specific. Generally, in the arts Brown will be more widely recognized for excellence. In architecture, engineering or the sciences, particularly nanotechnology, and in music, a degree from Rice will raise a few more eyebrows.</p>
<p>what about public policy or economics?</p>
<p>I've heard good things about the Econ here. I'm an Archaeology concentrator myself though, so I won't be taking any more econ (I'm a transfer)</p>