Does graduate school matter for Chemical Engineering, & should I apply to prestigious schools?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hey! I recently posted this question on the College Admissions discussion, but another CC member encouraged me to post this on this Engineering Majors discussion…

What are the advantages of going to graduate school for Chemical Engineering opposed to taking a job right after undergrad Chemical Engineering. Are the jobs significantly higher paying if I get a MS, or not?

Another concern of mine is about applying to prestigious schools. If I choose to not go to graduate school, would it be advantageous to attend a prestigious institution over a public one for undergraduate, being that a BS would be my terminal degree? If I choose to go to graduate school, would it be better to go to a public school for my undergraduate years, and save the money for a prestigious graduate school, or do it the other way around? The five prestigious schools I am considering are Wash U, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Cornell.

From my original discussion on the College Admissions thread, it seems that the general consensus is: 1) Do plan on going to graduate school to get an MS; 2) Do go to a cheaper public school for undergrad, and gain experience with research, co-ops, and internships to prepare for graduate school and career; 3) Try to get into a prestigious graduate school if I cannot have the job that I want without getting an MS. So basically, go to a cheaper state school for undergrad to save money for expensive graduate schools if I end up needing to go to one…

Academic stats:
I am a senior at a private school in FL. 34 ACT (33 ENGL, 34 MATH, 33 READ, 35 SCI); on 4.0 scale I have a 4.62 WGPA & 3.84 UGPA; 5 on AP Chemistry; 4 on AP Calc AB & AP Macroeconomics; 3 on AP Biology, AP Physics 1, and AP US History; I am currently taking 5 AP’s: Calculus BC, Physics 2, Statistics, Computer Science A, Psychology; my one leadership position is the Engineering Activities Coordinator of my school’s Science Olympiad Club; I have competed in the national level Chemistry Olympiad competition, I do a good number of extracurriculars that are mostly STEM.

Schools I’ve applied to:
Accepted: U Wisconsin - Madison, U Minnesota - Twin Cities, The Ohio State U, U Alabama Tuscaloosa ($25K/yr merit), U Alabama Huntsville (full ride/yr merit), Florida Institute of Technology ($20K/yr merit)

Deferred: U Michigan - Ann Arbor

No decision yet: Purdue, Georgia Tech, Florida State, U Florida

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You can generally expect a higher salary by getting a graduate degree, but there is no guarantee. It all depends on the company. If the salary is higher, it may or may not make up for the tuition that you may have to pay to obtain the graduate degree.

Another factor you may want to consider if you are considering doing a masters is the possibility of having funding. You may be able to get funding through teaching or research assistantships, or fellowships. A good number of schools guarantee funding for PhD students (subject to satisfactory academic progress), but for the masters level it tends to be a dice roll.

Another possibility you may want to consider is working for a few years after getting your bachelors before going back to school. Some companies will then offer to pay for your tuition.

As for prestige, as long as the program is ABET accredited, then you should have no problem finding a job somewhere if you do well enough in your program.