<p>What statistics do bear out over and over is that long term success is correlated to how prepared students are to succeed (i.e. have they taken rigorous high school prep classes and gotten good grades), not where they ultimately go to school.</p>
<p>I will say that some schools might tilt the scales in the favor of the student, but for undergraduate engineering they are NOT the usual suspects. When my son was choosing schools, two Cal Tech profs, one MIT grad and one Stanford grad all told him that their respective schools were great for graduate work, but did not offer UG engineering education that they’d recommend.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Michigan or Wayne State. I also know we were prepared to pay the bill without borrowing no matter where our son chose, which is a different argument than borrowing. It is a big stretch to tell someone to saddle up $80k in debt on little more than a hunch.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Than your opinion is obviously ill informed. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The OP asked if it matters where you do your BS.To say that it doesn’t is not accurate. To say that it does is not accurate. The truth is that It might. </p>
<p>I’m not telling anybody to pony up anything. I presented scenarios where it might matter. </p>
<p>I don’t think that you’ll find top graduate schools chock full of Wayne State graduates. You will find a lot of Michigan graduates in top graduate programs, and it’s one of the top schools we in Boston recruit at for undergraduates. I’ve been really impressed with some of the capstone projects that their students have done. I know a lot of Michigan graduates in EE. </p>
<p>In my long career in EE, I’ve never met a Wayne State grad, or professor, or anything. </p>
<p>I agree that MIT and Stanford are not the best environment for every student. They are great for some students, and a really bad idea for others. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well of course, since there are statistically fewer Wayne State grads with the grades and/or GRE scores to get into Michigan and other “top” grad schools. However, these statistics say nothing about the quality of academics at Wayne State. </p>
<p>Clearly, there will be <em>some</em> percentage of Wayne State grads who make it into top grad schools. Perhaps not as many as at Michigan, but that’s not really the point. What matters here is choosing those students who clearly made the effort to succeed at either school. </p>
<p>I would venture to guess that it does matter where you go to school for your BS. However, it would not be THE major driver for success in your career. </p>
<p>Your success in your career comes down to two things; 1) your knowledge, skills, ability and drive and 2) the opportunities that present themselves to you. For item 1, it doesn’t matter where you go to school but it would be more likely that you would find the higher achievers at the higher ranked schools. As far as opportunities, again I would expect the higher ranked schools to be able to offer more.</p>
<p>One aspect in favor of the lower ranked school would be if you were a high achiever there, you might stand out more. You might have less competition for the good opportunities and they may, if fact, search you out.</p>
<p>Certainly, once you are out on the job, it is your knowledge, skills, ability and drive that dictate how far you go in your field. </p>
<p>Michigan Tech is well regarded for engineering and I’m sure they’d give a good deal of money. You also have a very good chance of graduating with jobs lined up. Of course, you might not like the rural UP or its winters (Northern Michigander here doesn’t mind).</p>