<p>What about years down after you'rve graduated and had jobs related to the field? How much weight would a college name be even though you've went thorough like 3 IT jobs?</p>
<p>After a few years on the job, advancement opportunities within a firm are based pretty much entirely on performance. But if your first job is with a mediocre company, you'll have a tough time switching to Microsoft later on.</p>
<p>YES: If you want a better chance to make $100,000 instead of $60,000, then yes, where you go might matter a little bit. But what you decide to study might be more important.</p>
<p>NO: If you want to make $5,000,000,000 instead of $100,000 then no, it does not matter where you go to college. It does not matter if you even go to college at all.</p>
<p>I like the way gwilliams put it.</p>
<p>Me too. He puts it succinctly and well, correctly.</p>
<p>I think what matters even more than where you went to school is where you're living while you're working. It's a lot easier to find $100,000+ job in Silicon Valley than Boise (though your actual purchasing power could be considerably lower).</p>
<p>For the vast majority of students, particularly for undergraduate study, the school doesn't matter. What DOES matter is how well you distinguish yourself once you get there. There are exceptions, of course -- the two most common being (a) if you know that you want to work for a specific employer that only recruits from certain schools, and (b) the undergraduate institution offers a particular course of study that is uncommon. Otherwise, concentrate on getting into the best school that you can actually afford (i.e. try to graduate debt free), that offers a strong program in what interests you, and -- most importantly -- where you will fit in and be happy. Prestige isn't everything, particularly if you can't afford it and the setting makes you miserable.</p>
<p>
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Going to a college you like, great fit, got scholarships, excellent location, affiliation with religion, like the smallness, beautiful, but decent reputation and ranking, and being happy for 4 years.
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</p>
<p>yes. go to a school that you like and that is a great fit for you. however, sometimes those schools are the top and prestigious schools. it really depends on the person.</p>
<p>Williams, that is too much of a difference. Engineers make rough $80k exiting college wherever you go. An MIT grad might make $5k or $10k more starting..But if you graduate with $50k in debt, then there is no difference....The only difference is the name on the paper on the wall.</p>
<p>^^
Engineers make 80k exiting college, working as engineers? Call me misinformed but I think the true figure is at least 15k lower. I don't know how much more if any more the MIT grad will be making but likely he won't be doing the same job as the grad from [insert undistinguished engineering college here] so it's likely not that easily comparable.</p>
<p>Both my old roommate at CMU and my girlfriend from UCI were offered similar jobs at Raytheon, which is a pretty rad company if you're ECE (also both had the same salary offer).</p>
<p>Not everyone that attends top colleges will work for Microsoft/Google/BigNameCompany.</p>
<p>What about the many job opportunities after graduation. Is it true that those who went to a less selective college willl have a much harder time finding a job or else landing in some dirtier job than someone who went to a much elite college? I heard the college you're from, you're mostly limited to where you can find a job may it be only the same city where the college is at.</p>
<p>Thing i'm worried about is, I don't want to end up graduating and working at Chillis for another 5 years till I find my real job which is probrably mediocre.</p>
<p>omgosh...</p>
<p>save for IB/ Mgmt Consulting/ few "elite" jobs, you WON'T have ANY trouble finding a job in this country especially as an engineer.</p>
<p>No. you won't have any trouble finding a job in the Fortune 100, #1 being Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>You won't have trouble find a decent, respectable job. We've just been saying you'll have trouble getting a job at the most desirable companies.</p>
<p>and besides, you have alot of options open as an entering freshman.</p>
<p>heck, for microsoft, you can just do Master of Sci at some top 10 CS college. Master of Sci is easy to get into in most places... </p>
<p>if you don't want to end up as an engineer, you can still try out for med/T14 law/ M7 MBA/ etc etc...</p>
<p>hi thanks for your replies, I'm actually going for CS and arts (aka Computer graphics or video game designer) so I might find it competitive for my field of study.</p>
<p>Quick Question: Does where you go for your undergrad effect where you go for your grad? I mean it's a rumor i'm starting to hear on CC. Like for example, is UPenn and Harvard grad schools only limited to certain schools and some schools like...Augustana College cannot apply to these. Or are all grad schools open to ALL undergrad schools?</p>
<p>I Dunno, it's just what i'm hearing...</p>
<p>me thinks it matters a little bit but not soo much</p>
<p>You can apply wherever you want, if that's what you're asking. And grad schools like to emphasize that they accept students, not the schools they come from. But you will see that top graduate programs have a LOT of students who came from highly regarded undergrad institutions. This is not surprising, since students at top schools tend to be more qualified and thus more deserving of the spots available. The students who make the jump from lower tier undergrad to Ivy grad usually have something special going for them. They achieve at a level that makes them stand out from the crowd. Just like I mentioned earlier in the context of job prospects, you can't just go through the motions getting good grades and expect to get accepted to a top grad program. You need to develop a strong relationship with a professor who can write strong letters for you and demonstrate outstanding potential to do advanced research (typically by doing research as an undergrad).</p>
<p>Firecube2426, I know there's a stat with something like 25% of Harvard grad students (or professional students) having been undergrads at Harvard, but I think beyond the first couple of really big name schools, it doesn't matter a whole lot where you went for undergrad.</p>
<p>For example, in Materials here at Caltech, three of us applied from Carnegie Mellon, and all three of us got in. The only other school I know of that had more than one student accepted was the Colorado School of Mines. It's not because we're magically fantastic programs that have links to Caltech (heck, the only other guy I know that went from CMU materials science to Caltech materials science burned out rather quickly and took a pretty long time to finish his PhD), it's just that those two schools had some very strong applicants my year. Other schools my friends came from are Olin, Ohio State, Georgia Tech, UIUC, UCSD, ASU, and the University of Oregon. Naturally, I know more students that did their undergrad at Caltech than anywhere else, but that's because most of them formed relationships with their advisors prior to grad school, and wanted to stick around to continue their research.</p>