<p>Engineering is rigorous.
So a 3.0 gpa engineering student from Oklahoma State or Arkansas or Kansas (you get the idea) , would essentially be on the same level as a 3.0 gpa engineering student from say an Ivy league/east coast school, wouldn't he/she?
From all the people I have talked to who have been through Engineering say they started with around 100 engineers, and graduated with 15.
Do Undergraduate Engineering schools matter as much as we think?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. For jobs at engineering firms, the student from a less known school would need a higher GPA to stand out, but some of the lesser known schools may have strong regional alumni networks and reputation. For jobs outside of an engineering firm (venture capital, finance, consulting, research, etc.) the student from the Ivy League school is at a huge advantage. </p>
<p>There are of course exceptions. At a lesser known school there will be fewer research opportunities, but top students will be able to succeed through REUs. Likewise there will be little on campus recruiting, but some students will be able to successfully network with alumni.</p>
<p>It should also be noted that although your school might help you put your foot in the door for your first job, it ultimately becomes irrelevant where you went to school after your first or second job.</p>
<p>It definitely matters in the sense that you’ll learn more at some universities than others. It matters in terms of cost too.</p>
<p>Impressing an employer or grad school is not the only reason to attend college.</p>
<p>OK State, Kansas, and Arkansas are all large research institutions, so in engineering, the GPA equivalence is actually pretty close. Looking at this from the other side, Cornell is probably the only Ivy with an Ivy-level reputation in engineering. You wouldn’t get your money’s worth going to a different Ivy for engineering.</p>
<p>Of course it’s different if you plan for an early career path outside of engineering. For example, you want to enter straight into law school or medical school with an engineering degree, much easier from an Ivy.</p>
<p>ive been wondering the same thing… i wanted to go to carnegie mellon but couldnt afford it so im gonna go to wvu, which is giving me a good bit of scholarship money. i figured i could always go to a better known school for grad school?</p>
<p>Well there is kind of a misconception in the OP. Ivy League and East Coast schools are good for business or law but not so much for engineering. Now if you go to the great engineering schools, like CalTech or Georgia Tech, yes you will have an advantage, all other things being even.</p>
<p>There is a difference between engineering the major and engineering the career. Top east cost privates (including the Ivy League) are good for the former but not so much the later. Lots of engineering majors go into finance, consulting, or something else along those lines.</p>
<p>“Cornell is probably the only Ivy with an Ivy-level reputation in engineering. You wouldn’t get your money’s worth going to a different Ivy for engineering.”
Not true, Princeton is best known for engineering in the Ivies and the Fu Foundation at Columbia is equally as well known.</p>
<p>goldandblue92, that’s exactly right. If you do well at WVU you can go to grad school pretty much anywhere. Tuition and living support is also available for engineering grad students, especially if you can get onto a professor’s project.</p>
<p>mikinva, my opinion is based on Cornell’s listing in the top 10 engineering schools with USNR, plus I see their people presenting at conferences all the time, plus I’ve worked with some Cornell graduates. Princeton and Columbia are listed further down at USNR, and in almost 30 years I have never encountered one of their graduates or faculty in my field.</p>
<p>No, not that much.</p>