Now that my D18 is squared away (wohoo!), I’m thinking about S21, lol. He’s totally different kid. I’m figuring it may be a stretch for him to get into the tippy top schools, though he could surprise me. He has all As this year as a freshmen (a first!) but no test scores yet. . .
He’s interested in the tech industry – loves Elon Musk and reads all the latest business news. Also entrepreneurship. He’s charming and social and sharp. He’s doing pre-engineering classes now, but I think he’ll stay on the business side of the shop.
Fort., if he can get into our flagship (UNC) with its top rated business school he’d be in GREAT shape. But that’s not a given, so I’m wondering what other colleges he should think about and possible visit over the next couple years.
What are schools with strong business programs that are NOT crazy hard to get into and where tech firms recruit? (Am thinking he’d be a geographic diversity pick for some of these that might help?)
I’ve thought of the following:
– Indiana (Kelly)
– UCs – do all the tech firms recruit from all of them or only a few of the top ones. If so, which ones besides UCLA and Cal where I assume it’d be a stretch to get in. . .
– UWash
For what it’s worth, he LOVED the tour we did with D to visit NYU. So I guess big cities and privates are on the table too, though he’d be looking as some loans likely with privates. [So far, he has expressed no interest in LACs, fyi).
Do companies like Google and Tesla, etc. recruit from all public flagships? I know it’s hard to say w/o stats, but generally what other colleges should be on his list for a very good but not tippy top performing kid?
Smaller companies may only recruit locally, or make few out-of-area recruiting trips.
College-elitism may differ between the technical side of a company and the business side of the company.
Remember that out-of-state publics are often expensive without financial aid. For all colleges, unless you can comfortably pay list price, try the net price calculator.
They will take top students from anywhere. Most great tech and start up tech get talent from the founders network including school and the top schools in the area. Specifically FANG they are becoming huge companies with a work force that is diverse. Most senior hires come from other big companies. My buddy was taken from P and G as a product line manager and went to run internet commerce at one of these and then to another huge tech giant as a c suite exec to run sales and marketing globally. He never wrote a pice if code in his life and was a liberal arts major at well known LAC in NE. Not Williams Amherst swat or bowdoin though
@ucbalumnus – thanks for that link – very interesting!
And, yes OOS publics at about $50k are the top of our comfort zone. Above that we’d have to figure out – expect his first year some aid b/c of overlap with two kids in school. But I know the first strata is loans and work/study. . . if he does apply to privates, he’ll know going in what the financial picture looks like…
Call me cynical, but it seems that the article @ucbalumnus linked to is a thinly veiled puff piece/ad for Univ of Phoenix. I’d like to see data about where these firms hire from for management-track (is that the right word??) jobs. In other words, I’m guessing that the Wells Fargo numbers cited in the article include low-level bank customer service/call center employees, which perhaps don’t really lead to the kinds of jobs one would hope for after college.
Among the LACs, I can tell you that Bowdoin is highly focused on, and has been successful at, carving a path to Silicon Valley companies for its graduates.
Career Services organizes a “West Trek” to top Silicon Valley employers. The college’s Trustees spend a lot of time engaging with tech execs. Top leadership at Netflix (CEO and founder is a Bowdoin alum), Apple and others have very close ties to Bowdoin and have donated millions to the school. (See below)
@alum88 – good to know LACs are in the mix. Right now my S. is not interested in small colleges, but he’ll get plenty of exposure the next few years as my D. is going to Davidson this Fall so could change.
Wonder if there’s a list of top LACs that feed tech industry too – may have to google that. Not sure he’d be able to get into Bowdoin nor could take the cold. . .
Santa Clara University. Rising star of a school situated smack dab in the heart of Silicon Valley. Not currently super hard to get into but that’s changing. Geographic diversity will probably still be a big plus when he’s applying. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is usually thought of as an engineering school but it has a solid business program too.
That link is a good resource, but also go to the source and check some other ones, like the one specifically for new-grad hires. The list used in the article is actually probably lagging to reputations of 5-10 years ago.
On the new grad list, I’d point out something: you’ll notice many schools are on there for a combination of proximity and size. The survey doesn’t adjust for size, so I would note that for places like UCF, NCSU, ASU, and Texas A&M. For proximity, it highlights that companies generally recruit regionally. SJSU has become a great option for CS because of that.
I’d also point out that the survey is only tech grads, not the business side. I think if he does stay on the business side, I think a lot of schools on that list change. In my experience, business recruiting isn’t really widespread like it is for engineers. The business world will be a lot more about networking, reputation, etc - even tech still plays by that. LAC’s can make great options for their building of a wide array of skills and knowledge. I think LAC’s with good CS/Engineering departments would be some great options.
“In my experience, business recruiting isn’t really widespread like it is for engineers.”
This quote gets to the kernel of things – where are they recruiting on the business side of the house? Though I also realize he may want/need to start with a mid-sized company.
I just wonder if on the business side if they’re only recruiting from Top 20 undergrad business schools – and maybe some top LACs?
Good thing – he’s got time to figure this out, but new list as of now:
UNC
Indiana (Kelly)
UWash
UT-Austin
Illinois - UC
Santa Clara
NYU?
maybe some UCs – need to figure them out. Good news is my BIL teaches at UCSC so my S can pick his brain (though he teaches Anthropology, lol)
And I’ll learn more about LACs that have pipeline to tech.
On the flipside of LAC’s, there’s also the go out and do it yourself route. Babson is a great school for entrepreneurship that has a partnership with Olin that could offer an interesting mix of business and tech. Northeastern offers co-op’s and good business/STEM which makes it easy to go co-op in the Valley. Most I know go for tech but people also go for business, and there’s probably a good way to combine that for those interested, though I know the tech world more than the business world (Disclaimer: I’m a Northeastern student). Lehigh is another school offering interesting business/tech combinations.
I think the crux of this is that the tech entrepreneurship route doesn’t really have pipelines and even today is still a bit of a wild west. Proximity or availability to go there may be important in the search. Both Babson and Northeastern offer great ways to spend time in SV while being a student as well.
In my experience, the popular schools that Silicon Valley ends up recruiting from are Cal Poly and San Jose State. Waterloo is another favorite. At least this is the case from my current employer-the fruit company.
The world’s greatest search engine and the most popular social media website tend to hire grads of the most prestigious schools.
SCU is an oddity-my alma mater’s placement in the top companies in the valley of silicon is really rare. That’s my experience.
My conclusion is that school doesn’t necessarily matter. If you can do the work, you are more than qualified. Steve Jobs never graduated from his school and he was the cofounder of a company whose sales/profits rival the GNP of some countries.
Perhaps even more cynically, it suggests the effect of credential creep, where employers want to see a bachelor’s (or master’s) degree even for jobs which do not really require general or specific knowledge signaled by such. Phoenix is quite large, so that it has many graduates despite its very low graduation rate, and apparently markets to working people with evening and distance course work, and who just need the credential for a hiring or promotion check box.
