<p>I've been looking at other threads, but most responses are contradictory. I realize companies are looking for graduates from top schools, but how much will it matter if I do not go to a top school? Say if I graduated from Alabama with a bachelors rather than a bachelors from Carnegie or Georgia Tech, how much harder will it be for me to find a job? (understand that I do not want a job in silicon valley or anywhere like that... I would rather work somewhere in the southeast)</p>
<p>How much will it matter? Not much in my opinion.</p>
<p>I graduated mid-pack at Rutgers U. with a BS Computer Science. It was a state school and I certainly wasn’t near the top of those who graduated from the CS program. Was it hard for me to find a job? Not really. I did not even start looking until after I graduated.</p>
<p>I had a 15 min phone screen and then a 30 min phone interview, and I was given an offer from a large defense contractor in the Baltimore, MD market. There was no in-person interview.</p>
<p>They offered:
-$80,000/year
-over 5 weeks of vacation per year with the option to carry up to 10 weeks over
-health insurance that even God can’t buy
-10k/year for educational assistance (currently working full time and attending a MS CS program part-time)
-work at most 40 hours a week and the ability to flex my schedule for those 8/80 type of work weeks
-differential pay for military training/deployment for my National Guard obligations</p>
<p>(Based on standard/cost of living, I would need an offer of at least $160,000 per year to even consider working in NYC, CA, or any expensive metro area… which certainly wouldn’t happen for a entry level position with the same work/life balance.)</p>
<p>What probably made it easier for me to land this job? The contract supports an Army command and control system. I had been serving as a PL/XO of an infantry company in the Army National Guard. I also had a Secret security clearance coming in so the contractor didn’t have to go through the trouble and potentially lengthy process of sponsoring me.</p>
<p>So, no, you don’t have to go to a top school to land a decent gig from a CS program. I went to a state school and walked out with exactly ZERO educational debt due to State Tuition Waiver for National Guard service members. You just need to be street/career smart, figure out your strengths, plan ahead. and make yourself attractive for whatever career field you are targeting. </p>
<p>I agree with the previous poster. You don’t have to go to a top school to get a good CS job. </p>
<p>What going to a top school might get you is a slightly better chance at getting an interview right out of college, and possibly some business connections down the line. Once you’re in the interview, it’s what you know and whether you’d fit into the group that matters, not where you went to school.</p>
<p>As for interviews, I’ve been hired for several jobs after only phone interviews, but they usually require you to come in.</p>
<p>I know I sound like a broken record, but these are my stats:</p>
<ul>
<li>B.S. in Computational Mathematics from Michigan State University…with a less than 3.0 GPA</li>
<li>Took enough CS electives to complete 85% of CS major</li>
<li>Has worked for Westinghouse, Boeing, General Dynamics, CSC</li>
<li>24 1/2 years experience in software engineering…mainly in databases</li>
<li>Even squeezed out a M.S. Engineering from University of Wisconsin…with NO GRE test</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course a top school won’t hurt but knowing how the industry is played (like knowing how the “game” is played) is the #1 thing to know.</p>
<p>@GLOBALTRAVELER</p>
<p>Sounds like me… Less than a 3.0GPA undergrad and a MS CS degree from an accredited state university program that did not require a GRE. “Check the block!”</p>
<p>Recruiting will likely differ; each school tends to be more attractive to local employers (particularly smaller ones) who do not want to fly somewhere to recruit. Of the employers that are willing to fly somewhere to recruit, schools like Georgia Tech may be more attractive, but many of those employers are larger ones that recruit widely, and which you may know about anyway so that you can apply to them on your own.</p>