<p>I’m an engineer and have worked as a engineering manager for Motorola. We hired many new grads and their hiring practices were to select the best candidates for the job. A prestigious university may get you an interview easier, but it had little or no impact on starting salary. Bachelor degree graduates were pretty much offered the same salary range. Master degreed candidates came in at a higher grade level and salary.</p>
<p>My son is going to his senior year in HS this fall, and he’s in the college selection process for studying engineering as well. He’s in the top 10% of his class and has 4.0+ GPA and would likely be admitted to any college. We have a local state university that has a very good engineering program and is on the top 50 list. That will be the likely choice in the end, but we’re applying for some big name colleges like MIT, Berkley, Georgia Tech, etc.. just to see what they would offer in terms of scholarships. In the end, the decision will be based on the quality of education and affordability.</p>
<p>Hope this helps, and good luck with your decision.</p>
<p>jasper</p>