<p>I'm a rising HS senior thinking about majoring in chem engineering, possibly going on to get a Master's. However, going straight into work with a bachelor's isn't out of the question. I'm from Virginia, but I'm looking at going out of state for school since there are many schools ranked way above in-state options for ChemE. Specifically, my decision is boiling down to University of Delaware vs. nearly all the Big 10 schools. Privates are not in my consideration due to being in a middle-class family and having a poor chance of receiving any financial aid. I know that Delaware has a top-10 ranked program for ChemE, but I'm a little leery of going here based on the fact that all of the other programs seem to pale in comparison to schools like Michigan and UIUC which are strong across the board and have lots of alumni (Michigan has the most in the world if I'm not mistaken). This brings me to my question: How important is the strength of alumni networks in securing an engineering job? With the way I'm thinking, I see it as a better choice to go to a more renowned school like Michigan or even Ohio State, which may have a slightly lower ChemE ranking than Delaware but would presumably have a much stronger alumni network. Unless being close to Dupont would provide a significant advantage at Delaware, I'm kind of skeptical about going to a school that isn't known for much else other than ChemE. Anyone have any thoughts?</p>
<p>Any networking opportunities, such as alumni, is very important. It makes you stand out in a pool of thousands of job applicants.</p>
<p>At Google a referral can add bonus to your own salary. Many employees were hired through referrals.</p>
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<p>Being at a school close to an employer is a significant advantage for the first job at graduation, or for internships, at that employer, since local recruiting is convenient and inexpensive. However, it is preferable to be local to a larger number of employers versus just a few or one (though the latter is better than none).</p>
<p>If you are looking to go to school in the midwest for chemical engineering, consider University of Minnesota Twin Cities. It is highly regarded for chemical engineering (companies that travel to recruit will likely be there) and its out of state total cost is lower than most other out of state flagships (important because financial aid at out of state public schools tends to be limited – some private schools may be less expensive that many out of state public schools after considering financial aid).</p>