I’m pretty surprised to find out the fact that jobs in the US put much heavier weight on the graduate school you’ve graduated from rather than the undergrad.
Just how important is undergraduate school?
and does this imply that it is advised for people to choose a less academically rigourous college for better grades?
<p>No, becauase if you look at students enrolled at top grad schools, top colleges are represented in a huge way.</p>
<p>In general, your job status and income doesn't have much to do where you earned your degree unless you get a Doctorate. PhD's have a peeking order like the military; but outside of academia and after you've gotten your first job, it doesn't matter much to anyone in industry. You can impress your friends that you went to an Ivy League school, but it won't get you a raise. Only on-the-job performance will do that.</p>
<p>Statistically, they have done studies showing that graduates from Ivy League schools make more money than non-Ivy graduates. More recent studies have examined the statistical difference in income between people accepted to Ivy schools who graduated from one, and people who were accepted to Ivy schools but decided to attend somewhere else. There is no statistical difference in income. Apparently the type of people who can be accepted to an Ivy are more successful (monetarily) than others, but they don't actually have to attend.</p>
<p>Master degrees will increase you income over a simple Bachelors degree, but most Masters are earned in night school. Colleges use the awarding of Masters as a way to make money. I'll use Johns Hopkins as an example. To get into the part-time masters program in science/engineering at Hopkins you need to pretty much be a warm body with an undergraduate degree. To earn the Masters, you have to take ten classes. Each class is $2100. The company you are working for will normally give you tuition reimbursement as a benefit. The Hopkins Masters is the same whether you get it full-time or part-time. </p>
<p>The only degree that the school awarding the degree will have a effect on your life (after you get your first job) is the PhD.</p>
<p>Follow-up to last post:
I know that a lot of people on CC are very competitive about getting into the most selective college, but just think about it. If you have been working for a few years, is your employer going to give you a raise because of where you went to school or because of that fantastic job you did on your last assignment? Is your employer not going to fire you because they don't dare fire a Harvard graduate, or is he/she going to dump you because you really screwed up your last assignment?</p>
<p>well I agree with the part about how there isn't very much correlation between your job status and income level. However, I was focusing more on the process of actually getting a decent job. How much effect does the university you graduated from affect your chances when it comes to applying for a job (or recruitment)?</p>
<p>It depends on the job, obviously. If you are looking for a job which primarily recruits after undergrad (banking and such), then where you get your degree matters much more if you want to, say, be a lawyer.</p>
<p>Well, I think undergraduate school has an important role in your future jobs. This is because, when you attend top-notch schools, you have a better access to top-notch internships. So your initial work experience will help you start-off better. For example, let us say you are studying CS @ MIT or Cal. Since you are at one of the best engineering schools, companies like google, amazon etc will love to hire you. Such brand names on your resume definitely looks good for your starting job or your future jobs. Ofcourse, there are a few exceptions to this...and it is slightly biased cuz i have engineering on my mind.</p>
<p>Engineering is one of the less name brand oriented areas for jobs. Most grads of top 20 schools get pretty much equal pay.</p>
<p>I agree with indie_boy...it all depends on the field you're in. For some fields, the college brand name matters more. For example, in terms of drama, a degree from Carnegie Mellon or Juilliard will definitely help to jumpstart a career. People will jump on me for saying this, because they think talent is the only thing that matters, but connections you make because of a top drama school's degree are EXTREMELY helpful and important.</p>
<p>As a lawyer, I can tell you that many jobs in my field are heavily influenced by undergrad degree. Top firms and corporations are often clubby. If three of the top partners went to Harvard and you did too, the secret handshake gives you a big leg up.</p>
<p>There are certainly fields where it matters less than in others, but in a world where connections and perceived status matter, I can't think of any field in which going to a top college won't help.</p>
<p>I agree with barrons about how the school doesn't help in engineering. I also agree with people saying that it would help with getting your first job. That would be true if you were working in drama or any other field. My counter example, though, is that people don't care what school Mel Gibson graduated from. The top law school example is also true, but that isn't an undergraduate degree. Also it applies to relatively few lawyers. Most lawyers work for the government in small offices in places like the patent office. You might say that Harvard graduates don't work in small offices in places like the patent office. They probably don't for lawyers, but where are English/history majors with only an undergraduate degree from Harvard working? </p>
<p>I don't mean to denigrate going to a prestigious school. The academic experience itself is better. Would you rather go to Yale or the local community college while living at home? Not only is the education better, but the experience of going there is better. I just not think that where you go to undergraduate school (this doesn't include PhD's, MD's, or lawyers) has a major effect on your life, although the kind of person who can go to HYPSM is going to do well no matter what (in most cases).</p>
<p>Who you marry has a big effect on your life, not where you go to undergraduate college. How many people pick their wife as carefully as their college? :)</p>
<p>It seems to me that most well known actors have only a marginal drama education. Either you have the look and attitude they want or you don't.</p>
<p>I think Lisa Kudrow (Feebee) from Friends graduated from Harvard, so I guess it does matter to some extent</p>
<p>Sure and the rest of the cast?? The horrible David Schwimmer went to NU. The rest I have no idea. And Kudrow did not go to Harvard.<br>
Now a much bigger star went to Ripon College.</p>
<p>Jodie Foster went to Yale, but that was after she was already a big star. She's supposed to be super smart, but I think being a big movie star was her hook in her essay.</p>
<p>"Just how important is undergraduate school?"</p>
<p>it depends on what kind of job you are looking for. it also depends on your competition... yes, graduate and professional degrees will probably be given the advantage over someone with just a bachelors</p>
<p>"and does this imply that it is advised for people to choose a less academically rigourous college for better grades?"</p>
<p>grades are not everything now. employers are looking for internships too, or something equivalent like summer job or research. more importantly, your interview is a very important factor on whether you get hired or not. a college grad with a 3.8 who has a mediocre interview and no internship experience will most likely be beaten out for a job by the 3.4 who had a good internship experience and a very positive interview.</p>
<p>Having been a college recruiter for a major corporation I have to say that the college you choose does play a significant role in the initial hire. Corporations can not recruit at more than a select number of schools every year...they just don't have the resources. So they prioritize the schools they do want to recruit at based on the quality of the graduates they have seen from various schools. If you are focused on a specific academic area, and the college you choose is nationally recognized in this area, there will be placement opportunities when you graduate.</p>
<p>This ought to be something you consider when you choose a College, what is the strength of their placement organization. What is their record in helping their graduates get that first job.</p>
<p>Outside of a few professions (like law and medicine), Once you are with an organization after college, your performance in the job is the number one determinate in success and salary, the school you went fades in importance.</p>
<p>oh cool. never knew there were such things as 'placement organization'</p>
<p>I should've specified the fields I'm interested in.</p>
<p>I haven't quite decided but fields including mathematics, economics, physics, and computer science interests me the most. </p>
<p>I hope I could be employed in big firms like Intel, Microsoft, JP Morgan, or work as a professor in a uni. teaching and doing research at the same time. I'm not too the available jobs in my field. </p>
<p>(professions like doctors or lawyers don't interest me. sounds very cocky as if I can actually become one lol)</p>
<p>University teaching and doing research are kind of snobbish, ie they care about where you go to school.</p>
<p>bump?..;;;</p>