<p>tlqkf2002 - in that case, you should be looking into top elite schools (HYPSM, other ivies, berkeley, duke, etc.) because those companies only recruit at the top universities. I had a friend who was in CSFB and he says that at ibanking firms, there is a pecking order of who gets into the top firms and who will not even get a look. I find it sad that there are many kids who are going to lower UCs and such and claim that they will one day be a big ibanker, simply because ibanks demand prestigious undergrad educations since they only recruit at such places.</p>
<p>The prestige connected with where you to go to undergraduate school doesn't matter except for getting your first job. Where you go to post-undergrad doesn't matter except for PhD's, Lawyers and MD's. The post from irock1ce is talking about recruitment from college. The top companies recruit more at the top schools, but that only gives you an advantage in getting your first job. After the first job, on-the-job performance outweighs all other considerations. I work at a bank and the people at the top are the successful people who have had good careers, not just a high gpa before they even got a job.</p>
<p>So in a nutshell, it's ostensibly worth getting into the best undergraduate school that you can, right?</p>
<p>All things being equal such as cost, and assuming that by "best college" you mean the best one for you as opposed to the highest ranked college by USNWR, then yes.</p>
<p>Actually, you can put this whole money thing on a firm basis. If the more prestigious school is $25K more per year, then the cost is $125K for four years. Make an estimate of how much more per year you will make because you went to the more expensive school and divide that into $125K. Don't forget to include interest and inflation over the period. That will give you the number of years to recoup your investment.</p>
<p>dufus3709, your math is wrong $25K times 4 is $100K. Sorry, I couldn't help myself when I am reading your post.</p>
<p>Lisa Kudrow went to Vassar</p>
<p>alumni connections.. jobs are all about connections and going to a good school gets you more opportunities. sure you can maximize your opportunities from any school you go to, but going to prestigious university for undergrad/grad gets you MORE opportunities and thats reassuring.</p>
<p>Employers look for good undergraduate schools. I know I was deciding between University of San Diego and University of Southern California. USD was giving me a lot of money and an honors program and everything. However, USC is a much more recognized school and offers the opportunities that USD could never afford me. After speaking with professionals in various fields I determined that USC would be the best for my future. Try to go to the best school you can.</p>
<p>USC = alumni connections, period.</p>
<p>thanks for all the input. i'll try my best</p>
<p>It is hard to say that going to an Ivy League school will not give the student an advantage in income or career status. That perception is very strong, and people basically believe what they want to believe anyway. If anyone is seriously considering going into heavy debt in order to attend an Ivy instead of a school where they can save money, they need to read the first chapter of "Harvard Schmarvard" by Jay Mathews. In it, the author presents anecdotal evidence such as what schools that the top 10 Fortune 500 CEO's graduated from, or the most influential newspaper editors, or the governors, or the senators. More importantly, he presents the statistical evidence that was obtained by a database of seventy-five thousand students who enrolled in thirty-four colleges in the years 1951, 1976, and 1989 that is available at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Research Center.</p>
<p>On the parents' board, in a thread posted by Byerly on page 3, there are 2 articles, one by a Yale law school professor, that changed my mind about just how important a top school is. The basic issue is that in a country with a shrinking number of top jobs, the school you go to will have a large impact on access to top jobs and pay.</p>