<p>I'm starting my major in mechanical engineering and I'm running into a little predicament. I know that people in other fields like to put emphasis on certain undergrads being needed to get a good job. For example, in law and finance, where you went to school is important. If I wanted to go to a school such as Wright State University (convenience... easier to maintain my life because I'm not a traditional student... family, etc...), would I be able to land a good job so long as my GPA was good? I plan on eventually getting a graduate degree anyway, but I want to be able to land a job.</p>
<p>Someone? Anyone?</p>
<p>It is semi-important, but won’t kill you if you go to a lesser ranked school. Just make sure that it is ABET accredited.</p>
<p>From my experience, where you go to school isn’t nearly as important in engineering as it is for law and business. This is especially true for undergrads since undergrad engineering curriculum don’t vary as much from school to school. Where they do differ is usually in the level of rigor, so you want to make sure that any school you choose has a sufficiently rigorous engineering program.</p>
<p>That said, I’m not familiar enough with Wright State University to be able to say what your job prospects will be upon graduating. How is the tech industry in that area? Does the school have a good reputation locally? I’m guessing most engineers outside of Ohio aren’t very familiar with the school either, and that might make it more challenging for you to get a job out of state. However, if you do well in school, ace the GRE, and get strong recommendations, I think you should be able to get into a decent grad program.</p>
<p>You should do some research and find out more about the school’s ME program. Look at their curriculum and compare it with the curriculum of some well know engineering schools (MIT, Cal, etc.).</p>
<p>My teacher who has a PhD in EE (he teaches HS because he chose to do it because he got sick of working for NASA doing research and stuff). He went to a no name state school for undergrad. Then went to U of Washington for Masters and RPI for the PhD. From what I see, does not matter much.</p>
<p>Engineering employers are willing to hire from lower ranked or lesser known schools, though most of their recruiting is done locally (those who travel tend to travel to higher profile schools).</p>
<p>ABET accreditation does set a minimum bar in terms of quality of the degree program, so check for it at lower ranked or lesser known schools. ABET accreditation is necessary or very useful if you intend to get a Professional Engineer license (though this is mainly of importance for civil engineering).</p>
<p>I appreciate the responses. I just checked, and saw an accreditation for Wright State on the ABET website.</p>
<p>Engineering (EAC) Mechanical Engineering(BS)[1988] Mechanical Engineering 2011-2012</p>
<p>So, I’m assuming that means the program, as of the past review, has a rigorous enough curriculum to meet standards?</p>