<p>I've read here in the past that it doesn't matter what school you go to if you want to do a Mechanical Engineering degree. Can someone expand on that statement please? I would like to know the backings to it.</p>
<p>Um... I don't think that it <em>doesn't matter</em> entirely. I think that a lot of schools will bump you up in terms of initial opportunitites, but I also think that with prescribed mechanical engineering curricula being as they are, that there's not a spectacular amount of variance in coursework between the different programs at different schools. Maybe that's what your sources were talking about when they said that.</p>
<p>In the long run, it won't matter as much usually. In the immediate future, the school you go to will have an impact on what job opportunities are available to you, but this doesn't necessarily mean this is based on academic quality or prestige. I know one company who just loves to gobble up Manhattan College engineering majors. I imagine this has something to do with it being someone's alma mater. </p>
<p>On average though, a better school tends to provide better connections.</p>