<p>I just wanted to throw this question out there. How important is prestige (undergrad) when it comes to getting a job/getting into grad school/etc?</p>
<p>For example, I always thought that LAC's and lower ranked/state schools were average schools. After spending some time on this forum I find out that the top LAC's, Michigan, UCLA, Berkeley, etc. are really good schools. </p>
<p>Do employers/grad schools see those schools the same way I did when I was ignorant? How important exactly is the prestige of your undergrad school?</p>
<p>It can be very important. Having a MS in Civil Engineering from U.C. Berkeley has given me career opportunities I doubt I would have had otherwise. The academic preparation has also given me the training to make good on those opportunities.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to attend the best school you can for the degree program you are entering. I think you'll find it does make a difference to both the grad schools and the better employers.</p>
<p>Undergrad isn't overly important outside of graduate school admissions. But graduate... that's a whole other story. Additionally, prestige is also important if you go work overseas.</p>
<p>(This is written in a satirical tone, don't go chase me with a broom of contempt)
Is Presitige important? For those of us who aren't going to a Ivy League (whatever that is) we can only say "No, of couse not!" But really, have we ever heard anyone graduate with decent grade from those schools complains that they can't a job because of their degree? I won't bother trying to cover it up that graduating from Harvard, Yale, Duke, MIT, Stanford and...won't open giant door for us. Because it does, and in a big way. Employers flock to top school to recruit; you won't find a single company that would boycott recruitment at Harvard or Yale, just to name two.
Take two students, one from Ivy University with a 3.5 and a Overcrowded State College with a 3.9 (because 4.0 is just too much to believe). With the same credential on EC and same quality of recommendation. How many here honestly believe that the Ivy student doesn't get a greater advantage over the other student?
Does graduating with a elite degree means you'll swim in caviar and use dollars as lighter? Fortunately not. But more of those who do those things graduated from top schools.
Pick a school that will make you happy. But don't believe for a second that prestige doesn't matter. How much greater does it matter is up to the individual to exploit it.</p>
<p>P.S.
can someone direct me to where the realword is? I've been living in CC for way too long.</p>
<p>Yes, prestige is critical if you work overseas. In China, for example, a degree from--say Stanford will be way more valuable than from a small LAC, like Amherst or Pomona, even though the quality of education is probably similar.</p>
<p>Theoretically, anyone could start a business and go on to compete with Microsoft or whatever. But a prestigeous background is certainly helpful in a number of ways.
- Prestige at least correlates with better education. (Obviously.)
- You can build better connections at a prestigeous school, since students and professors are more likely to be big figures in your field.
- Build better connections beyond school (including employer connections >> better jobs), since you'll be seen as a smart educated person who everyone wants to work with.</p>
<p>Just a few thoughts. A BA degree means "begin again". It really doesn't matter as much as people think. In the real world you will be ranked, rated, and evaluated on your performance. Study hard, participate in activities in school and try to get some experience working in the field you are interested in. Also look at the individual department that you are interested in. Some state schools have stonger departments in particular fields than the top ivies. You may also have a lot more opportunities at state schools than the some of the top private. I would think that a undergraduate program in the top two tier schools will serve you well. Another note, check where the faculty are from : ) and their backgrounds. You will be pleasantly surprised!!!</p>
<p>Maybe - if the recruiter, HR Staffing, person who will read your resume "know" of the college on some level. But kids hear this, it is the whole package that will get you the job. I personally know Ivy League grads that "failed" miserably in the real world.</p>
<p>So let me just make sure I understand it (I don't have to read your long explanations, although they probably are very informative), undergrad is just important to get into a good grad school, but the grad school is looked at closely by employers?</p>
<p>But bottom line, a lot of this is "who you know" when it comes to landing a decent job after school. Thus, the person who goes to a no name state school but has connections OR is excellent at networking, will always outdo the Ivy league guy.</p>
<p>I am just going to come out, and say I want to go to a prestigous college like most people. However more and more people tell me it does not matter. One of my relatives who makes 100k a year went to a medicore state college. He told me when your in the white collar work force no one ever asks(or cares) where you went and rarely what degree you got. The common questions employers ask are what is your exp. and what can you do for our company. I guess what he was trying to tell me is that a degree from Oregon State is just as valauble as other top schools.(Except maybe the Ivies on certain occasions )</p>
<p>There wa a gigantic thread on this question about 4 months or so ago....it got very heated with lots of opinions. Search for it for your entertainment.
I will state that what this site lacks are business people who actually hire people and their opinions and views on prestige.</p>
<p>I spent 10 years at a big name Wall Street firm, ultimately running a derivative trading desk on the firm's fixed income trading floor, so can give you a business perspective from that industry. Before working at that firm I was a lawyer and I now work at a hedge fund. At the firm I was involved in all aspects of HR for the people who worked for me - recruitment, hiring, compensation, firing, etc.</p>
<p>The short answer is that any smart person who is willing to work hard and who presents themselves well can have a very successful career on Wall Street regardless of where they went to school. That being said, I do believe that getting access to those opportunities is easier for people who go to big name schools. Wall Street firms target certain schools that they believe produce top quality people with the skillsets they want and they affirmatively go to those schools to recruit those people. The list of schools that they affirmatively recruit from though is limited. People at other schools have to be proactive and work hard to get themselves in front of the right people to be considered for employment.</p>
<p>Once you get the interview are there potentially some pre-conceptions about your qualifications based upon where you went to school? Yes, probably so, but those can go away very quickly. If you are smart, have the skillset they are looking for and can present yourself well, interviewers will pick that up quickly and will forget any doubts they might have had. The flip side is that if you don't actually have the skills you should or even if you do but you can't present yourself well any positive pre-conceptions there might have been can go away very, very quickly. Good business people are experts at reading people. It is one of the reasons they are good business people.</p>
<p>Once you get the job where you went to school becomes very unimportant. What matters then is very simple - performance.</p>
<p>With respect to the comments made about undergrad v. grad school, don't assume that grad school is a necessity to be "successful". You might be surprised how many successful Wall Street professionals only have undergrad degrees. If you want to have an investment banking career an MBA is probably something you will get, but you aren't going to go straight to B-school from undergrad. What you want to do is get a job at a bank for 2-3 years as an analyst and then go to B-school. If you want to have a career in sales or trading though, an MBA is definitely not required and some people would suggest is a waste of time. Hiring an MBA straight out of B-school was a very rare event on my derivative trading desk. Every year though we hired 2-4 undergrads (mostly math and engineering people), very few of them ever went back to B-school and most had very successful careers.</p>
<p>I can honestly say that the QUALITY of education between an Ivy League school and a lesser known school is very similar. Most colleges teach you the same material and use similar textbooks.</p>
<p>however, going to a prestigious school has two advantages. one, respect. Unfortunately, people who go to prestigious schools often get a lot more respect than those who didn't. People have a lot of preconceptions about you b/c you went to a brand name school. Second, networking. Generally speaking, the networking at prestigious schools is stronger. It is easier to make connections and land a job if you attend a big name school.</p>
<p>In regards to earning respect simply b/c you went to a brand name school with a strong reputation, a fatal mistake that a lot of people make is that they assume that they can get anything they want by virtue of their academic pedigree. They are often unmotivated and lazy, and b/c of this, they fail miserably in their jobs. If you don't take the initiative to prove yourself--regardless of which school you come from--you will fall from grace quickly. Second, netwokring is IMPORTANT whether you go to a brand name school or a less obscure one. If you know how to network and meet people, you will do well. However, admittedly, it is easier to network w/ people if you went to a brand name school.</p>