<p>what are “elite” corporations? My ds works for a top 10 global chemical company and has had multiple promotions in 3 yrs, including a transfer. He works alongside grads from top schools (not MIT or Duke, but GT, VT, UMichigan, NCSU etc.) My dh’s career is similar. So, from “in the trenches,” it looks very different. (I do think that Duke students are not likely ending up in plants, but that is just a guess.) </p>
<p>Fwiw, I am also not sure what a line engineer is. Aren’t lines typically run by operators? (They have been in every plant my dh has worked at.) Most entry level engineering jobs (for chemical anyway, since that is what I am familiar with) are going to be process engineers, area supervisors, etc. Engineers can then decide which path they want to pursue…management or process. That’s our experience anyway and “where” hasnt factored into anything after being hired.</p>
<p>Most engineers do come from state universities, they just happen to produce more of them. And aerospace has always been dominated by state university graduates. And GT is elite AND a state university, Louisville is somewhat lower.</p>
<p>By line engineer, I mean those who actually do engineering for a living, not management or sales. (My confusing terminology - sorry.) What’s little known about engineering is that it’s a fairly short-lived career. Over half and I believe nearly two-thirds of all engineering graduates are doing something other than engineering as their primary job 15 years after graduation. They may work for the same company, but the ones doing just engineering are the exception, not the rule.</p>
<p>Here’s where the difference may come in. Say you’re an engineer who’s going into management. At some point, you want an MBA, maybe even a Harvard MBA. The list of undergrad institutions feeding HBS can be found here:</p>
<p>Plenty of state schools on the list, but if we look at where the engineers could potentially come from, even the state schools are among the engineering elite, schools like Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana, UCLA, UCB… MIT, Duke, and GT are all on the list. UofL is not. Maybe it is some years, I don’t have those in front of me. More research is needed, but maybe if one is going into engineering, the key is not to go to only the elites like MIT, Duke, and GT, but rather, something higher ranked in engineering than UofL, if you can swing the cost. (FWIW, my alma mater isn’t on the list either, and I acknowledge that to be a mistake.)</p>
<p>Mrmom62, that still is not our experience. Ds’s corp paid for him to earn his Black Belt. Dh’s pays for any all training. You don’t have to leave the corp to get your MBA and find a management job. They meet for yrly evaluations and goal objectives. High performers are “groomed” for their desired objectives and seek positions and transfers to help them advance toward that objective. Really, where they earned their degrees doesn’t factor into it. Their performance reviews do. </p>
<p>As always, it’s difficult to separate cause from effect. Do MIT graduates succeed because they went to MIT or because they were smart enough to get into MIT in the first place? Although I tend to believe it’s the second one, I also believe that you can throw a whole lot of roadblocks into the path of even an MIT level engineer if you send him to Directional State instead. </p>
<p>And I say that thinking the UofL option may be the best option for OP because the cost of the other schools may simply be too great.</p>