<p>I've just graduated from a fairly good community college with a fairly good (3.7) GPA in majoring Computer Information Systems. I live close to NYC and would like to transfer to a school close by. I don't qualify for any instate tuition due to my immigration status and can't pay more than $10-12k a year.</p>
<p>Ok, now that you know all that, here's what I've been going thru... I can't sleep. All I can think of is that if I don't go to a big-name school I will not be able to get a job. I want someone to shake me up and tell me that name is not that important, you can go to a no-name school and still get hired after graduation. Then again I don't wait hollow reassurances. My future depends on this decision and I'd rather not jeopardize it.</p>
<p>I was looking in to Stony Brook U, I got in, but decided not to go their because I don't want to move from my current resident and it'd be a 2½ hour (one-way) commute for me, even though I drive myself. Then I got into CUNY Baruch in NYC for this past spring, but failed to properly request an application reprocessing for the fall and now I'd have to wait until next spring if I wanna go there (CUNY offered me Lehman instead for this fall...).</p>
<p>My last option - if I wanna go to college this fall - is Fairleigh Dickinson University. Most of your probably haven't heard of it. It's a private school in NJ, their tuition is over $20k/y, but they are giving me a $10,000 PTK scholarship effectively cutting the tuition in half.</p>
<p>That's where I am stuck. Should I go to this school, since it fits almost everything I want, except for being <em>a lit bit known for</em> academic excellence. Or should I not go there for the same reason. I guess I could wait and go to Baruch or get into Rutgers - New Brunswick for the fall, but then I'd be wasting a whole semester.</p>
<p>I am so confused.</p>
<p>P.S. I know I may sound a bit dumb asking choices between 2nd and 3rd tier schools, when people are talking about Stern and Wharton, but not everyone is so bright and lucky.</p>
<p>Well, yeah, it is, but you'll get into a decent grad. school if you just do well enough in school, regardless of the rep of your 4 year college.</p>
<p>And yeah, I've heard of Farleigh...it's a nice school. It's not that far from where I live. Don't let the rep get to you! </p>
<p>When you get your next job, ask people where they went to school. You'll be surprised.</p>
<p>This is an ever-going debate. I mean, of course in theory, going to a better school is better because... well, it's better. at education, and everything. but then if you really think about it, take a decent 3rd tier school, compare the knowledge you get there compared to the knowledge you receive from an ivy school - there won't be too much difference, as long as you want to learn. </p>
<p>True, a Harvard grad and a middle-of-nowhere grad would start out with much different salaries straight out of college, simply because of the name. and a harvard grad might have more connections to push him further. But consider this example - I know a PhD in bio who graduated from Buffalo and is now working as an assistant professor in BU. He is young, has a decent salary, can support a family, and is waiting for a raise anytime soon. His grad school classmate from princeton is still working his butt off trying to get his PhD, because he learned nothing in his school and it's paying off now.</p>
<p>Grad school is different. But for a person who will not be going to grad school, the ame doesn't matter much. You can end up in a better place than an ivy grad, just with a little bit more time. So I say, don't worry about it. Go to a school you like and forget about it's name. Just enjoy :)</p>
<p>I don't think the opportunities for you coming out of Baruch or out of Fairleigh Dickinson are likely to be that different. If Baruch would save you a lot of money, or if for other reasons you think it would be a better experience for you, then I'd advise you to wait, but if FD "fits nearly everything you want," then why lost the semester?</p>
<p>I work for a billion dollar pharmaceutical company and we hire students from all over the nation. Kids from big schools like Harvard and Berkeley to small schools like La Verne and Pacific Luthern. In the real world, your job performance will outweigh any undergraduate degree. For example, most of our senior management staff consist of people who graduated from the smaller schools. My point, you will not be doomed graduating from lesser known school. Undergraduate degrees are a dime a dozen these days so go to the school that gives you the most bang for your buck.</p>
<p>After one year in the workplace no one will care about what schools you attended or your GPA. Your work record will be all important. I have seen young people complain bitterly that the person who got the promotion or the plum assignment, "Didn't go to a top school like I did!" Always funny.</p>
<p>I agree with most of what's been posted. You are judged by your performance at every last level you have been, including your last job. For going to grad school, it's true that kids with equal grades will have a better chance coming from a "better" school. For getting your first job, after completion of grad school, your undergraduate college will have virtually no meaning to an employer; they will be looking at what you did at grad school. If you are talking about going into the job market directly from college, where you went to college will have some bearing on your opportunities; all things being equal, the guy from Harvard will probably get the first job over someone from FDU. But things are RARELY all equal because that does not take into account differences in personality and how individuals present at an interview which is probably more important for most jobs coming out of college than any other single factor. in addition, specific job skills obtained during college will also generally trump the prestige of college when an employer is hiring. What kind of jpb are you considering going for after college? What field? Keep in mind, that once you have your first job (and there will be a first job) you will be judged almost entirely in what you did at that job, not what college you went to.</p>
<p>I'll be majoring in either Information Technology or Business Management - Information Systems, or both. I worked in my previous school as a lab tech, the whole time I was going there, and have two internships, including one currently with a major publishing company (they publish one of the largest daily papers!) which I can't name.</p>
<p>I've consistently heard from successful people (businesspeople, lawyers, doctors) that where you go to school makes virtually no difference when getting hired for a job, even just out of undergrad. They just pick the better candidate, which is why internships are so important. </p>
<p>If you can get work and internships in college and show dedication and an excellent performance, you will get the job, no matter WHERE you went. </p>
<p>I don't remember where I read this, but isn't it true that every person on the Forbes list not have an Ivy degree but one?</p>
<p>You are in great shape if you are alreading interning and doing well there. Employers will take experience and performance over pedigree anyday and always. Given your career plans, does FDU offer what you need for training? If so I really would not sweat the prestige stuff unless in your heart of hearts going to a more prestigious place is important to you and you would regret not having gone to one even if you had a successful career (I know people like that). But you know you don't have to take anyone's advise from CC. Talk to your bosses (the ones in charge of hiring) where you intern and tell them about your plans,see what their response is. I would be very surprised if they didn't tell you to go to FDU versus waiting a year.</p>
<p>In one of these posts someone mentioned a 3rd tier school. Did someone actually categorize these colleges? What would be a second tier school? Carnegie Mellon? Stanford? I'm assuming a 1st tier would be Ivies.</p>
<p>Mentions of the 3d and 3th tiers, in all likelihood, refer to USNews. The top tier is the top 50 universities, not just Ivies, and certainly includes Stanford and CMU. A second-tier school would be like Clemson, Baylor, or Indiana. </p>
<p>It hardly matters at all. I live in one of the most successful places in the world (West Los Angeles) and hardly any of the successful people I know went to "top colleges" What does the "prestige" of the "top" schools matter for? Your own personal ego. That's it. As far as jobs and money go, it depends how hard you work and what luck comes along your path.</p>
<p>Not once in the last 25 years have I been asked where I went to undergraduate school. Graduate school, occasionally for an introduction, but undergrad, never.</p>
<p>Wow, this is encouraging. We had to pass up the "top" school for a state honors program that we could afford, especially trying to save money for graduate school and for the second child. I've been feeling a little guilty about letting our son down, but these comments make me feel better!</p>