<p>I go to a state-school in NY (majoring in EE) and I’ve seen a few questions posted on those sites where you pay someone a certain amount of money to do your homework question. Some of the questions I’ve seen from MIT students (mostly CS questions, that <em>I</em> as a <em>EE</em> major could answer) are just plain easy. Perhaps those that are posting are the ones who shouldn’t be at MIT, but I think that MIT professors would expect you to do that without much difficulty.</p>
<p>I’ve also checked out MIT OCW website and gone to some of the courses I’m taking as well. Same material, almost identical presentation, and somewhat familiar tests. Sometimes I wonder, what is really the BIG difference? It seemed as if their course-flow and course-level were the same as mine. Now, obviously, an identical student who let’s say knows the same as I do, or at least performs identical to me, will get the job over me (assuming equal interviewing skills). Why? Because he has MIT on his resume, and I don’t. Such is life.</p>
<p>Anyway, it wouldn’t hurt to get degree from the “top” schools. What really distinguishes these schools are the research programs/projects going on (both at the Masters and PhD levels) as well as faculty reputation.</p>
<p>I met someone from Microsoft who graduated with a CS degree from my state school (which is highly ranked among state schools) working alongside those from MIT/Harvard/etc. These are people with only UG degrees. Same payscale, respect, and position at their current job. The guy who went here probably spent 15k/year, whereas the MIT student probably paid 45k/year. Both ended up earning 60k/year after graduation (at Microsoft). No big deal. After you have your job or work for a few years, where you went isn’t much of a concern. Rather, what you’ll be judged is what YOU can CONTRIBUTE to the company/team/project. That’s how you climb the ladder.</p>