I am totally aware that GPA and school is not all that matters, but setting aside other factors, frankly is GPA or the rank and reputation of the school more important when finding a job and receiving a higher salary?
Although it may not be true in all cases, but generally, it can probably be said that it is harder to get a good GPA from a better school with more academic peers, and that better schools generally offer better programs with better faculty. Also, assume that better schools provide more opportunities in extra curricular, such as in research and internship.
So for example would I be better off as a graduate from CMU, BC, Emory or NYU with a gpa of around 3.5 or as one from a lower ranked school like BU or george washington U with a 3.8+ gpa?
Just because a school is ranked higher doesn’t mean it’s harder to get a higher GPA. This is gonna vary a lot school by school.
um i did state that I was aware of the exceptions first of all, And there are other factors that I mentioned that constitute my point here that good colleges tend to have better education overall IN GENERAL, which is why many employers prefer graduates from top ranking schools, though there may be, of course, some exceptions. My question was whether the GPA was more important than the quality and reputation of the education that a school provides. So could you answer my question if you may, rather than pointing out an exception to a small portion of my reasoning? I do get your point though. but maybe a school ranked 30 is not so different from a school ranked 40 in business. But usually schools like Wharton and Dyson are much more rigorous than schools like University of Hawaii (my state of residency) business school named Schilder or whatever.
You will be astonished, but to a large extent employers don’t care about GPA- and they don’t parse the differences between colleges that finely either. With the exception of some specific programs/degrees, most employers (unless they have a personal association with one or other of them), would put all of those colleges in roughly the same basket.
What will matter much, much more for getting a better job / better pay is what you do beyond your GPA: summer jobs, internships, ECs that relate to your field.
@collegemom3717 Does what you said apply to finance and actuary fields as well? Thank you for the reply!
What matters more is picking a school that job recruiters favor for your particular major.
@GMTplus7 sneaky but actually sounds about right. How do I find out about that information?
@GMTplus7 is right- that’s what I was getting at with the exceptions. For example, NYU Stern is known for business and CMU for compsci in a way that attracts recruiters. How you find out about what schools are known for your subject is research 
But- going to a school that is heavily recruited in your field doesn’t mean that you will be, and going to a college that is similarly ranked overall, but not as heavily recruited in your field, doesn’t mean that you won’t be. In both cases, what you do with your college experience (summers included) will be critical.
FYI, from the WSJ
These schools produced the best graduates in each major, according to recruiters.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748703376504575491704156387646
The background news article
http://www.wsj.com/public/page/rankings-career-college-majors.html
So here’s the deal. For most companies, your school doesn’t matter, and your GPA only matters insofar as they can be sure you are on pace to graduate; after graduation, it doesn’t really matter - your work experience will become the primary factor in future employment.
HOWEVER, if you are interested in top companies, it starts to matter. There are always exceptions and alternative routes into big / top tier companies, but the straightest shot is through target schools. For example, if you are interested in working for Goldman Sachs, you may have a hard time if you go to a small liberal arts school - even the biggest companies do not have the resources to recruit at all colleges, and some companies only hire via on campus recruitment. So your school will matter in determining who recruits you.
Your GPA matters for companies recruiting at your school. So, once a company has decided to recruit at your school, they will have limited interview slots, and GPA is an easy screening tool. With that said, companies generally don’t control for GPA within their target schools. You might see people with lower GPAs at “better” schools, but that is likely because the company just has more slots at the more prestigious school.
For Actuarial Science, the obtaining of a job/internship is going to be based more on the number of actuarial tests completed prior to either applying or graduating
Granted the GPA needs to be competitive but the school you graduated from in this field is not as important
A small school in PA, Lebanon Valley has many students go on and get Actuarial jobs
Finance is a different story all together
As your question asked, you are talking in generalities so here the school is most important
Certain Wall Street firms only recruit at certain target schools so if not at one of those schools the chance of working there is drastically reduced
Once again, certain jobs will have minimum GPA requirements but if met you have an opportunity
I agree also that ECs then play a big part in differentiating applicants
Some firms love varsity athletes due to time management skills and the ability to work in a team atmosphere
Networking, people skills then comes into play in getting the interview and advancing in the hiring process
Good luck
“What will matter much, much more for getting a better job / better pay is what you do beyond your GPA: summer jobs, internships, ECs that relate to your field”
This is right on the money. Internships, significant leadership experience, and the ability to conduct yourself professionally while still being personable and able to interview well are far more important than your GPA (in most cases).
I would say BU, GW, BC and NYU are about on the same level reputation-wise. They have similar acceptance rates and rankings- with a few exceptions.
Also, it is not safe to assume that schools of higher reputation are also schools in which achieving a higher GPA is more difficult, forget about exceptions to your rule. This is especially true when you consider that half of the Ivies have grade inflation.
I agree with most of @chrisw 's point, except for the Goldman Sachs/LAC part. A better way to look at Goldman Sachs and other top IB/finance recruiting is to look at their target schools- and this includes some LACs, such as Williams and Amherst (which proportionally do much better in IB placements than almost any other school).
This.
A few other points. Bear with me on this, and please don’t get bristly like you did in post #2; I’m trying to help.
The answer to your direct question is a bit like the answer put to HS college counselors and AOs of “is it better to get a B in an AP course or an A in the regular course?” The answer, invariably, is that it’s better to get an A in the AP course. D’oh!
I have told my kids that what you learn is yours. Pick courses for their rigor. Any organization that values GPA over knowledge and smarts is one where you don’t want to work.
DS attends a school that his summer internship company doesn’t recruit at. He goes to a highly ranked school, but its CS reputation has not caught up to its quality. Most companies will allow you to apply, even if they don’t actively recruit on campus; it just means that you have a few extra steps in the process. He had to murder the final interviews while remaining friendly and presenting as someone the interviewers would like to work with.
Many employers are not impressed by Ivy grads. They don’t stay long, often go back for grad school and think at times more about what can you do for me, rather than what I can do for you…
As a physician who graduated from a state public university I make more money than my Harvard Grad partner……it’s really not the school that you went to. Don’t buy into that. Obtain a quality education, diversify yourself with excellent work experience, work hard, market yourself, display tremendous professionalism……but mostly do what you love.
I think you are asking the wrong question. “Am I better off” with a lower GPA at a better school or a better GPA at an easier school… Well, you are “better off” working your tail off at no matter what school you are at. Don’t sell yourself short by assuming you will make a lower GPA at a “better” school. SAT scores have no correlation to how you will do in college.
That being said, the issue with school choice vs. GPA comes down to opportunities. For instance, like the previous post, I went to a state school, have a professional degree and make a LOT more money than many in my field from more prestigious universities. However, there are also a lot of people from prestigious universities making more than me. But it was a heck of a lot easier for them to achieve career goals than it was for me because they had more opportunities due to their pedigree. That degree from [Prestigious U] with the alumni network gave them interview opportunities that I never had. I digress, but where I am going is to say that it is a combination of things. Hard work at a university favored by recruiters in the field in which you want to study, research in the field, making yourself marketable to potential employers, impressing potential employers in the interview, etc. All of these are factors in your future employment that are just as important as the school and the GPA. The key is getting the interview or getting your foot in the door.