<p>I’d absolutely say strong programs in your major/areas of interest matter far more than the overall school ranking. Especially since the skills you get from your college experience are far more valuable than the name brand of your college. Yes…I go to Michigan State…a so-called “low-ranked” college. Although personally, being in the top 100 of thousands of universities nationwide is nothing to be ashamed about. I have just as good a resume, job, research experience, GPA, etc. as those who go to prestigious universities. I’m not a trust fund kid and I can’t afford an ivy league education, even if I could’ve gotten into those schools in the first place, but my education at Michigan State satisfies me in a way that many of the “top-ranked” colleges would not. I love my school and the opportunities it has given me. </p>
<p>And people who care so much about rankings…you OBVIOUSLY haven’t gone to college for more than a year. You probably haven’t even started undergraduate school or graduated high school yet…most of you probably haven’t even had a single internship or job. Please stop assuming that you know more than older college students/graduates who actually understand the value (or relative lack thereof) of a college ranking system. Yes, in certain professions/career fields it does matter more than others. Yes, in most graduate programs, rankings hold a lot more weight. No, your isolated anecdotes of a “friend of a friend sucking at life because they went to podunk state U” do not justify your reasons for demanding to go to a top 20 ranked school “or your life will be over.” Your pathetic bubble of existence will be popped sooner or later because believe it or not, you will be entering the “real world” one day and realize you will have to deal with many many people who have graduated from a university ranked lower than 50 but still hold a more prestigious position than you do! I’m not saying that going to a top-ranked university with a strong alumni network doesn’t give you a minute benefit in terms of initial hiring compared to a podunk U grad, but I’m saying that prestige is not a “end-all characteristic” that determines how successful your future will be.</p>