Does the name of your university matter?

[narreth]

When applying for a job/graduate school, how much does it matter which school you went to? (eg. MIT vs. Purdue vs. RPI and so on)

 

[KeithTalent]

Originally posted by: narreth
When applying for a job/graduate school, how much does it matter which school you went to? (eg. MIT vs. Purdue vs. RPI and so on)

Depends on the job/employer/person hiring.

KT

 

[Hyperlite]

I would worry less about the school and more about the respective program. Find out how the program is viewed from the respective field.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

It only matters if you're part of the Good ol' Boys club. Since you had to ask, you're not a member so, stay out of the ivy-league networked companies.

 

[narreth]

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
It only matters if you're part of the Good ol' Boys club. Since you had to ask, you're not a member so, stay out of the ivy-league networked companies.

Okay that confused me. T_T

 

[JJChicken]

Originally posted by: narreth

Originally posted by: MagnusTheBrewer
It only matters if you're part of the Good ol' Boys club. Since you had to ask, you're not a member so, stay out of the ivy-league networked companies.

Okay that confused me. T_T

Na hes right

 

[pyonir]

It means more than anything in your life will ever mean.

 

[BrownTown]

Yes, of course it matters and its not like people are hiring you for a college "name", a college like MIT is just plain better then some random state school. And the type of people that go to MIT are (on average) better emloyees than a random school. Now if you have some good internships or skills and the like then you can easily make up for going to a worse school, but I would have to say its probably alot easier if you have "MIT" on your resume. MY brother goes to MIT and all his freinds keep graduating with $75,000 a year jobs right out of college and well thats just not the sort of numbers you should expect going to a school with a considerably worse reputation.

 

[Ns1]

It only matters every saturday during football season

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

And there ya have it from the Good ol' Boys mouth!

 

[Gibson486]

it does, but it does not matter as much as it did in the past.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Really it only matters in the USA as far as school name goes. Elsewhere the program carries a reputation.

It also matters who is doing the hiring. If the owner of the company you are applying to is an alumni then they are going to favour graduates from that University.

Basically in Business your University and program make a difference, in other fields your program and the prestige of that program take precedence over University name.

 

[JS80]

Easier to get your foot in the door
Easier to network
Doesn't mean crap once you're in.

 

[BigDH01]

Yes, it matters. Places like to recruit out of certain universities, simple as that. You can still get lucky from a state school, but don't count on it. I managed to get lucky (aka, I happened to know the right people) and will be on a team mostly consisting of ivy league types. I think I'm the only state schooler there. If you're at a state school, your best shot is to stand out to professors that came from top schools and hopefully you can get "plugged in." More than half of the ivy league experience is networking after all.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Originally posted by: BrownTown
Yes, of course it matters and its not like people are hiring you for a college "name", a college like MIT is just plain better then some random state school. And the type of people that go to MIT are (on average) better emloyees than a random school. Now if you have some good internships or skills and the like then you can easily make up for going to a worse school, but I would have to say its probably alot easier if you have "MIT" on your resume. MY brother goes to MIT and all his freinds keep graduating with $75,000 a year jobs right out of college and well thats just not the sort of numbers you should expect going to a school with a considerably worse reputation.

that's the double truth, ruth

 

[ghostman]

Actually, it does matter to a certain extent, at least for the job you get right out of college. I know the recruitment folks at my firm target "tier 1" schools first, which include many of the Ivy's. They move on to "tier 2" schools next and so on until they fill their capacity. Hyperlite mentioned the program is more important than the school, but that's not always the case. I was deciding between two universities. One was not very flashy, gave me near-full scholarship and has a very respectable CS/EE/etc program. The other was more expensive, gave me a much smaller scholarship, has a relatively weak CS program, but has a big name. I chose the big name school. My company doesn't recruit from the smaller name school, so I definitely wouldn't have landed this job right out of college.

After you work for a while, experience counts more and can overcome any university name. My boss actually went to the smaller name school, but jumped around before he got here.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: JS80
Easier to get your foot in the door
Easier to network
Doesn't mean crap once you're in.

QFT.

Doesn't mean much past your first job.

 

[LS21]

every single post in here is on-point

 

[narreth]

What "tier" is a school like RPI or Purdue at?

 

[TwiceOver]

Name always matters. Last Name, Clothes, College, Job it's all just a popularity contest.

 

[PrinceofWands]

Depends a lot on the field. Becoming a public school teacher it wouldn't make much (if any) difference to me. Applying for a law practice it might matter a lot. In truth there's not THAT much difference except in a few limited circumstances (yes, MIT students are going to be generally more capable within their strengths, but they were before they got in anyway).

There's always exceptions though. My state school history program is way more intense and rigorous than many 'elite' school programs. Not entirely sure why, but it's true.

 

[tfinch2]

It didn't matter for me. I go to a school that probably 3 people on this message board have even heard of, but was hired by one of the biggest software companies in the world.

 

[Mo0o]

Yes it matters. Doesn't mean you're scrweed if you dont go to a big name school and it doesn't mean you're set if you do, but it helps. My friend is a headhunter for large banks and when he looks at resumes all he has time for is the name of the institution, GPA, and big names in the past jobs list. Then ranks each resume 1-3 and all the 3s get interviews.

Also helps in UG institutions. My UG had a med school entrance GPA .2 lower than the avg yet our acceptance % was much higher. Might me correlational but i interpreted as admissions committees giving Duke applicants a GPA boost since we're known to have a tough pre-med series that doesn't do grad inflation.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Yes it matters. Doesn't mean you're scrweed if you dont go to a big name school and it doesn't mean you're set if you do, but it helps. My friend is a headhunter for large banks and when he looks at resumes all he has time for is the name of the institution, GPA, and big names in the past jobs list. Then ranks each resume 1-3 and all the 3s get interviews.

Also helps in UG institutions. My UG had a med school entrance GPA .2 lower than the avg yet our acceptance % was much higher. Might me correlational but i interpreted as admissions committees giving Duke applicants a GPA boost since we're known to have a tough pre-med series that doesn't do grad inflation.

Nobody ever puts their GPA on their resume past their first job. It just doesn't matter, just like what school you went to.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Mo0o
Yes it matters. Doesn't mean you're scrweed if you dont go to a big name school and it doesn't mean you're set if you do, but it helps. My friend is a headhunter for large banks and when he looks at resumes all he has time for is the name of the institution, GPA, and big names in the past jobs list. Then ranks each resume 1-3 and all the 3s get interviews.

Also helps in UG institutions. My UG had a med school entrance GPA .2 lower than the avg yet our acceptance % was much higher. Might me correlational but i interpreted as admissions committees giving Duke applicants a GPA boost since we're known to have a tough pre-med series that doesn't do grad inflation.

Nobody ever puts their GPA on their resume past their first job. It just doesn't matter, just like what school you went to.

that's true. i was referring to the first job which can be ridiculously competitive in the top inter ibanking firms and consulting groups