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How important is it to go to a good univ?

D

duragezic

Lifer
I'm a freshman at a community college but due to my advisor recommending that CS or engineering students transfer after 1yr (since the comm college is really only for some basics) to a univ, and that I just wanna get the f*ck outta this town, I was thinking of transferring at the end of this semester. I have the ability to go to Northern Mich Univ and live in my own house but my parents would rather I go to a *better* school. I mean, NMU is decent, but really they are nothing about engineering, they are more teaching and social kind of crap. The only real good engineering schools in Michigan is Mich Tech and UofM AFAIK. I don't really wan't to go to either of those.

I would pursue an EE degree (I'd rather do CE, but there is none at NMU), called Electrical Engineering Technology w/ a minor in digital systems. I emailed them and they claim this is what I should do if I were looking for a CE degree; not all electronics nor all programming.

I don't want to spend several years getting a EE degree if when I went to get a job, that the college I attended wasn't good enough and I had a hard time finding one.
 
i think the size of the financial hemmorage college leaves you with is of a FAR greater concern. State schools arent cheap b/c they suck, theyre cheap because they're HEAVILY subsidized. College is gay anyway. Get your recipt of tuition and get out like I am. 90% of people do nothing related to their BS'es anyway.
 
I would say a far more important thing is what you get out of the experience. A good student at an ok college will learn far more than someone who's looking for their college to do all the work for them. This is just my personal bias of course, but I have noticed a tendency among students at "really good" colleges to act like that's going to carry them through life. And yes, maybe it will help get them a first job, but after that they are on their own. When you are 35, no one gives a damn if you went to NMU or MIT.

And as far as engineering goes, it's pretty easy to see who's on the ball and who's not. If you know your stuff and know what you are talking about, don't worry about getting a job. Now is a pretty tough time for tech people in general, but you don't put yourself on top by expecting a good college to carry you. I know you aren't thinking that, and that's good, pick some place you think you can learn a lot at and don't worry about how "good" it's rated by some random guys.
 
It's a combination of where you went and how you performed in most fields. You could have gone to Bubbaville State (let's say it's some 4th tier school) but do incredibly well & you'll be well-off as long as you did incredibly well. If you did horrible, then you might have a bit more difficulty. Some finance/investment fields really care where you went to college.

By the way, Electrical Engineering Technology with a minor in Digital Systems sounds kind of funny. Is this a real 4 year university or is it like a DeVry? CE is a subset of EE, so they may have it there but not have a separate CE degree.

I think there's more than just UM and Mich. Tech... Isn't Kettering in Michigan?
 
Yeah that's what I think. I would have no problems going there and I'd worked my ass off if needed. But still it's harder to convince my parents. My dad said he works with someone with an EE degree from NMU who doesn't even have a job involving EE.

It is an actual 4yr institute. From what they said when I emailed them, they said the EE technology w/ digital systems concentration is basically CE.
 
It really depends what you want to do. If you want to practice corporate law in Manhatten, I'm thinking they'd take somebody from Yale or NYU over somebody with a JD from Jimbo's Law School and Waffle House.

The same is true to some extent in other fields. Two candidates from so-so schools probably wouldn't be affected by their school's rank, but the guy from an Ivy League school will almost always get an undconditional second look.

-geoff
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: dtyn
How important is a good education?
Click to expand...

They are not one in the same. The quality of the education is determined more on the individual and/or teacher than the university.
Click to expand...

Better teachers frequent better universities. Trust me, I've been across the spectrum.
 
Originally posted by: dtyn
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: dtyn
How important is a good education?
Click to expand...

They are not one in the same. The quality of the education is determined more on the individual and/or teacher than the university.
Click to expand...

Better teachers frequent better universities. Trust me, I've been across the spectrum.
Click to expand...

The majority of the teachers I had were adjuncts that actually held a real job during the day and taught at night. I found this very helpful because you get taught the material as well as real-life experiences from the teacher.
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: dtyn
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: dtyn
How important is a good education?
Click to expand...

They are not one in the same. The quality of the education is determined more on the individual and/or teacher than the university.
Click to expand...

Better teachers frequent better universities. Trust me, I've been across the spectrum.
Click to expand...

The majority of the teachers I had were adjuncts that actually held a real job during the day and taught at night. I found this very helpful because you get taught the material as well as real-life experiences from the teacher.
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on what you want to do. I'd rather attend a university with top-grade professors, wonderful co-op opportunities, and a good job-seeking program, as well as the opportunity to continue into a good graduate program. Especially since I want to become a professor.
 
Originally posted by: SSibalNom
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Completely un-important.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
If you don't think that getting a degree from Harvard opens up doors then you are very naive.

That said, local reputation counts for a lot. If you graduate from a state school, employers in that state are going to know the quality of graduates from that school and hire accordingly.

My advice: get the best education you can get with the money you have.
 
Look....ask yourself this: How long is 4 years to you?

How long do you expect yourself to live? 70-80 years?

4 Years isnt crap, so you might as well spend it in a quality university, to invest in a better tomorrow. Why settle for less? Is 4 years really a punishment?
 
It depends on what field you're in and what you want to do. If you want to be a real investment banker, then you can't be from JoJo College. But since you want to be an EE, it may not matter as much...but of course it would be better if you were from a better school than a 'lesser' one.

Anyways, if you do well at Monkey University and it's at respected by some, then you can go to a decent graduate school and find a job. If you do poorly there, then you might be in trouble. If you do well at a good university, then that will help you out a ton. If you do bad at a good university, you can still be OK for jobs and graduate school.
 
Originally posted by: RabidMongoose
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
If you don't think that getting a degree from Harvard opens up doors then you are very naive.
Click to expand...

I know it does and it sickens me.
Click to expand...

Why does it sicken you? I'd think that the average Harvard graduate usually warrants at least some doors opening.
Click to expand...

People should be judged on their abilities, not where they went to school. I mean, George W. Bush graduated from Yale.
rolleye.gif
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
If you don't think that getting a degree from Harvard opens up doors then you are very naive.
Click to expand...

I know it does and it sickens me.
Click to expand...
The average Harvard student probably had 1400 SATs, straight A's, and graduated in the top 1% of his high school class. He then spent four years in a truly academic environment surrounded by the smartest students and faculty around. How does that not result in a justified leg up?

Yes, a bunch of tools get in because of mommy and daddy warbucks, but as a group they are a bunch of smart fvckers.

That said, when Penn beat Harvard in football every year we rejoiced... 😉
 
I have always stated that a good school is very important (no offense to those going/went to a lesser-known school). Why else would US News rank colleges? Why do schools take such pride in those rankings? I work at Intel, and had the opportunity to do an internship here because they recruited Arizona State, since it's a local school. My intern coordinator told me flat out, "You're lucky to have gotten in, because this is the last year we're recruiting from ASU." She said they were going to start focusing on Big Ten and the Cal schools (UCLA, Stanford, etc.) Then the economy took a dive in 2000, and they quit recruiting altogether. But the point is that companies rate the quality of their applicants by the quality of the education. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule, and you can get your foot in the door with a good interview or internship. But that is if you get the chance. When they have to rate resumes sight unseen, they have nothing to sort applicants by than where you went to college. I would say it's less important after you have experience, but for entry level out of college, it's extremely important.
 
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
Originally posted by: RabidMongoose
Originally posted by: Electric Amish
If you don't think that getting a degree from Harvard opens up doors then you are very naive.
Click to expand...

I know it does and it sickens me.
Click to expand...

Why does it sicken you? I'd think that the average Harvard graduate usually warrants at least some doors opening.
Click to expand...

People should be judged on their abilities, not where they went to school. I mean, George W. Bush graduated from Yale.
rolleye.gif
Click to expand...

There are always some exceptions - but like I said in my post, the average Harvard graduate usually warrants some doors opening. I can understand why seeing 'Harvard' on a resume will get the person a step in instead of JoJo State or whatever...chances are that the Harvard graduate is 100x more capable and intelligent than the JoJo graduate.
 
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