Anina
How much does having a degree from a less prestigious school hurt you if you are competing against top tier college graduates?
Hi! My name is Anina and I'm a high school senior interning at CareerVillage. I'm currently considering a state school vs. a higher-tier school for college, and I was wondering how much the reputation of a school helped you find a job afterwards. To employers: to you give preference to those graduating from brand name colleges? To employees: do you think where the degree comes from gives you a significant leg-up on other job applicants?
4 answers
Edward Overtree
Edward’s Answer
Edward recommends the following next steps:
Tiffany Stone
Tiffany’s Answer
I went to a state school and I didn't have any problems getting into my career in IT pretty soon out of school. I moved from where my school was located to the capitol of my state and actually ran into many alums from my same school. My school wasn't even known for it's IT program so it was a pleasant surprise!
The name of the school may give you a boost in the way Peter mentioned, but if it's a company worth working for, they will be more interested in your experience, personality, and ability to do the job than what school you went to in most fields. Most of the people I work with don't even have a degree that is relevant to the work they do! With IT, some people have certifications and no degree.
More prestigious schools have benefits of better facilities, more personalized experience with less students per class room and professors that may have more direct experience in what they teach. If you are doing something that is a very intense program like medical or law, these schools may be better to help you get into graduate school and other required programs, but if your business doesn't require more than a bachelor's degree for entry level position like business, computer science, finance, etc, it's likely unnecessary to put that much money into a school for the name.
Be sure to weigh the pros and cons of the experience and cost, don't just go somewhere for the name on the resume.
Good luck!
Zachary Arnold
Zachary’s Answer
That being said I like the idea of schools that are undergrad and then result in a new location for graduate school. Experience is key and look to the resources available at schools that catch your attention in regards to their alumni relations, how active past graduates are how easy it is to network with their former students that have found success in securing a lucrative position in both compensation and overall life satisfaction.
Peter J. Brennan
Peter J.’s Answer
Anina, without a doubt, a degree from a prestigious school will give you an edge when you are looking for a job or promotion. All the employers will think you are super smart if you graduate from a university perceived as high ranking.
Most of our presidents and top candidates in the past 28 years have come from Ivy League schools.
If you get a chance, go to one of them. Get a scholarship. Get the degree. It will open many doors. check out this nice website:
http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report/bachelors
I think that it depends on the industry and the network that industry expects. There are some careers or firms that hire from a very small pool of prospective employees because of the school they graduated from. While I don't agree with this exclusionary approach, unfortunately that is just how it is. But just because you don't go to a certain school doesn't mean you are any less of a person and certain no less of an employee. When I interview people, education is just an afterthought during the process. My getting to know them and understand their drive and desire to help people, customers, the company, the industry, and their capacity to do so is far more important.
Amanda Blevins