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Will getting into popular colleges benefit in your career later on?
Would it be easier get a better job or career if you were to go into a popular college?
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Ryan’s Answer
If by popular, you mean prestigious or a big state school then yes but a lot of it will depend on the connections you are able to make. College gives you a clean slate from high school so take advantage of it and meet as many people as you can. Joining clubs, meetups, organizations, etc will be the best way to do this. Know your professors outside of class as well, as they can give you advice, write you letters of recommendations, and can be important mentors. If you just stay inside the whole time and don't take advantage of the opportunity, then it won't matter what school you're in.
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Brian’s Answer
Hi Dante,
Great question and one that will spur a lot of debate. As an alumnus of UCB and UCLA, my two-cents
1). Your degree granting institution is helpful for the FIRST job you have after graduation as many companies only have bandwidth to recruit out of a limited number of schools (out of ~5000 schools in the US, most employers can only really recruit out of 100). Which schools those are depends:
a). Location of where you want to work. If you want to work in SF, then UCB, Stanford are obviously top choices. But even schools like SJSU, SCU, St. Mary's, Cal Poly SLO have great relationships with recruiters in the SF Bay Area. If you want to work in Denver, then Colorado or Colorado St. are probably better chance of landing a job in Denver than going to Florida State.
b). Many national/global companies recruit out of regional schools (PwC/Deloitte/KPMG/EY for example) such as Cal Poly SLO, Santa Clara, Indiana, etc. So it really depends on what do you want to do after graduating and for which company. It also means if you go to Santa Clara but want to work in Seattle, you can see if MSFT or Amazon recruit on campus and let the recruiter know you want to go to Seattle. (Pro Tip: Just because you may not go to UCB or Stanford doesn't mean you cannot are out of luck if you are an SCU student. Have friends who do go to those schools get business cards of recruiters and you reach out to the recruiter).
c). Best way to check is to find career data from the institution's career office on most common employers. This will give you a sense on who recruits on campus (for example, at UCB Haas, Big 4 auditing, Google, MSFT, Amazon, even J&J are big recruiters).
2). Over time, the school you went to matters less and less and what matters more is your experience and what you bring to the employer. Your GPA, school brand, etc. become less important and often overlooked or ignored.
3). Caveat to #2 is grad school. Lots of grad schools still care about your undergrad, especially academia (PhD programs) and some professional schools (Law, business). As someone who did his MBA, I will say business schools place more emphasis on the business experience than your undergrad, but use the undergrad to validate the ability to handle the academic rigor of graduate school.
Great question and one that will spur a lot of debate. As an alumnus of UCB and UCLA, my two-cents
1). Your degree granting institution is helpful for the FIRST job you have after graduation as many companies only have bandwidth to recruit out of a limited number of schools (out of ~5000 schools in the US, most employers can only really recruit out of 100). Which schools those are depends:
a). Location of where you want to work. If you want to work in SF, then UCB, Stanford are obviously top choices. But even schools like SJSU, SCU, St. Mary's, Cal Poly SLO have great relationships with recruiters in the SF Bay Area. If you want to work in Denver, then Colorado or Colorado St. are probably better chance of landing a job in Denver than going to Florida State.
b). Many national/global companies recruit out of regional schools (PwC/Deloitte/KPMG/EY for example) such as Cal Poly SLO, Santa Clara, Indiana, etc. So it really depends on what do you want to do after graduating and for which company. It also means if you go to Santa Clara but want to work in Seattle, you can see if MSFT or Amazon recruit on campus and let the recruiter know you want to go to Seattle. (Pro Tip: Just because you may not go to UCB or Stanford doesn't mean you cannot are out of luck if you are an SCU student. Have friends who do go to those schools get business cards of recruiters and you reach out to the recruiter).
c). Best way to check is to find career data from the institution's career office on most common employers. This will give you a sense on who recruits on campus (for example, at UCB Haas, Big 4 auditing, Google, MSFT, Amazon, even J&J are big recruiters).
2). Over time, the school you went to matters less and less and what matters more is your experience and what you bring to the employer. Your GPA, school brand, etc. become less important and often overlooked or ignored.
3). Caveat to #2 is grad school. Lots of grad schools still care about your undergrad, especially academia (PhD programs) and some professional schools (Law, business). As someone who did his MBA, I will say business schools place more emphasis on the business experience than your undergrad, but use the undergrad to validate the ability to handle the academic rigor of graduate school.
Updated
Madisyn’s Answer
Hi Dante,
Going to schools that are prestigious and/or well known for a particular field of study can indeed help you when it comes to securing a job offer. When you turn your resume in, recognizable schools will definitely stand out to the person reviewing the application. Additionally, some large companies will specifically go the campus of these well known Universities to directly recruit students into their workforce.
Going to schools that are prestigious and/or well known for a particular field of study can indeed help you when it comes to securing a job offer. When you turn your resume in, recognizable schools will definitely stand out to the person reviewing the application. Additionally, some large companies will specifically go the campus of these well known Universities to directly recruit students into their workforce.
Updated
Amber’s Answer
Hi Dante, this is a really interesting question. If you mean a prestigious school, those names are very recognizable and can help take you further when it comes to grad school and/or your career. Otherwise, I've noticed that the college you go to doesn't matter much as long as the institution has a good reputation and you earned a valuable degree. Since graduating undergrad, I've relocated across the country and most individuals do not recognize my school, although it was a top school for Virginia.