Does it really matter what college you go to?

For the most part, noone cares where you went to school after you start working and get some experience.

And by the way, undergraduate degrees are more or less toilet paper in this day and age unless you combine them with some kind of professional degree. They don't guarantee you a job.

[QUOTE="Tauruslink"]

I mean people put a lot of emphasis on getting into well known colleges, but when it comes down to it, does it really matter? Can a community college be that bad?

ReaperV7

I would like to dispel this myth. The only truth in the quoted post is that community colleges are a lot smaller than universities. You have the ability to ask questions anywhere, even in a classroom with 200+ people in it (why does it matter?), and you have the ability to interact with classmates as well. If you make the effort, you'll actually realize most professors are actually quite approachable and if you make frequent visits to see them, they'll start to know you as well. Yes it's true that the professor won't know your name unless you go see him a bunch of times, but it's up to you to make yourself known. In essence, education is what you make out of it, if you're going to hide and be reclusive, then it's no one's fault but yours. You can have just as much interaction in big schools as what you have in small schools.

Secondly, it does matter what school you go to. A student/graduate from a more prestigious university with the same credentials as someone else from a lesser known university are more likely to get hired. Microsoft hires the a lot of grads from the University of Waterloo (in fact, more than from any other university), as do many big name companties in the Silicon Valley. Why? Because UW has world renowned Computer Science/engineering programs. Here in Canada, AMD also likes to hire grads from the University of Toronto for the same reason. Believe it or not, this is the truth.

I thought the school I ended up going to was perfect for me even though it wasn't my first choice initially. It was viewed as "inferior" to other in-state schools, but I can guarantee it provided the same level of education as the others, plus it was dominant in the field I majored in, so yeah.

I'd concern yourself only with where you want to do your Masters and Doctorate training, because you're going to need one or both. Graduating from college in this day and age(regardless of the institution) is pretty muchthought ofas the equivalent of graduating from High School. Especially, in the professional community. A Bachelor of anything degree does not guarantee a job and there's a good chance that it never will again.

However, when it comes to college try to stay away from community colleges unless you can transfer early to a betterschool nearby or you'rea decent student and guaranteed a Masters level training position after graduation. Don't waste your money on private schooling. I hadabsolutely no debtcoming out of college at a state school where my educationwas unequaled in practically the entire region. That combined with one year ofMasters training and four years of medical school is enough school for anyone.

A bad example of poordecision making when it comes to schooling are thoseindividuals that chose to go to a private school andend up with$70-$100,000 in debtbefore ever entering a professional level school.That combined with the average cost of medical school ($150,000 or so) can end up making a person feel quite overwhelmed.

drj077

Wow, haven't seen you post in a while :D

Wowzers... just observing the critiques and observations of the American educational system of college and whats its worth attending particular schools for courses versus employability and your tuition fees... it's crazy :o In Australia, what matters is -

• What university you attend has an effect
• What courses you do, which related to the demand of that job in the industry
• How well you do in that course
• Post-grad qualifications are always a plus
• What you want to be and whether what you study is relevant/competitive for the field

Thankfully, domestic fees in Australia aren't too bad, as we have this HECS system. This scheme allows students to pay back their tuition to the government after they have graduated and are earning $39000+ a year. I've got a bachelors in biomedical science, now studying for a bachelors in psychology. My ultimate goal is medical school, so the fact that I've only got a bachelors doesn't have any significantly bad effect :)