jkaufman

Does Carleton's lack of nation-wide name recognition make finding a job harder outside of the Midwest (Twin Cities or Chicago) or is a Carleton degree prestigious across the country?

dietcokewithlime

Really really depends on the employer, location, and industry. I work in a consulting field that hires entry-level people primarily from top LACs and universities, and so recruiters are familiar with Carleton and respect the degree. I would have had a much harder time getting my resume looked at from, say, Gustavus or Denison. For the few types of places even more obsessed with undergraduate background (e.g. investment banks), the Carleton name is going to be hit-or-miss: hit if there's an influential person is an alum or had a kid go there or something, miss if not. For places that aren't very picky about where your degree came from or don't have a decent-sized Carleton alumni base in the area, the Carleton name probably isn't going to confer a significant advantage, either. Carleton's rep will help for things like Teach for America, Peace Corps, and other big service organizations.

jack63

Good question....My jobs/internships have been either in the chicagoland area or southern Minnesota. Carleton has helped in those locations. I have a Masters degree in a type of engineering from a good big public flagship(not Umich...I'm in Ann Arbor pursuing PhD now), so my jobs have been as an engineer. I will say that many of the flagship schools can do very well placing students all over the country. Carleton is great with getting students into grad school or the national service organizations like dietcoke described, but industry jobs outside of the midwest are tough.

It is an intersting topic. Carleton has a great rank in Usnews, and I think it is deserved for my specific Alma Mater. I do think USnews rankings are seriously flawed. For example, the undergraduate programs have no component that measure recruiter assesment. Usnews also tends to shaft public schools. It is amazing the companies that recruit at schools like University of Texas - Austin or Purdue. Schools that USnews doesn't even rank in the top 40, but are really well respected by corporate America and will regularly bring companies recruiting from the East and West Coasts.