Do some firms favor "big name" schools?

[Marian]

Here are some charts from Carnegie Mellon University, showing where graduates in various majors ended up working. I have deliberately selected a variety of majors.

Note the geographic locations. A lot fewer than 90% are Pittsburgh or its immediate surroundings. In fact, even if you consider the entire state of Pennsylvania to be local, the numbers are way lower than 90%. And Carnegie Mellon is not an Ivy.

Economics: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca.../economics.pdf

Psychology: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca...psychology.pdf

Computer science: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca...ey/pdf/scs.pdf

Business: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca...f/business.pdf

Math: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca...y/pdf/math.pdf

Biology: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca...df/biology.pdf

Chemistry: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca.../chemistry.pdf

Music: http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/ca.../pdf/music.pdf

[Marian]

Another example: Case Western Reserve.

A quote from their annual report on where graduates end up:

Of the 336 graduates who accepted full-time employment, 92%
(n=310) provided information about the location of their
position. Sixty-three percent (63%, n=196) accepted a position in
the Midwest United States. Fifty-two percent (52%, n=162)
accepted positions in Ohio. Of those who accepted positions in
Ohio, 90% (n=145) accepted a position in the northeastern
region. Outside of Ohio, graduates tended to take jobs in New
York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, California, Illinois, and Maryland.
Four students (1%) accepted full-time employment outside the
United States.

Only 52% in Ohio. That's a lot less than 90%, don't you think?

Here's the link to the full report. http://studentaffairs.case.edu/caree...oc/fds2011.pdf

[oldfort]

You go girl.

[bovertine]

What's the point?Isn't Case in Cleveland? Isn't that close geographically to Pennsylvania? Isn't that also reasonably close geographically to New York and Illinois? I'd hardly say these statistics indicate a diaspora.

[giterdone]

Thanks for helping to prove my point @Marian. With less than 3 minutes of review, the obvious stats were; greater than 80% of placement occurred locally (within the region the school is located). Ohio is a little bit of wild card, since I'm sure plenty of respondents didn't know whether to place them in the MW or NE in one survey.

I'm confident if you dug a little deeper (into grad school acceptance/enrollment, spouse locations and other family factors) and made the appropriate eliminations for extenuating circumstances? one could easily get over 90% of job placements happening within either of these schools "region"

[Dad_of_3]

Marian, thank you - wasn't aware of the links you furnished on the CMU site. DS felt that the more of his classmates went to the West Coast than anywhere else. At least in his major, there were firms that definitely gave his school a boost.

[barrons]

CWU and CMU attract most of their students from OOS so most will also want to leave not to mention crappy job prospects in Ohio and PA overall.

[SteveMA]

aigiqinf--I think that outside of your geographical region however, most people would not differentiate Emory from State U down the road...locally I am sure Emory holds a good name, the rest of the country really won't know the difference.

[AlmaPater]

In reply to the original poster, this certainly may be what the "elite" colleges and universities would like us to believe, and what some myopic HR departments with limited resources may practice. I attended a selective elite university like you did; my spouse attended a public university and has been equally, if not more successful. The fact is that the most selective schools tend to be filled with anxious overachievers, the well connected, the what-me-worry? wealthy, and "diversity". I personally try to avoid high maintenance and entitlement when hiring, just like I did when I was dating long ago. I don't care where you've been, I care about where you are going.

That said, we went through the same handwringing process when our son was deciding between schools. The difficult part was letting go, accepting that it is his life, not ours. He was admitted to several of the very most elite schools, including my alma mater; however, he ultimately chose to attend a very selective honors program at our state flagship, along with other students who chose to forego the HYP and similar institutions. The graduates go on to every type of career imaginable, which is good given that he is undecided in that regard. We sent him to overnight accepted-student events at all the schools before he made his decision. We both feel he chose the right "fit" school for him. As he is ineligible for anything other than merit-based aid, we figure he is saving over $250k versus his other choices; as a result, plenty of money will be available for graduate studies, starting a business, or a house.

The most economically successful people who we know did not attend elite institutions, at least not for undergraduate school. Many attended schools we had never heard of, where they are now prominent benefactors. Our friends who attended the most elite institutions predominantly research or teach. They are academicians at heart; successful in a broader sense of the word.

It is hard to let go, but we must. As I said to a helicopter friend who has completely micromanaged his child's existence with resultant great frustration, it is time we got a life of our own!

[MetdethGNR]

I have a very strong opinion on this, though I may be a bit biased (MIT grad). Anyway, here it comes:

On my first year at MIT, I interviewed for 2 companies. One, was a national consulting firm, Fortune 500, who only bothered to go to 4 schools: MIT, Duke, Princeton, and Harvard. They didn't even bother to go anywhere else to recruit.

My second interview, was a Southern conglomerate fortune 500 firm, that always hires state school interns. I got both jobs. I picked that one (the southern who always hires local kids).

There are 8 interns total. 7 of which go to the local state school and me, from MIT.

They are getting paid $12/hr.

I am getting paid $30/hr.


We are doing the same job.


Does brand name matter? In my experience, and in all my friends' experiences (from MIT and Harvard, compared to all my really-smart friends who chose to go to state school instead), ABSOLUTELY yes. But you can choose to believe what you want =)

[lake42ks]

He was admitted to several of the very most elite schools, including my alma mater; however, he ultimately chose to attend a very selective honors program at our state flagship, along with other students who chose to forego the HYP and similar institutions.

We need to hear more of this. I know two such kids in the past and both are confident in their abilities.

The most economically successful people who we know did not attend elite institutions, at least not for undergraduate school.

Presumably most of us are not confident enough in that our kids are to be like them, we prefer the saver alternative.