Specifically in engineering. I’m just not really interested in any of the Ivies. I like MIT and Stanford but in reality there is no way my parents can pay for it -unless I somehow won $50,000 in private scholarships, and that would be very unlikely and the application process would take much more time than I actually have.
I’m aiming for some of the good state schools and less expensive private institutions, but I will most likely end up at University of Arizona(in state) because out of state tuition is still pretty high. It provides a good education, but it is not competitive or prestigious and pretty much everyone gets admitted just from passing their classes in HS. Do I still have a chance of thriving in the workforce?
yes, you can still thrive in the workforce. where you go is not who you’ll be 
For engineers, State U is the preferred hunting ground for job recruiters.
http://www.wsj.com/public/page/rankings-career-college-majors.html
LOL. No I would disagree about state U being preferable for recruiting over MIT and Stanford. But it might be harder for some companies to snag students from MIT and Stanford. For most students, getting in is the key. They are need blind and they meet need. The tuition is often lower than it would be at State U. That was certainly true of us. It isn’t about “winning” a scholarship. Once you are are admitted, they review your financial status and determine the amount of financial aid you will receive. There is no merit aid. But students can do well coming from State U too.
It’s extremely likely you’ll be more successful graduating from an Ivy, but you dont need an Ivy degree to succeed… apart from the skills you’ve learned from your degree, most employers are looking for those who are committed and ‘smart’ enough to the work, and any degree is typical of those traits
They have really good need-based financial aid, so you shouldn’t give up on applying just because you think you won’t be able to afford it. At least run the net price calculators on their websites.
I’ve worked in the military acquisition and cutting edge defense contracting for decades. During that time 99% of the engineers I’ve worked with came from State U or small colleges or engineering schools. Only a handful went to MIT and a couple with Ivy degrees. You do not need an ivy or an MIT/Stanford education to have a meaningful career in engineering.
Just don’t go to East Podunk State University, even if they have engineering. You will not be challenged academically.
Five years after college, your success will hinge on the quality of your work and – this is important – your ability to promote yourself.
The one engineer I worked with who went to MIT was let go, because he didn’t deal with other people well. 99% of the time, employers in Texas would pick a UT grad over one from MIT.
If East Podunk is accredited it will probably be sufficiently challenging and graduates will be sought after by employers in the immediate vicinity.
ALso, OP, some of the top programs in engineering and the sciences are at large public universities. For mechanical engineering, for example, MIT and Stanford are top - but so are Berkeley, Michigan, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, several UC campuses, CU-Boulder, University of Minnesota, UT-Austin, Texas A&M, UIUC, University of Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Virginia Tech, Mississippi State…
Arizona State is actually top-ranked in most engineering areas, and University of Arizona is solid and well-known in most of them too. The Fulton Schools (Arizona State’s engineering schools) offer a full suite of career services even as an alumni after you graduate. You can get a very good engineering education at both schools and end up with a great job afterwards.
But I agree - don’t rule out private schools yet. Most of them offer excellent financial aid for exceptional students. BUT your state’s public universities are also excellent!
Most successful people did not attend a top 10 college. A student can attend ASU and get a really great education. I would say that grades and ECs are important. To give yourself the best chances, try to stand out at ASU. If you can do that, you can succeed anywhere!
@halcyonheather I did a financial aid calculator and if I went to either one my parents and I would be expected to shell out 45k a year.
That’s over a third of my parents’ income.
I know they say they will “meet everyone’s need” but I think they mean they’ll keep your family out of bankruptcy by that. my parents are very frugal and they are in no way willing to spend a third of their income on my college when I can go to state u for nothing.
Have you talked to your parents?
@halcyonheather yes. They are willing to pay as much as I need to be successful, but they believe I can be successful going to a state school so they don’t think the huge price difference for MIT will be worth it. I’m hoping to rack up some scholarships to go out of state, but MIT doesn’t offer any merit based funds so it probably won’t be there.
Let’s just think about this logically by the numbers. How many successful engineers are employed in this country? What percentage of those attended an ivy? You have your answer.
There was that pair of [url=<a href=“http://www.nber.org/papers/w17159%5Dstudies%5B/url”>http://www.nber.org/papers/w17159]studies[/url] on students who either got into ivy leagues and chose to attend state schools, or have comparable SAT scores to ivy league schools but weren’t accepted - they earned just as much mid-career as students who did get in. The exception was that poor and minority students got a slight edge at the ivy leagues.
If these studies are sound, it seems that the difference in salaries is mostly just the result of ivy league students on average being higher achievers, not the schools themselves doing anything meaningless. I would lay down a few caveats:
- IIRC the studies revisit the students after a few decades; there may be a gap in starting salaries.
- Not sure if it breaks down differently per career.
- There may or may not be intangible benefits to particular schools that don't show up in earnings.
- It may matter more for those who make it big in areas like startups, where a lot of your success depends on being able to network, which is much easier at upper level schools.