OP, the question really is does it matter to WHOM? To employers, to grad schools, to your mother, to you?
I’ve worked with and met many people from Yale, Harvard, Stanford and just about any school you can name. It doesn’t matter to me but it often matters to them. They talk endlessly about their time in New Haven or the fun times they had at The Game. It matters to my uncle who went to Williams, has a daughter who went to Williams and is now a librarian (after grad school) and another who went to Bowdoin/Wesleyan/SUNY and is now a legal secretary (after grad school) and this uncle really does think he and his children are superior to any of my siblings (all public school grads or not grads). We don’t care. He cares.
If you wouldn’t feel happy unless you attend a highly ranked school, you should do it. I loved my ‘regular’ school and do not regret for a second not going to a highly ranked school. When my daughter tells people she’s going to Wyoming, people give the pity look. She loves it. One of my daughter’s friends was a very good student, won all kinds of awards for academics, theater, art, civics. She could have gone to many highly ranked schools, but she chose UCF. I was just shocked (I’m not a fan of Orlando, and UCF is a huge school), but she is thriving and even got a lead in the musical as a freshman. She wanted to stay closer to home, she got a big scholarship, she loves it.
Does it matter to employers? It might, but I really think you’ll be the same employee if you attend UCF or Vandy, as long as you are happy with your choice. If you are miserable at Vandy because it costs too much, is too far from home, doesn’t have the right vibe for you, then I think you’ll be better off in the end at UCF. If Vandy offers you the feel you want at college and you don’t care about the cost, then that’s the place for you.
There are many people who will always judge you by your school’s rank and it matters to them that you attended a #42 school rather than a #151 school. Does that matter to YOU?
@mom2aphysicsgeek, my comment that “none of this speaks to the OP” was just that you two seemed to be locked into a discussion about aerospace engineering, employment at Lockheed Martin, and some very specific schools, including one of the top-ranked schools (MIT) and a lesser-known school in aero (UCF). It started with a mention of ABET:
and seemed to me not to speak to the OPs fundamental question about the importance of undergraduate school if one were planning to go to grad school.
The OP mentioned UCF (a school I know absolutely nothing about.). And 4 scenarios were presented with both students C and D not attending grad school.
I only followed the LM rabbit trail bc TopTier said they wouldn’t recruit from there. Cptofthehouse stated they actually had a recrutiing stop there. TopTier then said that would only be for non-tech jobs like finance or accting, “not engineers or scientists.” UCF’s link describing the LM work experience features a mechanical engineering student. Obviously, they don’t disregard the engineers from UCF.
Which all does go back to the original question. There isn’t a single declarative answer. There are multiple correct choices, not the least of which is twoinanddone’s point…what does the student think and want.
Perhaps TopTier’s group is/was school-elitist and won’t recruit from UCF (or some of the other schools listed at LM’s college recruiting page), but other engineering groups in LM recruit from there.
In general, it is certainly possible for different people within a given employer to be more or less school-elitist than others in the same employer.
@ucbalumnus thank you. That clarifies a lot. I would have never picked up on that considering he started his post stating LM is the largest employer of scientists and engineers and then followed with a we simply don’t interview…
Well besides the original idea of the post and articles I have been reading on the subject I gave hypothetical scenarios to decide as to whether it is important(ultimately) what college you choose for undergraduate IF you are going on to graduate. Part of the reason I did ask this question comes from real life experience also so let me present you with these 2 cases.
Case #1 Top HS student. Could have gone to UNLV for relatively nothing but was dying to go to Pepperdine with the intent of continuing on to Med school after. Took out a ton of money for student loans. Top student at Pepperdine and accepted to Med school at Vanderbilt. Just completed and graduating soon.
Case #2 Sister of student #1. Also dying to get into to Pepperdine to study criminology. No college plans beyond that degree. Also loaded up on student loans to attend and could have gone to UNLV for relatively nothing.
Looking back, student 1 now questions the decision to take on student loans and attend Pepperdine(although she thoroughly loved the school). Seems like the same path to where she is now would have resulted. Would it have mattered in your estimation since she will be graduating from Vanderbilt whether or not she went to Pepperdine or UNLV?
Student 2 also has student loans and is working for the Sherff’s department. Also loved the campus at Pepperdine but now questions the wisdom of taking on so much debt to become a police officer when the same career path would have been accomplished at UNLV.
My answer remains the same. Great students can do great things almost anywhere. Some things cannot be easily quantified bc it has more to do with the individual than any other factor. (A"meh" student who just goes through the motions or the student with drive/motivation/innovation who embraces or creates opportunities…both exist in all environments.)
Based on some CC posters, a student would think the only path to high level success is through a limited prism of schools. A student interested in business and aspiring to CEO of the “largest employer of scientists and engineers” in the country would be told that only top schools lead to that path. Hate to bring LM back into the discussion, but their CEO went to UA for undergrad.
For your med school analogy, many posters would state that where you complete your undergrad does not matter for med school.
For our own family who lives in a very fiscally driven reality, my older kids have great careers and no one has debt and we don’t have college funds. They thrive where they are planted. Our college “freshman,” a jr by hours, is attending on full scholarship. He could have gone to a top school, but only with what in our world equates to massive debt. I do not believe for one minute his future is going to be limited by his school choice. It isn’t about the school. It is about him. He has drive. He is bright. He knows what he wants and takes the steps to succeed. He is doing what it takes to make the most of every opportunity that exists. He is also a young man of great character. Those traits will lead the way where our limited finances couldn’t.
Your daughters would do well to consider the experience, in and of itself. Trying to manipulate an outcome through choice of college is a dicey proposition. There is so much that happens in life. As long as the university has decent graduation rates and their graduates learn, it really is about how the student resonates with the school.
If D2 wanted to work at Lost Hills, it would be easier to make that happen out of Pepperdine. If your girls wanted the faith-oriented student body, and the religious backdrop in their education, along with a smaller student body, they may not have found that at UNLV. Some of those intangible aspects of “grounding” that they most likely have are, in part, due to their choice in college- certainly their experience at the college.
The experience itself, and the personal meaning it has, are what is important. Are they important enough to pay extra? That is a personal question, and the answer is usually “yes, if they can afford it.” From an outcome perspective, just considering employability, it is probably not worth it.
In my estimation, there are many value systems to use to measure an experience, and employability or income may not be the best way.
I agree that you have to accept each experience for itself. You can drive a Ford or a BMW, and you are going to end up in the same place, but one experience will be more enjoyable (to some people who care, not really to me).
My daughter played her sport in high school because she liked it, not because she was looking to play in college. She does, in fact, play but didn’t decide to even look at college teams until just before senior year. If she had decided not to play in college, it wouldn’t have changed her high school experience.
