<p>I thought I would post this question here rather than the graduate section since the latter is so broad.</p>
<p>So my question is straightforward: Does it really matter what school you go to to do your Masters in Computer Science (Software Engineering)? The reason being is I was thinking about working full-time and doing night or online classes with CSU Fullerton just so that I wouldn’t have to take out a lot for loans. I am worried though that going to a school that offers classes online would look bad to employers compared to attending lectures. I am not going to attend no University of Phoenix for my Masters, but am looking at pretty well known schools so I get my investment’s worth. I am still open to attending other schools that offer daytime classes, but attending CSU Fullerton’s program would be a last resort since I am so worried about future job prospects post graduation. Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>Employers do not care about the type of courses used to obtain and M.S. (non-thesis). All they care about is that you HAVE a M.S. degree.</p>
<p>I would think CSU Fullerton would look better on your resume than U. of P. In the job interview they probably won’t ask if you got it online or not. If you’re working a technical job right now and getting your degree online then that means you’re getting work experience plus schooling at the same time and work experience is good.</p>
<p>So I read some other threads about a school’s reputation and how employers view them and it seems like the consensus is that it matters much less for engineering (including computer science). Can you guys tell me why that is?</p>
<p>I came from a pool of applicants applying to law schools and of course numbers and the school’s reputation has a lot of weight to it for employers. This is a change for me since I decided to go with a technical field where I assumed that a school’s reputation mattered. I mean this was the reason why I made this thread in the first place.</p>
<p>I am not saying that I am not going to try to get into school’s like Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, UC Berkeley, but worst case scenario I don’t want the grad school I attend to affect my first job and how much I get paid (which I think if pretty unfair but those are the rules I suppose).</p>
<p>It matters to some degree, but not as much as some think. I would say the location of the school matters more than the ranking of the school in most cases. Companies are going to recruit more heavily from local universities. Also, the better schools are going to have more companies from across the nation target them for recruiting.</p>
<p>As I mentioned in your other thread, what you learn and what you do will be much more important than where you go to school. Contribute to an open source project. Known multiple programming languages and code applications in each one. Show that you have an interest in the field and are technically competent and you are set.</p>