Does Your Undergraduate Engineering School Matter?

al6200
Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:25:26 +0000

So a 3.0 gpa engineering student from Oklahoma State or Arkansas or Kansas (you get the idea) , would essentially be on the same level as a 3.0 gpa engineering student from say an Ivy league/east coast school, wouldn’t he/she?



No. For jobs at engineering firms, the student from a less known school would need a higher GPA to stand out, but some of the lesser known schools may have strong regional alumni networks and reputation. For jobs outside of an engineering firm (venture capital, finance, consulting, research, etc.) the student from the Ivy League school is at a huge advantage.

There are of course exceptions. At a lesser known school there will be fewer research opportunities, but top students will be able to succeed through REUs. Likewise there will be little on campus recruiting, but some students will be able to successfully network with alumni.