<p>In Pennsylvania, an engineering degree from Virginia Tech will not carry more weight than one from Pitt. The reverse is true in Virginia. None of these schools are looked at like MIT or Cal Tech, so the benefit of one over the other in the real world, as far as finding your first job, is regional and marginal. After you land your first job, it won’t matter at all where your degree is from. Instead of looking at just rankings, look at what each program offers their students as far as outside the class room experiences like research, internships and job placements. Go where you’ll be happiest and most productive for four years, because if you are miserable somewhere and it impacts your GPA, that is likely to impact your resume more than the line where you list the name of your alma mater.</p>