<p>I’m most likely attending a small, Catholic, liberal arts school in New York State next fall, but am apprehensive about it’s reputation. I know students who have gone on to great grad. schools, but have to ask the question- in this day and age, does your undergrad. school really influence your career and connections that much? It seems like for most careers you need a graduate degree anyway. If you can go to a solid undergrad, even if it isn’t a top 50 US News ranked school, but get the grades/scores to get into a better grad. school, then do I have any reason to worry? I want to be in New York City in the future, so I’m hoping going to a school in upstate NY will provide some connections in the City.</p>
<p>If you don’t go to grad school, prestigious undergrad school will get you an interview at your first job, which will be a bit better than the job you could get out of a “decent” school. From there, your interview gets you the job. After that, it’s all about experience and you’d look like an ass even mentioning where you went to school in an interview for a better job.
If you do go to grad school, a good record at a less prestigious, but still well respected school will be almost as good as one from a top 30 school. There’s nothing stopping a graduate of a tier 3 school from getting into a top 10 grad school.</p>
<p>Your goals and aspirations are shaped more by your peer group as an undergrad than by any other factor - it trumps the influence of faculty, curriculum, or alumni. For better or worse, you’re likely to leave your undergraduate college more like the majority of your student peers there than when you arrived.</p>