With a solid resume, how much does your undergrad school name matter?

adamr
Wed, 27 Aug 2008 18:44:30 +0000

Hello everyone!

I’m in the military and have about 6 years experience in Network Security & IT. I enjoy the field and want to stay in it (though, not necessarily in the military ;). My IT resume in that aspect is pretty high quality. My academic record is excellent (3.8 and rising).

Ultimately, some day in the future, I want to get an MBA. Although I love IT, I don’t want to be that guy on the keyboard the rest of my life. I especially enjoy the business integration & solutioning aspects of IT.

Although I am well on my way, I still lack my undergrad and I am at a crossroads where I am able to transfer. I intend to go with a BS in Computer Science (CS), but I’m not entirely sure which school to go for my bachelors. As I don’t want to stop working full time, I have two options:

University of Maryland University College (UMUC) -
An unranked school that allows several (though not all) classes for a CS degree to be taken online. It’s not a strong CS program but their schedule allows me to continue to work and finish my degree at a full time pace.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) -
This is a ranked CS program and a pretty decent IT school for MD. Overall a much stronger program. Their schedule allows for one to attain a CS degree by night classes. However, they still work within the bounds of a standard university schedule, so getting my degree will take at least another couple of years there.

So, my issue is speed vs. quality. But what I really care about is, when it comes to eventually fulfilling my hope (dream?) of perhaps going to a top tier MBA program how much does the quality of the school or program itself matter? I realize, of course, going to UMBC would be better, but exactly how MUCH better?

Even if I have a 3.99 from either school and a great resume, would I eventually regret graduating from UMUC rather than UMBC because no one would take my degree seriously? Are there other things I can do to make up for graduating from UMUC that I don’t see? I’m willing to do the work necessary to achieve this, I’m just not clear on which path to take yet.

Thank you in advance for answering. All input is greatly appreciated!
Adam

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