Is the University you go to actually important?

Question

I know to a relative degree the school u go to is important, however what are the significant differences, for example i am transferring down from University of Colorado Boulder to Metro State College of Denver because I dont like the way UC Boulder classes are set up plus they dont have my degree (criminal justice and psychology) when looking for a job will a more selective school versus a less selective school really make a big difference?

Thanks guys, I think that sounds right, what a lot of you said, it maybe important at first but i guess if you have work experiance that counts for more

Answer 1

There are times when a big name school will be needed to give you that extra head start when joining the job market. For example, lawyers and medical field are the two big ones that come to mind where a higher named school counts as much as higher education. Myself, I am in the engineering field and do system engineering work. It seems that my division goes after Penn State grads like crazy (no matter how good or lousy they are). I have been out in the job market for 20 some odd years now and frankly cannot remember much of anything that I learned in school. Most of it is probably not relevant anyways. So I personally feel that a degree is a degree in the long run. Advancing through your career is all based on continued education.

Best advice is to talk to someone in the specific job that you are wanting to do and ask them what is more important the ink on your diploma saying that you have a degree or the paper where that diploma came from.

Answer 2

Probably, yes. Though not neccesarily in the same way you would expect. Im guessing that what you mean is that if two candidates resumes look exactly alike, except one went to Harvard, and another went to, say, UNC Charlotte, does the employer go with Harvard just because its Ivy League? Maybe.
Theres also the possibility that the employer knows a bit about the school they hire from. For instance, if Mr. Boss is familar with criminology programs at both East Uni and West Uni, and knows that West Uni has a better program, then they may have a hiring preference for prospective employee's from West simply because Mr. Boss thinks they got more out of there education.
Depends on what theyre looking for.
Sure, employers will look at the where you went to school, its just a matter of 'why'.

Answer 3

The name on the diploma will help you in your first job, and if you want to go to grad school.

More specifically, the bigger-named schools tend to get more recruiters with better jobs.

However, after you get your first job, no one will ever ask you about what school you went to except as a social ice-breaker. And, they most certainly won't talk about grades -- they'll more likely talk about college follies over beer.

If you do go to grad school, they will ask about your college, but if you've been in the work force, your work experience as well as test scores will be more important. And, once you're into grad school, no one ever asks you about college, college grades, etc.

Answer 4

Yes, it does, employers look at your resumee and most employers care about which college/university you were enrolled with.