Does where you go for undergraduate really matter to employers?

Question

if you go to graduate school?

Answer 1

well, i don't think it "really "matters, but there are a couple of obvious things to consider. for yourself, you should aim for the best education you can get. then, once you start job seeking, imagine your resume in a stack with a bunch of others. the one from the better school will stand out. so will the one who gave the better interview. so will the one who wore a red shirt or dress (this is a fact)
i'm a nurse with a BSN degree from Emory University, and we tend to stand out from other nurses. i've heard of patients in the Atlanta area who even recognize Emory nurses by our demeanor and level of care. "you're an Emory nurse, aren't you?", they ask.
i'd suggest you ask a friend or 2 who are successful and well established in the field you are trying to enter. they can point you toward the best schools.
and, good luck!

Answer 2

I'm not really sure what you mean by 'employers'. It really depends on what your long term plans are. I guess if you want to do a three year degree then apply for a graduate post for a large company then I guess it does matter more where you study, however, you also need to take into consideration your degree grade and any work experience. A future employer may prefer a student with a 2:1 from a lower ranked uni who has some good work experience than another student with a first with no work experience from a redbrick. Most employers want someone who has some transferable skills and experience rather than a book boffin. With regards to long term plans and future employers the situation changes the higher up you get on the degree chain. I got told at uni that where I did my BSc will be irrelavent (as will the grading) once you complete a masters degree. As long as the bigger picture looks good the finer detail shouldn't matter so much.

Answer 3

It makes a difference sometimes in the first job or two you have. In business employers care about what you can do. When you're new they dont' have much to judge you on...how you did in school, and in the case of first tier schools (Wharton or Harvard, for example) there's an understanding that you had to be smart and work hard and learn a lot to get in and through them.

And a first tier school will let you make connections with people who are rising stars and all through your career you can pull on that network for advice and opportunities.

But for most people (I've been a senior manager for 35 years) the fact of having a degree gets you over the threshold and good managers are going to be asking what you can do and what you have done, not where you went to school, or even your grades. Oh if it's a good name or you pulled a 4.0 that will help perhaps, but the farther you get along in your career the less important such things are.

Now in science I think where you go may matter a lot, who you study with matters a lot, etc. That's mostly true at the graduate level though, and only the most selective graduate programs in a science field will care where you went undergrad...but partly that's about connections too since the scientific fields are very small and close in fact (I worked in biotech for 15 years and with many scientists... "oh, he was on my thesis committee" is not an uncommon comment -- and not necessarily a good one either...:) )

Good luck to you!

Answer 4

In some cases. A degree from MIT for example will basically guarantee a job when the employer looks at it. Liberal arts schools are more useful for appealing to graduate schools rather than employers. State schools that are known nationally will do better than smaller state colleges.

Answer 5

i think in most professional fields, an excellent grad school can offset a TTT undergrad

in academia it might be a little bit diff, i'm not sure

Answer 6

it depends where ur going to work