how important is the school which you get a degree from?

Question

at the end of the day isn't it a degree regardless if you obtained it from a state or private school.
(criminal justice degree)

Answer 1

It matters very much but it's only really three levels of mattering and it's about the reputation of the school.

There are elite schools and 'not-so-well-respected' schools -- then there's everyone in the middle.

Example: The University of Arkansas is #124 in the US News rankings, University of Kentucky is #122 -- think anyone really thinks they're different? What we do know is they aren't Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc... and they aren't University of Phoenix. All five colleges that I just named are regionally accredited and all five award a diploma with "Bachelor of Arts" on it. All five are not treated the same by employers or by graduate school admission committees.

The bottom line is that it is all about the reputation of the college. Plenty of successful people have come out of the lower tier colleges and failures have come out of the elites. Generally speaking though - there is some initial value in the name of the school on your diploma, until you prove it either right or wrong. It's also well known that more successes come out of the elites than out of the lowers.

Most people have a degree from "everyone in the middle" and arguments over whether East Podunk State is better than Univ of West Podunk are silly at best; just as arguments over whether Harvard is better than Yale or Princeton are silly too. Except when we're talking about football - then my alma mater is better than yours. ☺ we're just having a bad year is all...

Answer 2

Where you get your degree from matters less and less these days. Obviously, if a Harvard grad and a grad from Eastern Mississippi Craptown State were applying for the same job, then the prestige factor would kick in.

What really matters nowadays are WORK EXPERIENCE and your MAJOR. Those are the two things that will make you stand out and make you marketable to future employers.

Answer 3

Very important. Some companies only hire certain graduates from certain schools while some don't. Like if you want to graduate with an Associates Degree, forget about it because no one hires with that degree anymore no matter where you earned it. On the other hand, if you graduated from U.C, Berkeley and applied at some place which hired previous U.C. Berkeley graduates in the past, chances are you going to get that position.

Answer 4

I think it all depends on the employer and job market really.

Some don't care, others like to hire from top tier schools.
Most now seem to care a lot about experience. So if you get an internship or two in while you're earning your degree, you're more likely to get a job.

Actually, a lot of places you intern at will offer you a job and have it waiting for you at your expected time of graduation if they like your work.

Answer 5

Depending on what you are going to go to school for, I think for something like a medical school or a law school would matter on where you are going to school at. But more of the general careers, I don't think it matter's much, a degree is a degree!

Answer 6

yes, a degree is a degree. you still put in four years of your life no matter what school you got it from. but some schools have more prestige than others and that's when human nature kicks in. employers could be judgmental about where you went to school. it's all about making yourself seem most qualified for something, independent of where you went to school. someone can say they went to Harvard, but if they can't do the job as well as you, they won't get the job.

Answer 7

An ivy league degree will get you in the door pretty much everywhere. Beyond that...nah, doesn't matter.

Answer 8

yep