Chosing between colleges: Focused degree or a recognized name

egrizzly

If you plan on focusing on a particular major....e.g. Information Security thoughts and opinions on whether it's better for your job prospects to go for a focused degree (e.g. MBA - Information Security) at a lesser known school like University of Texas - Tyler, or if it's more advantageous for you if you take a generic MBA from a school such as UT Dallas, or UT Austin.

I have often had a theory that a more recognized brand (in this case a University) would be more beneficial, however thought to garner opinions from TE land

EANx

I think that there are distinct advantages to be gained from going to a "name" school, the only question is if you think they apply to you. For someone who wants to land a gig as a trader in a hedge fund, they probably need to graduate at the top of their class with a well-regarded MBA. To get into that school, they probably need to graduate with a 3.8+ GPA at a top ranked undergrad college. I can also see the name school having a much greater advantage in a foreign country. It doesn't matter where a school ranks on the US News pages, Harvard/Stanford/Princeton will always outrank U of A.

Short of those or similar reasons, I don't see much advantage to the name school, especially as you get older. Name schools tend to have better alumni organizations so a younger person will benefit more than an older one.