School name does it matter?

I have my AS degree and am getting my BS from the same school. The school is Minnesota School of Business. MY question is does it matter if you get your degree from a big name university or or college which may not be so well known? Does this affect your career?

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DeJay

School name doesn't really matter. The only universities that are looked upon as second rate by the industry are online universitys.

Slowhand

It really depends on a couple of things. Some employers are sticklers for "big-name" schools, and that's usually the bigger corporations. Places like Google or Microsoft might be a little discriminating on whether you went to Harvey Mudd College, or you took online classes from Heald. In some cases, (like the comparison I just mentioned,) it might make a difference where you went to school, if the schools are so radically different. If you're up against someone who has a place like MIT, UC Berkeley, Harvey Mudd College, etc. on their resume, and you have a degree from an online university, for example, you may be put on the back-burner by employers.

In most cases, though, as long as you have the education, employers will give you the chance you need to show that you have the skills for the job. No education is going to hurt you, and a degree will always open doors for you that you'd probably not have without it. Especially when you've managed to work up the experience to back it up.

buchatech

Slowhand wrote:

It really depends on a couple of things. Some employers are sticklers for "big-name" schools, and that's usually the bigger corporations. Places like Google or Microsoft might be a little discriminating on whether you went to Harvey Mudd College, or you took online classes from Heald. In some cases, (like the comparison I just mentioned,) it might make a difference where you went to school, if the schools are so radically different. If you're up against someone who has a place like MIT, UC Berkeley, Harvey Mudd College, etc. on their resume, and you have a degree from an online university, for example, you may be put on the back-burner by employers.

In most cases, though, as long as you have the education, employers will give you the chance you need to show that you have the skills for the job. No education is going to hurt you, and a degree will always open doors for you that you'd probably not have without it. Especially when you've managed to work up the experience to back it up.

Thanks for the feedback. My school offers online classes however it is an actually school with several campuses. It is anot a big name school though. It sounds like it will make no difference to an employer. Can experience fill the gap of not going to a big name school?

Nuwin

I don't think taking classes online matter. Many schools in my area offer classes online as well as in house. And unless you are attending a super school (MIT, etc) or a suspected diploma mill, it probably won't matter much what your school name is.

A few people I talked to about the interview process is that education is checked, but not heavily weighted. Unless they see a noticeable red flag, they don't really spend much time on the education section of a resume and focus on experience.

Not to say that there are not some places that will unjustly discriminate, but in general I'm not sure it matters a whole lot.

JDMurray

Which school you go to determines how your GPA is weighed by prospective employers. For example, a 4.0 GPA at the Minnesota School of Business might only be considered as equivalent to a 2.5 GPA for the same degree at, say, USC or MIT. Unless you are shooting for the top-level corporate career, it shouldn't be a problem that your degree isn't from a top-level school, like Harvard or Yale. I would suggest, for appearances sake, that the institution of learning from which you receive your degree have the word "university" in its title rather than "school" or "college." And unless you get a degree from one of the well-known online universities, your degree will likely not be regarded very highly to organizations that care about such things.

misman1982

Using your degree in another place outside the city is advantageous. A degree from a Minn. school might look better in the other states. The saturation of job-seekers from the same school isn't as appealing as a job-seeker that has a unique education from another school.

eltoro

Regional accreditation is considered the highest form of accreditation and that's one of the things employers are looking for. Unfortunately your school is not regionally accredited and you may have problems tranfering your credits to other universities.

I would transfer my AS to an accredited online university that is would accept my credits and just complete my BS there.

famosbrown

What school you attend to get your bachelors doesn't really matter to MANY employers. The school you attend to get a Masters or higher is VERY important to MANY employers.

garv221

famosbrown wrote:

What school you attend to get your bachelors doesn't really matter to MANY employers. The school you attend to get a Masters or higher is VERY important to MANY employers.

Agreed. For alot of people an undergraduate is a warm up.

sir_creamy_

Go Waterloo.

moss12

famosbrown is right , I currently attend tech rather than a university and completing diploma in computer network engineering two year course I graduate this July , guys wish me luck

courses I am taking this semester :

CCNP 1
Fundamentals of Network Security
Micro Controller System 1
Electrical Circuits 1

I am so excited starting on feb 19 hopefully I am focused