/sci/ - Science & Math » Thread #12450180

562KiB, 740x416, file.png

View Same Google iqdb SauceNAO

College Ranking

Anonymous Thu 10 Dec 23:08:11 2020 No.12450180 View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>12451205 >>12451267 >>12451278

How important is the ranking of a university actually? I'll be graduating with a transfer associates in Engineering this Spring and I'm trying to find what's actually the best option when it comes to university for my bachelors. While I would love to go to some top 50 Engineering school, and may in fact have the resume to do so, I've also been offered a free ride at a lot of lower tier state schools. Is it worth skirting all the debt I'll accrue over the next two years at a top tier university to just go somewhere local and free for a similar education? How big are the differences? For clarity, I've been offered a free ride to any one of the 14 PASSHE universities.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 10 Dec 2020 23:20:09 No.12450245 Report

Quoted By: >>12450276

What do you want to do later? Do you want to get hired by a big company or go into research?

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 10 Dec 2020 23:28:04 No.12450276 Report

Quoted By: >>12450411

>>12450245
Short term I want to make as much money as possible to pay off whatever debt I accrue (if any). Longterm I'd like to do research/development of nautical habitats of some sort. Research itself doesn't necessarily appeal to me but innovation does.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 10 Dec 2020 23:59:24 No.12450411 Report

Quoted By: >>12450422

>>12450276

Look up the salaries people from the top colleges in your field are getting and put that in relation to the debt you would amass there. (Keep in mind the salary will also be heavily tied to the area they are usually working in, so it's not out of the question that you could get a comparable salary from a lower ranked university if you worked there

If your end goal is research and development then going to the better college is sane. You will need a masters at the bare minimum and a Phd ideally for that kind of work. And going from a top 50 university to a top 20-top 10 university is easier than going there from an unknown college since it provides you with a lot more research opportunities

If you just want to save as much money as you possible and don't care about moving out of the US for a while then you could try getting a free masters degree in Europe after your free ride at a lower ranked university (Countries like Germany,Norway,Switzerland) It would make your application for good Phd programs a lot more competitive

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 00:01:58 No.12450422 Report

Quoted By: >>12450532

>>12450411
I have no plans for a Phd but I was actually heavily considering doing a masters in Europe, potentially as a pathway to citizenship outside of the US. My boomer dad suggested I do my undergrad at the literally who university and then look to transfer to a higher tier one for my masters, but it's likely I won't be getting my masters immediately after my bachelor's.

Anonymous

View Same Google iqdb SauceNAO file.png, 766KiB, 640x480

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 00:07:05 No.12450447 Report

Quoted By: >>12451611

OP here. I forgot to mention that the actual atmosphere and experience of the school plays a part into my decision. I started community college early so I'm still only 18 and have some interest in the physical location and community of the school as well as the education itself. This was part of the reason I was leaning towards a higher university before I was offered the scholarships, networking opportunities included.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 00:25:41 No.12450532 Report

Quoted By: >>12450596

>>12450422
If you are sure about going for a masters in Europe pick the literally who university. In Germany nobody cares where you did your undergrad at and admissions are almost always determined by your grades. I doubt it's any different in countries like Switzerland or Norway. Grades are extremely important and some research experience can't hurt but the name of your school doesn't matter much. So getting into universities like NTNU, RWTH,TUM,ETH or EPFL is doable. Keep in mind your opinion on that might change over the years

If the debt isn't too bad and can be paid off easily with the estimated starting salary then doing the bachelors at the better university might be worth it. Going to an even better university for your masters is a lot easier that way and good research connections are more abundant. As well as career events leading to internships at decent companies

If you are an ambitious person then settling for the worse university might make you feel like you are below your capabilities
Also being around people who aren't as ambitious would probably have an influence on you

Nobody has a crystal ball so go through potential plans and the aspects that are important to you. Write them down and compare them one by one

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 00:39:40 No.12450596 Report

Quoted By: >>12450721 >>12451611

>>12450532
That's good advice, anon. Of course nothing is 100% but I do feel like if I go for a masters it will be outside of the US. I'm unsure of how bad the debt will be, I'm just wary of debt in general. Both my parents are chiropractors and have yet to pay off their school debts now in their 60s; albeit neither of them are fantastic with financial planning. I'm definitely an ambitious person, and that's one concern I had for going to a lower tier university. I feel like the extra work I would put in wouldn't get me much further than anyone else around me at that point, which seems like a waste.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 01:03:41 No.12450721 Report

Quoted By: >>12451079

>>12450596
Doing the necessary research about these colleges will give you a clearer picture. Things like how much tuition will they charge, how much average graduate makes in your field and at what companies grads from these colleges end up (The last point can be found on linkedin since they break that down.

A lot of people amass that much debt as undergrads because they barely do any research.Since you've gone to a community college you already got a headstart in terms of your finances. If you are a thoughtful person who makes informed decisions debt won't be an issue.

Are those higher tier universities good state universities or private ones?

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 02:38:24 No.12451079 Report

Quoted By:

>>12450721
The higher tier universities are almost all privates. Right now my list includes places like Carnegie, Columbia, Rice, Vanderbilt, Brown, etc. I think the only state school I have atm is Umass Amherst

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 03:30:56 No.12451205 Report

Quoted By:

>>12450180
>undergrad engineering
The best thing you can do is graduate free of debt. Due to accreditation, most colleges will teach very similar programs for engineering. More prestigious schools will have better companies going to career fairs and better industry ties, but plenty of people who have gone to state universities have gotten very good jobs. For engineering, no matter what college you go to, he projects you work on are more important than the school name. If you go into grad school, look at colleges based on their program for whatever subfield you want to get your masters in, rather than what US news ranks their engineering department or whatever.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 03:54:08 No.12451267 Report

Quoted By: >>12451276

>>12450180
coming from a top tier american engineering uni, everyone has a lot of good points here. your lower tier universities may have high ranked programs in certain niche departments. just do your research and youll be fine.

again, i gotta hammer home the point that in engineering, it comes down a lot to how intelligent you are and the projects you work on. some of my friends who have lucked into my school are doing terribly in the job hunt, despite >muh prestige

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 03:58:10 No.12451276 Report

Quoted By: >>12451285

>>12451267
When you say projects, do you mean research opportunities at the university? Or actual engineering projects you guys get to work on? At community college so far it's just been a lot of theoretical math and physics taught by a limited selection of mostly average professors, so we haven't had much opportunity to do any sort of projects

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 03:59:05 No.12451278 Report

Quoted By: >>12451282

>>12450180
More important are the connections you make and impressions you leave. If they don't speak well about you then you're not moving forward in academia

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:00:42 No.12451282 Report

Quoted By:

>>12451278
I honestly don't have much of a desire to move forward in academia. If it were up to me the whole system would burn; I'm just playing the game to get into the job market steadily. That being said, I feel like there would be better opportunities to make more high profile connections at a university with more prestige, which is part of the reason I'm considering the cost

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:02:20 No.12451285 Report

Quoted By: >>12451294

>>12451276
both really. theres projects embedded in the coursework, along with research/startup opportunities that you gotta seek out

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:04:06 No.12451294 Report

Quoted By: >>12451316

>>12451285
I don't expect I would have much trouble seeking those sorts of things out regardless of where I go. I've sucked the teat of community college for just about every drop it'll give me. I'm more concerned about what opportunities will be available to me wherever I end up

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:11:58 No.12451316 Report

Quoted By: >>12451327

>>12451294
if youre really that much of a go-getter type, then absolutely stick w the low tier schools. high tier schools can offer competitive fin aid packages that may mean minimal debt if you combine them w work (ie RA is such a scheme at my school). the only real hinderance i can think of is if you suddenly wanted to pivot finance/big 3 management consulting. otherwise, the tech/engineering jobs that pay great money are within arms reach. a lot of them really pay more attention to how you do in technical interviews rather than school name

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:15:07 No.12451327 Report

Quoted By: >>12451354

>>12451316
Interesting. I've heard that before, people from no-name schools being in the same firms and getting paid just as much as people from ivy's, but of course the allure of prestige isn't lost on me. It would certainly simplify things post-college if I didn't have to worry about debts. At the moment my plan is to basically live in a van -- or similar -- for a few years after school to pay it off and be debt free, but graduating debt free would cut back a few years on my future plans.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:21:31 No.12451354 Report

Quoted By: >>12451433

>>12451327
im taking the ultra-debt route of medicine, so i dont have the best advice on this matter haha. again, the prestige is often there for some reason (smarter peers, more connections, more research), and that obviously translates in consulting and finance. but standard engineering/tech? not as much of a positive if you ask me.

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 04:43:55 No.12451433 Report

Quoted By:

>>12451354
I'm a bit biased on the matter because I come from some type of art background where connections are everything, but I suppose that would depend on what I wanted to do in the future. I don't think being around more motivated peers would necessarily be worth tens of thousands of dollars of debt though

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 11 Dec 2020 05:52:25 No.12451611 Report

Quoted By:

>>12450596
ETHanon here, doing control&robotics. Can only recommend it, great school. As for the athmosphere on campus: it’s not like this >>12450447, but Zürich is beautiful, and a lot of nice nature is around. Its also ranked top10 in most rankings, but that does not really matter for engineers I think.

Capcode	All Only User Posts Only Moderator Posts Only Admin Posts Only Developer Posts
Show Posts	All Only With Images Only Without Images
Deleted Posts	All Only Deleted Posts Only Non-Deleted Posts
Ghost Posts	All Only Ghost Posts Only Non-Ghost Posts
Post Type	All Only Sticky Threads Only Opening Posts Only Reply Posts
Results	All Grouped By Threads
Order	Latest Posts First Oldest Posts First

Your latest searches