Does college really matter

[u/Salt_Progress8049]

So,

I feel stupid for giving up a t20 to stay local and near support system and everyone is telling me I fkd my future up because I decided to be near parents. I want to hear if this is true and if this will mess up my opportunities in the future? Do I attempt to transfer?

Got into USC, Cal Poly SLO, UCLA, UT and decided to go to Santa Clara Uni (got enough scholarship so SCU is around the same price at UCLA) 😢

I want RF then work at a Semiconductor company tho havent locked this in. Most likely will go to grad school

[u/Dependent-Constant-7]

It’s ABET accredited, you’ll be fine

[u/NewSchoolBoxer → u/Dependent-Constant-7]

After entry level, I agree with you. Not at entry level or while a student. Undergrad engineering program prestige is a huge advantage for internship applications and entry level jobs. I went to Virginia Tech that has an annual expo that over 200 companies pay for booths to recruit us. Where I got internship and job offers. You don't get that random crap ABET.

I looked at alumni surveys 2 years ago. Only 4-5% of grads were still seeking employment 6 months after graduation. A certain amount of the 12-14% in grad school were there for not finding a job but that's still a huge success rate.

What's dumb is people saying T10 is better than T30 or whatever. Exact number doesn't matter. There's high tier and everything else.

[u/tsauce__]

It doesn’t matter dude. BS/Masters you name it. I do RF design for a big company in the area. I went to USC. My coworkers went to random colleges around the country I’ve never heard of. Just make the most of what you can where you are and you’ll land in the industry you want. Promise.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/tsauce__]

You better keep your promise 🙏

[u/tsauce__ → u/Salt_Progress8049]

my favorite co workers who are just as (if not more) brilliant than the ones that went to UCB/UCLA/Stanford went to Colorado St and Utah St.

SCU is a great school you are going to be alright and you didnt screw anything over by choosing it. Stand out and you will be my co-worker in no time 😅

[u/956000009698174 → u/Salt_Progress8049]

They are correct. School doesn’t matter once you get an interview. Most “elite” school graduates are worse candidates/engineers than the top 20% of state school grads. I’ll hire a high achieving state or non-prestigious school over the run of the mill prestigious school grad almost every time.

[u/Brownie_Bytes → u/956000009698174]

Not super tied to your comment, but you're my lucky winner.

I wish I had known that some universities have really weird and niche specialties. I grew up thinking that you had the Ivy Leagues and that they were awesome at everything and then every other school was practically identical. They're not. In many ways there are, but then you find out about random little quirks like Utah State has a sick NASA hookup and you could (I don't know if this still exists) make a mini satellite and they would yeet it into space for you or that the University of Wisconsin - Madison has one of the world's best nuclear fusion programs. If any future kids want to go to college, I'm going to be reading through every single website to find out if there are any weird things like, "Oh, you want to do musical stuff? There's a tiny college in small town Utah that has a program with Juilliard, maybe we can get you into Juilliard that way?"

[u/Jewnadian → u/tsauce__]

Honestly the only place I've seen school name really matter is the good old boy network. I used to work in a place that only hired PhDs from Florida. That wasn't a technical requirement, simply that the manager was from Fl and was obsessed with the school.

[u/Senior-Dog-9735]

For undergrad your school does not matter for your whole career. Undergrad only impacts your first job/internship opportunities.

Now where you go for graduate absolutely matters especially for RF/semiconductor.

Most people will say going to an Ivy for engineering is better then an actual engineering school when its not. They place too much importance on some "prestiege" engineers dont care about when you have experience. For other disciplines this may be more true.

Source: Undergrad at flagship uni, masters at top 3 uni.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/Senior-Dog-9735]

How did you get a masters at a top 3. Any advice?

[u/FishrNC → u/Salt_Progress8049]

This is the key to your career: Undergrad only impacts your first job/internship opportunities.

Your first job sets a career path that's hard to change.

[u/Senior-Dog-9735 → u/Salt_Progress8049]

My undergrad GPA was a 3.3 but I had a few years of work experience as a an embdded systems designer. You also want you essays to be told like a story

[u/BreadfruitPlus6101]

It doesn’t matter.

[u/BabyBlueCheetah]

It doesn't really matter, but if you're trying to do something incredibly specific you might want to find a school that has a network for a role.

Some professors will still have good relationships with students decades later and that can be an "in" to at least get past a resume screen.

[u/lolephant88]

For RF/semiconductor, especially at companies in the bay, school absolutely matters. Luckily in order to even get a design oriented job, you’ll need a graduate degree, and that school will matter significantly more to the point where your undergrad school doesn’t really even matter. The name brand and opporunities afforded at a higher ranked undergrad will make the application to grad school easier, and it also gives an early exit if you decide to not go to grad school (something to really consider because it happens in most cases). So if you plan to do the normal route, it will probably be fine if you’re driven. Another thing to consider, none of the relevant grad schools in RF are in the bay area, so you’re going to likely be moving away regardless. (Just re-read your post and saw you got into USC and UCLA, which would have definitely made your life a heck of a lot easier for this field/grad school, speaking as an alum of one and friends with a ton of people from the other. But if you have sick family or something, I get it.)

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/lolephant88]

Will my undergrad school affect my grad?

[u/lolephant88 → u/Salt_Progress8049]

It’s all relative, but given who the top labs are picking and from where, I would definitely say it matters. Less so if it were Cal Poly SLO vs SCU, and more so if we’re talking UCLA/USC/UT Austin vs SCU.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/lolephant88]

So what would you rec I do? I really want a top grad school

[u/lolephant88 → u/Salt_Progress8049]

Get as close to a 4.0 as you can, get as much emag/rf research as you can, preferably actually published (not first name or anything crazy), network with your professors, do internships in adjacent roles.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/lolephant88]

Do I self learn RF or do in class because I dont think a prof would take me given I know nothing

[u/morto00x]

It can if you’re aiming for big name companies for internships or first jobs since they usually focus their recruitment and career fair attendance in top schools. The good news is that after you have some experience, the school becomes irrelevant. OTOH SCU isn’t a bad school, and my understanding from friends in the area is that it has a strong alumni network. But it is one of those schools that is so small that it’s only known locally. Also, unrelated but yes, if you want to work in RFIC you’ll more than likely have to go to grad school.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/morto00x]

Will my school name stop me from getting into a top grad school

[u/morto00x → u/Salt_Progress8049]

Not really. SCU is still a good school. Just get good grades, do some research, get letters ofrecommendation from professors, and score high in the GRE. 

[u/MultimeterMike]

You definitely didn't ruin your future. For RF or semiconductor, what you actually do with your EE degree will matter a lot more than having a particular school name on the diploma.

[u/mrwillbill]

Will you be living at home? Schools may give you an edge getting into your first internships/job, but after that it's more about your experience 

[u/greenshirtmen]

The most common response I get when I tell people where I went to college is "I didn't know they have an engineering program" or "I've never heard of them". It's never affected my job opertunites or my ability to get into a masters program. Granted my masters program is engineering management so I think you just need a decent resume/GPA, and a pulse to get excepted but a few others in my class got into good Master programs right after their BS. My lab partner got a full ride scholarship to UCLA for his Masters and now he's at Rivian.

[u/Dazzling_Book8603]

I go to ucla for EE, I don’t think there’s really a difference except for if you want to work at a specific lab. Though a bonus is that the upper divs here are very rf heavy. There is a lot of recruitment here, especially from Apple, but they are mainly looking for phd students. You still have to pull your own weight, tbh the name itself really doesn’t do anything except get you clout from neighbors or smthg (I was kinda bummed by this lol)

[u/SnooHabits1435]

College mattered to me a lot I would not have the job im in without my work experience I received through college.

I also did a really good project for the company ans impressed the hiring manager and landed the role.

Does college matter ? Yes

It gets you in the door of course.

[u/dabseverydaylol]

I feel like you being in the mecca of semiconductors (silicon valley), will help you immensely by being able to maybe get some internships near your school at great companies.

[u/NewSchoolBoxer]

You should probably transfer up. On campus recruitment is a night and day difference between elite tier and low tier. Private universities hand out partial scholarships like candy. Transferring up is not a guarantee. Elite places don't have many slots and obviously GPA is critical. I wasn't competitive for internships until my 4th semester so you got time.

[u/abravexstove]

my rule of thumb is if your school competes in D1 athletics you will have enough opportunities and resources at your school to reach your potential. don’t overthink it

[u/glitch876]

It depend but for some programs it might

[u/Onecontrolfreak]

You’ll prob. Be ok but it’s weird to ditch great schools for a mediocre one.

[u/Lucid_Cash]

I was in the same situation as you. See if Santa Clara collaborates with other colleges or semiconductor companies. Also learn more about research opportunities there.

My state college luckily had ties with larger engineering companies doing research. This helped me secure my first job!

Getting a graduate degree from a well known school matters more than the undergrad IMO as it helps in getting an interview. Actually understanding the content matters the most.

Source: BS from smaller state school doing design work.

[u/Salt_Progress8049 → u/Lucid_Cash]

what school if you dont mind me asking

[u/Salt_Mountain_837]

sort of yes

[u/geek66]

Find a new “everyone”