Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I thought about reading this after i saw the post about law school.

Im currently a Freshman Chemical engineer at Cornell University. My career goals at this point are to work as an entry level engineer for a few years and at somepoint start working into management (this might mean getting MBA a few years down the road).

After completing almost the whole first semester i can tell without a doubt i will be below average in all my engineering classes meaning i will graduate with like a 2.4-2.7 GPA.

I have friends who are of similar intelligence who are juniors at Clemson university who are making 3.8-4.0s.

Financially (I know thats not the only / not the most important consideration) would it make more sense for me to transfer to a state school to save money on tution and get a much higher GPA?

It sorta seems like going back to the state school would be the obvious choice but at the same time i have to think that 5 years down the road nobody will care what my GPA is and they will either see Cornell or Clemson on my resume.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

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5 years down the road nobody will care what my GPA is and they will either see Cornell or Clemson on my resume.


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Very true.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

Stay at Cornell.
Get ur GPA to 3.0
???
Profit!

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I guess the real question i have is will i be able to get a decent job with a 2.4 GPA. I try to ask career services but they havent gotten back to me yet

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I'm not sure about Cornell, but the access to companies through on-campus recruiting at Berkeley greatly exceeds those of large CA state schools.

+better access to more companies
+likely recruiters know how tough your major is / lower avg gpa
-bring up your gpa
I sometimes wish I went to Cornell over Berkeley.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

Problem is there are going to be 40 ChemEs with better GPA's than me. I guess i should start taking some econ classes to get the GPA up.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I would stay at Cornell and try my best to get the grades up.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I think a key question is why do you want to be an engineer?

Engineer is probably the major where the prestige of your school matters the LEAST in terms of getting a job. ( different obviously if you want to get into grad school or become a phd )

I am an engineer and I went to a big state school ( altho highly ranked for engineering ) and I work next to people that went to Stanford and people that went to the equiv of Southeastern Kentucky State, and we all make the same amount.

If you have a 2.5 I'm guessing you do not enjoy the math and physics, so why do it? Switch majors to business or finance. Make some connections, and get a good job in management based on the prestige of your school and the hiring circle that I'm sure Cornell has in that field.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

I enjoy math and physics, im not even that bad at them either. Its just all the people around me are outrageously good at them.

Also im majoring in engineering because i think there is a good chance i would enjoy engineering and if i dont really then there are good oppurtonities in management down the road.

Re: Career Question- State School vs. Big Private
 

o ok, ya just stick with it then