figure out what you want to do, and who you want to work for. then call their HR department and tell them you're taking a survey and see if they'll tell you where they hire from the most. :-)
or just find a school you can afford that has a Formula SAE program. Participate in FSAE. Win at life.
I like all of those ideas! Especially the "win at life" one...
A point that hasn't been discussed. The fact that you already have one college degree and a military background may mean as much as what school you went to for you second degree when it actually comes down to getting a job.
When I was getting ready to retire from teaching I decided to get a degree in IT for after retirement employment. I already had a Bachelors and Masters in Education so I had 2 choices. A Masters in Computer Science from a local college or an AA in IT from the local community college. I chose the AA since I thought it would give me a more practical education.
After finishing the degree and retiring just to get some practice interviewing I applied for a job where I didn't really have any of the qualifications they listed. I was hired on the spot over several others they had already interviewed. After about a year I asked the VP of IT why they hired me over the others. His reply, "experience and stability".
I am going to answer my merging and moding for emphasis
foxtrapper wrote: Yes,but it only matters to some, and mostly when you are chasing that first few jobs out of college. or if you are in certain fields that your reputation is in question, like offering a legal opinion
Slippery wrote: I think it does, but at least make sure that it is ABET accredited.
no matter what it must be ABET accredited
no matter what it must be ABET accredited
no matter what it must be ABET accredited
There I said it 3 times.
I'd be curious to find what the cheapest ABET accredited school is.
NVM -
Stony Brook, NY is pretty cheap and is ABET accredited.
and UNO (University of New Orleans) is ABET and cheap as well.
Both under $6000 per school year.
In reply to PHeller: Near him, Idaho. They have a fsae hybrid program and are one of the top schools in the sae clean snowmobile competition.
But I am biased just a little.
In reply to PHeller:
Old girlfriend of mine went to UNO and loved it. Did some pretty cool work there. She got her Ph.D in something like aerospace composites, or that was her emphasis area anyways.
DustoffDave wrote: It seems a bit strange to me to be 30 years old, a college grad, and 7 years into a "career" as a military officer and asking questions about bachelors degrees, but I am exploring all avenues, so thanks again.
I was in the same boat minus the military experience. I felt like I got a lot more "education" out of my second degree. I had a study friend who ended up in my senior design group who was also in his thirties. He was ex-military and we had great time working through our BSME together.
Also, since I didn't have to redo my english, humanities and other such classes I had some holes in my schedule due to pre-requisite that I filled with welding and machining classes at the local vo-tech school. I really enjoyed it and now I feel like I'm a much better engineer for the hands-on experience I gained.
I've never actually been "qualified" for any full-time job I've held in the last 25 years.
AngryCorvair wrote: figure out what you want to do, and who you want to work for. then call their HR department and tell them you're taking a survey and see if they'll tell you where they hire from the most. :-)
I agree with this sentiment. I'm an ME, from a relatively small local school (Florida Atlantic), coming up on 12 years at an aerospace company designing gas turbines.
More and more companies are hiring relatively local in order to secure employees interested in being there long-term. The biggest name schools will always be better for the research or for entering directly into the fast-track management programs. For nuts and bolts engineering I think the other qualifications are as important (and you seem covered there).
I would pick an industry, or an area, you are interested and figure out what schools feed positions that fit your end goal.
After that first hire, the skills which allow you to advance in your career won't likely be those learned at the university.
Its not a simple answer.
For every company that will hire from a ivy institution, there are 20 that won't even interview you because they expect that you want top dollar just to start. Moving on, I expect that I will also have a harder time retaining these people.
Same deal goes with Phds. I would almost advise you to hide that under a rock when looking for a first job bcause your resume often ends up not getting read due to employer expectations and egghead stereoptyping. If the guy running the department does not have a Phd, I can pretty much assure you that it will work against you. Life is not fair.
I went to a State University in SD, about as humble as you can get, but it was acredited. Can't think of any of my peers who did not land a job and move along in the career.
If I can offer one piece of advice it would be to get some relevant job experience when going to school. Knowing that you can do basic circuit design or program code is going to go a long way to getting the job. We put programers and electronics applicants through a quiz to see what they really know.
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