I feel sad for the children of those claiming to be able to parse out differences among these schools, all of which turn out graduates excellently prepared for the workforce. Imagine the pressure those kids must feel to gain admission to one of 'the elites' as defined by their parents. The 10% who do get in remain in good graces, but what happens to the 90% who don't? Are they losers in their families' eyes? No wonder so many awesome kids are anxious and depressed these days.

Please stop doing this.

This thread is such an amusing mix of (i) obviously correct "it doesn't matter" responses from people who actually know what they're talking about and (ii) inane "rankings" and arguments from people who are mostly interested in a good pissing contest.

UC Berkeley
UMD
UVA
Boston College
Villanova
Notre Dame
Colby College
Boston University
Tulane,
Colgate,
Fordham

All of these schools are "good enough" in my eye to warrant a second look if other things are there (relevant major, internships, awards). Like most people, I'm probably a little partial (maybe somewhat illogically) to schools that have produced past great hires or strong colleagues. In my case, that would include Boston College.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NO way is ND or UVA on the same tier as Cal. Cal is a major, internationally recognized research university. Notre Dame is an amazing regional school with fantastic community but its not the same, sorry. UVA is a solid regional/national university but not on same scale.

Every other school listed is niche or local, so it would depend on your personal preference.

Tulane is popular and has a fun factor for kids these days, so that might raise it above its academics, which are mediocre.

Exactly this.

Cal is very, very highly thought of, nation-wide, but especially on the east coast (where it is harder to get in). I speak from personal experience - Cal grad that gets amazing opportunities in DC. If you kid can get in, GO!

Notre Dame is a lot of things, but it is not a “regional” school. It has more geographical diversity than virtually any college or university in the United States. UC Berkeley is obviously a fantastic school, but the overwhelming majority of its students are from California. I think the fairest thing to say is that UC Berkeley is one of the best graduate schools in the country, but on the undergraduate level Notre Dame is probably better.

Where-ever my kid goes to is the best school.
+ my kids were breastfed and never had to be left alone to CIO
+ they have good STEM careers
+ they will be happily married and have healthy and beautiful children...

In other words, the college that my kids went to will result in me having the greatest grandkids... so yeah!!!

Anonymous wrote:It’s completely dependent on what they majored in, their work experience, and how they did in college. All are good schools.

+100. As someone who hires college interns and occasionally new grads, they are all the same to me.

Anonymous wrote:It’s completely dependent on what they majored in, their work experience, and how they did in college. All are good schools.

I recruit directly from undergrad on-campus programs and agree with this 100%. Your kid’s resume should tell me not only how they did, but it should explain why. I’m going to be drawn to someone who did well and excelled in multiple areas, not just grades. I’m not impressed by someone who got a 4.0 but did nothing else. Similarly, a prestigious school doesn’t help a 3.0 much. Give me a 3.5 or higher from someone who had multiple jobs or sports to balance, and then yeah, I guess school will start to matter if I’m comparing two similar candidates, otherwise, it doesn’t really. Go somewhere you can do well and think you’ll be invested or involved. Basically, go where you’ll be happy because, if you’re not, the other things won’t follow. (And grad school admissions highly favor a strong gpa.)

For CS only

1) Berkeley, UMD
2) Others in the list.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to see how people (especially you HR folks and recruiters) would personally rank these schools if you had a recent graduate apply for an entry level job.

Colby College, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, Boston College, Colgate, Fordham, Boston University, UVA, Villanova, Tulane, and UMD.

I think you (and a lot of others here, apparently) have a misunderstanding of how hiring actually works.

HR people bring the resumes/CVs to the people who make the decisions. I led a global team in a multinational company for years and its not HR doing the hiring, its the people managers. That said, when you see a CV with an Ivy, that always gets a quick second look to see what they have done and whether they would fit your org. Otherwise, after the first job or two, its always about accomplishments and skills that fit what we need. The first job is about where you went to school.

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious to see how people (especially you HR folks and recruiters) would personally rank these schools if you had a recent graduate apply for an entry level job.

Colby College, Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, Boston College, Colgate, Fordham, Boston University, UVA, Villanova, Tulane, and UMD.

I think you (and a lot of others here, apparently) have a misunderstanding of how hiring actually works.

If I were hiring, and I do hire, I wouldn't really award added points for any of these schools.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends little bit on the major, but in general;


Notre Dame (T20 school with 6th or 7th biggest endowment)

Berkeley (go here if engineering or CS)
UVA (go here if Virginian and money matters)

Boston College
Boston Univeristy
Tulane

Colby
UMCP
Vilanova

Colgate
Fordham

If accepted to both

Notre Dame vs UVA
79% choose Notre Dame. 95% would probably choose Notre Dame if cost is same.
https://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=University+of+Notre+Dame&with=University+of+Virginia#box2

Notre Dame vs Berkeley
60% choose Notre Daem. proabaly 80% if cost is same, 20% might be CS/engineering for Berkeley.
https://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=University+of+Notre+Dame&with=University+of+California%2C+Berkeley

UVA is clearly a step down from Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is ranked higher and studetns clearly favor it over Berkeley or UVA.

oh my god. you are so weird.

+1000. This is a weird ND person. Great school and all, but seriously to try and say its better than Cal is moronic.

It's ranked higher, and data doesn't lie.
What's wrong with people here??

have you ever worked in the professional world? or even had a semblance of exposure to it? I'm not sure where you get the impression that HR people are parsing out "well, according to Parchment, most people choose Notre Dame over Berkeley so ND applicant it is!" that's....not how it works. that's not how any of this works. I'm in HR, and we do have our target schools for recruiting, but beyond that? I promise you it really does.not.matter. and certainly not at the microscopically granular level you think it does. OMG. the idea that anyone besides weirdos on DCUM cares about "THE DATA!!!!!" you present is so delusional as to be scary.

-someone who doesn't give a crap about ND vs. Berkeley

+1 And I would add that when you encourage your kids to think that any one of these very good school will make or break them, you are the problem. It's no wonder that young employees are so anxious and in their heads that they can't produce work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends little bit on the major, but in general;


Notre Dame (T20 school with 6th or 7th biggest endowment)

Berkeley (go here if engineering or CS)
UVA (go here if Virginian and money matters)

Boston College
Boston Univeristy
Tulane

Colby
UMCP
Vilanova

Colgate
Fordham

If accepted to both

Notre Dame vs UVA
79% choose Notre Dame. 95% would probably choose Notre Dame if cost is same.
https://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=University+of+Notre+Dame&with=University+of+Virginia#box2

Notre Dame vs Berkeley
60% choose Notre Daem. proabaly 80% if cost is same, 20% might be CS/engineering for Berkeley.
https://www.parchment.com/c/college/tools/college-cross-admit-comparison.php?compare=University+of+Notre+Dame&with=University+of+California%2C+Berkeley

UVA is clearly a step down from Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is ranked higher and studetns clearly favor it over Berkeley or UVA.

oh my god. you are so weird.

+1000. This is a weird ND person. Great school and all, but seriously to try and say its better than Cal is moronic.

It's ranked higher, and data doesn't lie.
What's wrong with people here??

have you ever worked in the professional world? or even had a semblance of exposure to it? I'm not sure where you get the impression that HR people are parsing out "well, according to Parchment, most people choose Notre Dame over Berkeley so ND applicant it is!" that's....not how it works. that's not how any of this works. I'm in HR, and we do have our target schools for recruiting, but beyond that? I promise you it really does.not.matter. and certainly not at the microscopically granular level you think it does. OMG. the idea that anyone besides weirdos on DCUM cares about "THE DATA!!!!!" you present is so delusional as to be scary.

-someone who doesn't give a crap about ND vs. Berkeley

Anonymous wrote:As someone hiring for entry-level positions. I give a bump for local schools because those candidates tend to be more attached to this geographical area (so they might still leave for another position or grad school, but there is less "I miss my family on the west coast and I'm out). I've really encouraged our staff to put less emphasis on the prestige of education and more emphasis on personality and fit. We can train people to build skills but we can't change people who come in overly fearful of taking initiative, timid, resentful of authority. We had a Havard grad on staff who was an absolute toxic nightmare and I think that brought more people around to my point of view.

This all the way. I had a Yale grad that would cry for the littlest things. She couldn't deal at all. I really look for everything the PP said instead.