Vicky
Does it matter where I do my undergraduate degree?
I am conseidering if to stay in my country for my undergraduate degree or to go abroad to a higher ranking school to pursue it. #college #undergraduate #college-choice
3 answers
Abby Lupi
CareerVillage.org TeamAbby’s Answer, CareerVillage.org Team
Hi Vicky! I’m sorry no one’s answered your question yet. We're working hard to get it answered by Professionals with the best insights, but in the meantime I've included a link to a relevant Q&A here on CareerVillage.org that should be super helpful for you to read through.
Emily asked: Does a college name really matter?, and one of the Pros who answered it said:
Generally speaking, the most important thing is the effort you put in while you're in school, not the school itself.
There are, however, some advantages and disadvantages to more or less prestigious schools. For example, if you are planning to go to graduate or professional school, a more prestigious undergraduate degree can help. Similarly, some employers may recruit at certain schools but not others. Again, this assumes you work hard, not just have the name of the school.
On the other hand, many big name schools are fairly poor in some programs. For example, some Ivy League schools have minimal engineering and science departments. Many of them compare poorly to the flagship public universities in these areas...
Click the question to read more of what this Pro and others had to say!
Good luck!
Abby
Community Management Intern at CareerVillage.org
Nicole Baillie
Nicole’s Answer
In my opinion, whether you stay local or go abroad for schooling, THE most important thing will be what you learn and how you are trained to apply what you learned in practical settings. For sure, college education contains a lot of information that is theory based. Think calculus :) But for those lessons that you get that have a bit more practical use, for example writing a piece of code that is in a common coding language or designing a working robot or building a process that others can and do use...these to me represent practical applications. When what you learn is something that can used/demonstrated, that can be one of the best examples of success in your college journey, regardless of where you gained these skills.
Additionally, whether you are attending college locally or abroad, I would suspect that you can research and gain an understanding of what is being taught in each curriculum. You could have an opportunity to compare/contrast what you expect to learn to see what you gain. After all, most college programs aren't free...so do your best to get the best for the energy, time and money that you will have to put in.
Hope you find this answer helpful. Best of luck to you!
