It's unfortunate how much a school name matters in the job game.
We all know the complaint. Regardless of the actual educational experience you had or the amount of work you put in, the odds are that when competing with someone from Harvard, Cornell, or maybe even Ithaca or Geneseo, all other things being equal, the guy or gal with UB on a resume has a slight disadvantage from the get-go.
Now, as disheartening as it may be, there is undoubtedly some basis for such a bias. Colleges with well-known, prestigious reputations attract high-quality teaching staff and motivate competitive, intelligent students to apply. The result is usually an intensive academic environment that will probably guarantee that anyone who makes it through to graduation is pretty intellectually capable and hard working.
And, at those top-tier schools, the ability to associate and network with other incredibly bright students and respected professors shouldn't be underestimated.
But this long accepted practice can only go so far, I think.
I attended SUNY Geneseo my freshman and sophomore years, before transferring to UB last year. Now, admittedly, the first years at college are a time when students are a little less motivated and are little more likely to slack off on schoolwork than later in their college careers. I was no exception, and I have the bruised GPA to prove it.
However, my time (in the classroom, at least) after transferring to UB was exponentially better for me than the first half of my college experience. I had some of the best professors I'd had up to that point, worked harder than I ever had, and generally got a lot more out of the whole experience than before.
Perhaps it was due mainly to the stronger department for the major I decided to change to, but I can say without much hesitation that I've received a better education and have been better prepared for whatever I end up doing after graduation at UB than at my previous school.
I don't think my case is an exception. Schools are more than a name or reputation or position in the rankings. Students have to find the right fit and take advantage of opportunities in order to be qualified and well prepared.
In reality, an Ivy League school may simply not be a good fit for a student, regardless of whether he can get accepted or not. If students go to a college with the wrong environment, in the wrong city, without professors they can connect with, or without a good program in the area they end up studying, they might not be able to put in the work or effort necessary to receive the preparation and education the college is expecting them to get.
My own personal dissatisfaction with my schooling at my first college says nothing to the caliber or quality of the school other than the fact that it was not quite right for me. For students that it is a better fit for, they could likely get an excellent education from Geneseo and be as prepared as they would have been from anywhere else.
As it turns out, those high school counselors and teachers reminding you to just go to "the best school for you" were right on target. If I had only taken their advice a little more seriously, I could've saved a whole lot of time in getting my college career on track.
So what is really in a college name? What can a diploma from Harvard or Yale really guarantee you that you wouldn't get from a community college?
Nothing, I think, beyond an impressive name on a diploma.
Despite all that, it would still be unrealistic to do away with the ranking system or expect employers to judge transcripts from all schools equally. When hiring students straight out of college, employers have very little available by which to judge applicants apart from their success at school and how challenging they understand that school to be.
But the fact that someone went to Cornell or Columbia, I suspect, will only get him so far. It will likely give him a serious advantage on only his first couple jobs out of college, before his real-life work is available to be evaluated.
If graduates are capable, intelligent, and ready to work, no matter where they went to school, a little time and a perhaps a little extra effort will put them on level footing with ivy league grads (if they deserve to be).
E-mail: brendon.bochacki@ubspectrum.com
