Does going to an Ivy League university really make a difference in career success?
Your question is very narrowly focused, as if “career success” were the most important thing in life. It isn’t. You, I expect, will someday come to realize that leading a happy and productive life, one with some meaning and purpose, one that, at the end, was satisfying, is vastly —- really vastly —- more important than whether you earned marginally more money.One of the responders noted that having the qualifications for an Ivy League university is more of a determinant than actually going there. I expect that is true. In a meritocracy, have greater abilities counts for a lot.What most of the other responders didn’t address, though, are the myriad other aspects. Going to an elite university has profound impacts on your social connections. I don’t mean to imply that you will earn more money because of them. As far as I’m concerned, that is utterly irrelevant. Many of my most interesting friends are people I met in college, or who were in my college class and I came to know later.I was chatting with a very successful individual a couple of years ago. He had graduated from Harvard, went on to be a successful lawyer, spent a couple of years in a senior government position, and was, at that time, working for a very (very!) large financial institution. He commented that he really looked forward to coming back to Harvard around Commencement because he simply never had the kinds of conversations with people at work that he had with folks when he came back. It was completely different.Can you make good friends elsewhere - of course. Can you have a great life if you go to a second or third tier college - of course you can. Is going to a place like Harvard life altering - absolutely. Maybe not if you are the fifth generation in your family to do so, but for the rest of us, it is utterly transformational.
How much does the university you attend make a difference in the future?
Engineering curriculums in Canada are standardized and accredited by the same board, so it's the same no matter what school you go to.Ultimately, it depends on what your personal goals are, I think.Waterloo's Engineering programs are based around integrated co-op, and their graduates find work right away. Also, they're very entrepreneurial. RMCC is designed for someone who's entering the Canadian Armed Forces, so I would avoid that completely unless that's your intention.As for the other universities, it just comes down to your personal preference; location, campus, student population.People will rate them differently, but really there's no difference. If you're trying to get an international job, the University of Toronto or Queen's University might be best, because they're somewhat internationally known. However, it all comes down to what your grades are and what your work experience is, anyways.U of T tends to be a bit more expensive, and it has a fairly large student population, so that might be something to consider too.I hate rating universities, but for Computer Engineering, I think I'd say that Waterloo would be your best bet, but then after that everything else is on the same league (except RMCC - only do that if you're interested in the Military)
Does it really make a difference what uni you go to?
as long as i got the same degree. Do employers consider the uni if two candidates have the same degree? if i wanted to become a teacher would it affect what schools i could teach at,like private schools?
Difference between For-Profit university and Private university?
Private, non-profit schools are not businesses. They only charge students what it costs to educate them (and usually they don't even charge that much). They are funded by tuition, donations, and their endowment. No one is making money off the school, but they do have to pay the people they employ. For-profit schools are businesses. Someone is trying to earn money off the school like any other business, so some or most of the money you pay does NOT go towards your education.
Does graduating with honors make a difference after college?
of course it does matter. your friends who told you otherwise may really believe so but that is so wrong. firstly your employers are going to look at your gpa. however i admit that to most of them grades are not the most important thing. also i would like to point out to you that, some companies have a policy that associates different classes of honours to a different range of starting salaries. as for graduate school, they will definitely look at your gpa before even considering your application (scholarship, unless self-financed). for my university, to qualify for a scholarship for phd (we have direct phd programmes at our university now so you don't have to get a master first) you have to have a gpa of at least 4 upon 5; for masters i believe it's 3.5. to my knowledge the requirements set by my university are on the low-side. so if you intend to pursue graduate studies i would advise you to find out now from you university. cheers! =)