Serious Opinion needed

[LightninInside]

If you had a son who was a Jr. in high school who wanted to major in marketing, what school would you rather him attend? Assume his high school grades and act/sat scores are good enough to basically get the majority of the tuition paid for.
Would you rather him have a degree from MSU or A&M? When you look at school rankings for MSU and OM, they are like 100 spots worse than A&M in basically all catagories. I love MSU as does my son, but I was shocked to see how much higher A&M is ranked above us. We moved to Texas so having him closer to home would be great, but having a reason to travel to Starkville is even better.

Do you guys think that A&M is way more prestigious than MSU and do you think it would matter on his resume much? Until just recently, I would have said no.

http://colleges.usnews.ra...-228723/overall-rankings

UT is also in the mix only because we live in Austin and they are also considered an awesome school. The only problem is that he can't stand the thought of going to UT and it would be more expensive option since it is a harder school to get into.
http://colleges.usnews.ra...-228778/overall-rankings

 

[weblow]

that it means little where your degree is from locally. Also, once you he has his 1st job in the real world, it will mean next to nothing which school he attended, it will all come down to experience and his ability to interview.

 

[MaverickAG]

My wife's degree is in Public Relations and she had a tough time finding a job in the beginning. It had much more to do with the economy. She has since landed a great marketing job in Florida with a global Yacht company and I don't recall them ever really making a big deal out of where she got her degree from. It seems marketing is one of those professions you can get into no matter what your degree was in and thus, where you got it from matters even less. If he were going into engineering or somethingsimilar then the school can definitely make a difference.<div>
</div><div>So I think the main advice would be to pick a school based on the network you can build from it. If he wants to work in Texas, then A&M is probably the choice. If he'll take a job anywhere he can get one, I think its more of a wash. More importantly though, just tell him to go where he feels most comfortable - and perhaps consider tacking on a business degree or MBA with that marketing degree.</div>

 

[DawgatAuburn]

If so, I would tell him to strongly consider a school in that region. If he plans on staying in Texas, he'd probably do well to stay in state and use the networks already in place for internships and jobs. If he doesn't know where he wants to live, then he can go where ever. Not saying that it's an impossibility for someone to move to a different location for a career obviously, but I do think there are advantages to being in the market earlier.

 

[LightninInside]

The networking thing is a factor that my Dad brought up. With so many more graduates coming out of the TX schools every year, that his networking opportunities (Especially in TX) would be greater here. It's going to be tougher than I thought because he is really comfortable at State. He remembers the JWS years and being carried around on the torn down goal posts. (I reached him up to touch it and he grabbed ahold! I stayed under him until I could grab him back. Terrible parent I know!) Also, most of his Madison friends are going to State.

Thanks for the input.

 

[rem101]

Also, he could easily switch majors at some point during his 4 years at either one. There are large MSU alumni groups in TX, especially Houston, so I don't think the networking would be such a big deal - plenty of connections out there from Starkville.

 

[thatsbaseball]

now what was your querstion again ?

 

[notthisshitagain]

but my advice would be to lean towards State. I grew up a State fan but I had no family connections to MSU. I didn't attend State for my B.S. degree and always hated that I missed out on the undergrad experience there. I had a second chance when the opportunity arose to attend State for my M.S. and I loved every minute of it....so much so that I stretched out my M.S. program to 3 years. While I am sure he would have those experiences at A&M, he will probably regret not attending State if he can get a good degree from MSU and already loves the place. I have generally found that degree institutions don't matter as much as the individual. I know folks that went through programs that are poorly thought of, but I wouldn't hesitate to hire. I also know folks that went to prestigious universities that don't know ****.

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

I think your dad is right. He should go to the school with the better department in his major. The degree on the resume in not a big deal, but the contacts and in-school opportunities may be. Good luck to him. Having his old friends around can cut both ways. A lot has to do with his level of self-motivation.

But we do all know that Mississippi State is a fantastic place to be.

 

[notthisshitagain]

Go to State as long as he feels comfortable after meeting with the faculty and staff in the Dept. Also, have him speak with students that are currently enrolled in the program to see what their opinions are about the faculty. If it doesn't feel like a good fit, then tell him to go where he feels the most comfortable. Nothing worse than being stuck in a program with several aloof/immature/dickhead faculty.

 

[OneNationUnderDog]

you know you are on an MSU board, right?

That said, all things being equal (specifically money) - go to Texas A/M. It has a much better reputation than our beloved State. If there is any chance that he will venture outside of the state of Mississippi, he will have more doors opened with A&M vs MSU.

I agree that for Marketing, the undergrad school won't matter near as much as the MBA program. For that reason, if he can post solid grades at A&M, get good internships and WORK for a year or two after undergrad, he will have a better shot at a top B-School.

Trust me, he'll have fun no matter where he goes... .it is college!

I grew up in Mississippi and as a high-schooler, thought I'd never leave the State. Once I graduated MSU, I left and haven't been back. While I loved college, my experience in NY, Atlanta, and Chicago have required me to constantly prove myself vs those from "better branded colleges".

A&M has a HUGE alumni base with a much wider reach. Ours, while strong, is limited to the Southeast plus Dallas and Houston.

My opinion....

 

[was21]

nm

 

[gdogg]

Companies in MS cannot find MBAs to staff for marketing depts. As you would imagine, most MBAs head out of
state. If a person wanted to stay in MS, there is plenty of opportunity for marketing degrees with an MBA.</p>

 

[LightninInside]

It's not really set it stone yet what his major will be. I said marketing because that is what I got my degree in. It will probably be business related though, but he has a lot of interest in science. If it gets to where he thinks he will pursue a more technical degree then I know the decision has to be made on which college makes the most sense on paper. Like one of the posters above said, he may even change his major mid stream.
As of today it is a business type degree and it is down to MSU and A&M. By the time his year is over, everything may change because he is soaking up knowledge like a sponge right now and he seems to have new ideas every day. I'll give him one thing, he has ambition!

Thanks for the comments.

 

[MSU124]

I was marketing major a first but I decided that it was to broad of major for me. That has it's positives and negatives. The negatives were to strong for me, I felt like I would be thrown to big of a pond without having an actually skill. I changed to accounting and don't regret it. I'm in grad school now and I interned my Senior spring semester with a Big Four accounting firm and received a job offer after my internship. Accounts will always be needed and yes, public accounting sucks for a while but after that, SO many doors are opened for you and you can do a lot. The Big Four accounting firms always rate as the best places to launch your careers, best places to work, and best internships. It is very respected in the business word and everyone knows who they are (Deloitte, KPMG, EnY, PWC).
Now saying that, where does he want to work after? That is where it matters when it comes to which school. If he wants to stay in Texas after, those Texas offices will recruit (and when I saw recruit, I mean recruited. Office visits, dinners, socials, the works. Most fun of my life) schools close to them.

 

[ckDOG]

If he can see himself enjoying that type of work, both degrees are very flexible and the market for entry level to experienced accountants and finance people is generally solid in most parts of the country.

As far as which school is best, I'd stick with an education close to where he wants to live fresh out of school (of course, that's tough to predict 4-5 years out). I feel my accounting degrees at MSU prepared me very well, but I went to work in Memphis straight out of school - no clue if I would have been as attractive to employers in other parts of the country with no work experience.

One last thing, if he can get into the University of Texas, it may be worth the few extra bucks. That's an outstanding business school and would look great on a resume in any part of the country.