Big 3, then big name for masters?

Would it be frowned upon by employers to have a big 3 school listed for BA and then to have a big name school listed for Masters?

I am enrolled at UMASS, but I've been thinking about the 3 years it will take me to complete my degree. Perhaps I should take those three years and earn a BA by testing from one of the big 3 no-name schools, and then complete a masters through a big name school. What do you think? What will potential employers focus on? I'd just like to use my time more wisely as I am already approaching 30 years old.

 

I, personally, think it depends on the type of job you are applying for. I'm basing this on a few very disparate industries I've worked in.

My Pharma/Biotech experience:
Sometimes, a minimum qualification is all that is needed (it's basically a check box for the application). In many regulated industries, a BS degree is required for certain positions. Beyond getting that check, it really doesn't matter to the employer. Different jobs require different levels of degree and I don't think it really matters where you went for it. For instance, for a statistician, you'd need an MS in statistics or a PhD in stats for some jobs. You probably just BS to do statistical programming.

My advertising agency and law experience:
Your degree matters. Why? Because you have clients and the more impressive you sound, the more your hourly billable seems to be justified. So, if you are billing at $200 an hour, your client will want a name school. Likewise, a top MBA for planning for an ad client.

Anyway, that's been my experience. Your job/industry will dicatate how important either the degree or whether the name of the school matters.

 

I completed my BS from COSC and there are many people with degrees from the big 3 and get into a good grad school. It depends on what you want. I say go for it as long as you meet the pre-req's for the grad school and have a good GPA.

And I really do not like refering to COSC as a no name school...they have a name - Charter Oak State College

 

From what I've heard, if you can get into and graduate from a "big name" grad school program no one will care what school is listed for your BA degree. This makes sense to me and I'd guess that it's true for virtually any field of study.
Jack

 

Jack is right. Several of my colleagues have gotten the BA from USNY/Excelsior or Thomas Edison and then went on to bigger anme schools for their masters or doctoral degree. All of them are successful in their careers (professors, industry supervisors, engineers, health care professionals). None of them have ever had a problem due to their BA not being from well-known university.

Getting a bachelors from one of the "Big three" and then getting a masters from a well-known institution is a very good strategy.

Tony Piña
Faculty, Cal State U. San Bernardino

 

Greetings,

Well, I believe that Accreditted Agency is more important than the name of the school. Likes Regional is much better than National. Most of the grad school requires Regional degree, and does not mention anything about school. So the big 3 are not bad at all.

 

I guess I've worked in different industries than most of the rest of you, but I have definitely seen bias towards name schools, even at the undergrad/BS levels.

 

Can you apply financial aid towards taking the different tests (CLEP, Dantes, etc)?

I took a sample test from Excelsior and got a neaar passing grade without taking the class or studying the subject before, so I think I'd do ok..

 

Yep, I did it. I lept from TESC straight to TUI with no problem at all.

 

It's possible

When I was at Cornell there was a woman in the Chemistry Ph.D. program who had her B.A. from Excelsior.

 

I'd like to think my college has a name too. The name on the diploma says Thomas Edison State College.