timatom said:
Well, to be more clear, getting a job after graduation isn't what I'm concerned about, it's the field. Everybody I know and have found that graduated from WSU only work in aircraft. I don't have a problem with aircraft (EVERYBODY in my family works in aircraft), other than their bust and booms and the fact that your resume becomes so specific to aircraft that you can't get a job in any other field when you're laid off (in fact, this happen to my mom and one of my uncles), but it's just not a field I'm interested in. So it's a little discouraging when you can't find even one person that got into communications or medical devices after graduating from WSU. In short, I'm worried that this pattern is here for a reason. I guess I'm just sceptical and am probably just worried for nothing. I'm sorry for another long message. Again, thanks for all the replies.
Just because everybody who graduated ended up working in aircraft doesn't mean you will too. If your school does not offer an education to your standards, you can always supplement what you learn in school with your own readings/work/projects. I am an EE student, I found the first year courses very boring by themselves (math, chemistry, physics etc.) so I went ahead and read some books on cryptography, accounting, sociology, totally random things and designed an encryption system on Python to test my programming expertise and understanding of cryptography.
The big disadvantage to attending a "no name school" is that it may be difficult to find peers who share the same enthusiasm about learning as you do and that this may demoralize you, but if you really enjoy the material you will find yourself naturally compensating for anything your school lacks by picking up the skills/knowledge yourself.
There are people in poor countries who go to atrociously bad universities simply because the university/country does not have enough financial resources to offer a top quality education. But even in those schools the best students find a way to work with what they have, some get into the best graduate schools.
EE is a field where your projects speak the loudest words, not the name of your alma mater. While it's true that the best projects are built with the collaboration of many people (and such collaboration often exists only in top/large schools), one-man projects can often say a lot about a job-applicant. A single project can require so many different skills (design process, building, troubleshooting, documentation, presentation, programming, software skills, fast learning, welding, soldering, MATLAB, information theory etc.) that the completion of such a project by a single person instantly showcases the person's vast skillset. With a few tools, some enthusiasm, creativity and passion you can design a lot that would easily impress employers, especially more so if the odds were against you. So do not lose faith in EE. I don't know about other fields of engineering, I don't think a single person could build a bridge by himself/herself but a lot can be done alone in the field of EE provided you learn some CS and some math along the side whether you go into signals, RF, optoelectronics, VLSI etc...
Work hard, appreciate the good sides of your school. There is a special kind of relaxed atmosphere in state schools not easily found in the highly competitive schools in the northeast. Try to enjoy it, use it to your advantage etc. There is great satisfaction to be got from being able to accomplish a lot despite the lack of opportunity/resources. The resourcefulness is a sacredly important skill in EE and CS. The less you use to make what you want, the better! Good luck!
BiP