Is a business degree in Ucd/trinity that much better?

Paddyg96

I have enough points to do a course I want to do in both trinity and Ucd, but I'd rather do the same course in UCC or even DCU.

I have a lot of friends in DCU and the cheaper accommodation is what is appealing about ucc.

Will going to these "less prestigious" institutes put me at a major disadvantage to trinity, Ucd graduates? Provided I apply myself wherever I am.

I mean in terms of getting into masters in say smurfit, and also in terms of future employment.

pedroeibar1

Look at the university rankings - the positions are clear.

People get the jobs, not their qualifications, the latter just get them in the door for an interview. You need to get in the door.

In business degrees I'd put the order as TCD, UCD, UCC, UCG, UL. That said UL has some very good courses particularly those that are Insurance related and DCU is good on Marketing. For post grad you should look at overseas if you have a good GMAT score, lots out there way cheaper and far, far better than all the above.

Mrs OBumble

You also need to consider who you will meet at each of these institutions, as well as what and how they teach.

If you intend to continue your life in business with your current group of friends, then by all means go to college with them.

But if you want to meet the future higher-level power-brokers in society, then you need to go to college where they go to college.

If's often who you know not what you know which determines success.

ironclaw

Speaking from a Masters Level and in particular Smurfit, it depends on the course. Once you meet the requirements, can afford it and don't fall into the waiting list (i.e. Apply as soon as applications open) then you will get it. For the likes of the MBA, its much harder to get in and the requirements are much higher in the soft / experience skills. MBA's are the brand of the college and the Smurfit one is highly regarded.

Critically however employers are now looking for experience, not qualifications. A qualification gets you on the recruiters desk as you meet the bare minimum. That's it. 2 years in an industry would be worth far more than a Masters of the same length in some cases. Going back to college is encouraged, but not on a full time basis i.e. keep developing experience. Part time / diploma courses in related fields e.g. CISCO Networks, Financials, Accounting, Arbitration, Legal may sound like a waste of time but this is what employers look for. Further more, Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is a must in certain industries e.g. Engineering, Accountancy.

You can also be 'too qualified' and its common for someone to have a length the list of their arm of qualifications but find themselves jobless. This is becoming more common (In my opinion) in Ireland as jobs requiring these high qualifications are not here i.e. In the IT Sector, most jobs are customer support. You do not need high qualifications for most of these jobs and we output hundreds of developers every year. As such, standing out from the crowd is key and remember every single person on your course has the same piece of paper, what makes YOU different is key.

Finally, a recruiter who went to Trinity (For example) is likely to recommend someone who went to Trinity, likewise a manager will commonly favour someone from their school or background (This is basic human bias and may not be malicious) You won't be significantly held back based on where you went to school, I work with people who went to all manners of colleges, but if it came to a crunch, the person from the 'top' universities in their fields would likely get the job over someone from perhaps a local IT, all other things considered equal. Like I said, if you demonstrate ability beyond your degree, it doesn't really matter what is written on your parchment.