New survey shows corporate recruiters prefer one-stop shopping of state-school graduates

By Tony Tan
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Senior Aaron Melemed’s high grades and standardized test scores, coupled with his involvement in extracurricular activities and volunteer programs, have given him serious potential to be accepted into an elite, highly selective school. Yet the only school Melemed said he is determined to attend is Purdue University.

One specific factor in Melemed’s decision in attending Purdue rather than pursuing schools in the Ivy League is the number of job offers he’ll get after graduating. According to Melemed, corporate recruiting at Purdue will allow him to apply for jobs that Ivy League students usually only hear about.

The study shows that out of the top 25 schools ranked by major companies in terms of undergraduate quality, only one name is an Ivy League school – Cornell University. The rest of the list consists of several state schools, including Purdue University at number four. This influx of corporate recruiters may result in a similar influx of applicants to state schools, including applicants like Melemed.

Although Tanna Hanger, College Career Resource Center counselor, said she has not necessarily seen an increase in the number of students from CHS attending state schools because of corporate recruiters, she said she believes corporate recruiters should be considered an important factor for students’ decisions on college. According to Hanger, that corporate job the student gets upon graduation is a viable reason to choose a state college.

“Students definitely want to know, when they graduate, that all (of their efforts) were worth something,” Hanger said. “Not only that, but some schools (such as those in the Ivy League) are competitive and hard to get into.”

Specifically, Melemed said he is interested in the Professional Practice (Co-Op) Program featured at Purdue University’s engineering school – ranked second in engineering majors by the study in The Wall Street Journal. This program involves companies such as General Electric and government agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National Security Agency (NSA), which recruit directly from Purdue.

“The student, after his first year of engineering, spends the next three or five years alternating between a semester of school and a semester of paid internship at the company. This makes Purdue students much more marketable after they graduate,” Melemed said.

However, despite the numbers, state schools and corporate recruiters still might not have the same appeal for others as they might for Melemed.

Senior Ivy Yan, who also has an extensive academic history, said she does not consider state schools as important an option as those elite schools. Yan said she believes the benefits of corporate recruiters at state schools do not overshadow the reputation of the Ivy League schools.

“It’s more of the people you meet at these (Ivy League) schools than the actual caliber of learning,” Yan said. “Professors everywhere are going to be very qualified, of course at the Ivy Leagues they’re going to be more so, but in general it’s more of the environment of the people you meet and the connections you get there.”

According to Yan, corporate recruiters who concentrate on state schools look for students with more practically applied majors like engineering, a career path which Yan said she does not want to pursue. Instead, she said she could make better connections at schools in the Ivy Leagues, which have more reputable programs for international relations.

“I still feel that a degree from a place somewhere like Harvard still gets a lot of initial ‘wow’ factor,” Yan said.

Greg Klimowicz, University of Pennsylvania student and co-founder of IvyAlly (a community which mentors college-bound students interested in the Ivy Leagues), said although it would be beneficial for one to think about what type of companies typically hire students from certain schools, he would not advise students to choose a school purely by virtue of corporate recruiters.

“(Choosing a school) all comes down to what school is the right fit,” Klimowicz said via email. “I wouldn’t recommend students start their college search with where recruiters are at or based on college rankings. Start with identifying your interests and thinking about what types of things you want to study, not what you think an employer will find to be an impressive major.

“I found my internship this past summer while attending a conference for Ivy League students. This company did recruit at Penn, but I was able to meet key people at a luncheon. In short, there are many ways to meet employers outside of formal recruiting programs.”
Nevertheless, according to Melemed, there are many ways in which a corporate program at Purdue would benefit him and others.

“Corporate recruiters show me what corporations are out there and what companies I could potentially work for,” he said. “It gives me the opportunity to learn more about these companies and decide which ones I am interested in. Also, it gets my name out there. Through the Co-Op program, I could actually work with one of the companies. After the Co-Op program is over, I will have established myself with that company, and it will likely hire me. This gives me job security. The corporate recruiter can offer you a job interview you wouldn’t be able to get otherwise.”

Klimowicz said, though, it was more important for students to study what interests them most.

“My one piece of advice would be to find your ‘right fit’ school no matter what it’s ranked, study what gets you excited, and connect with many people. If you do what you love, you’ll be successful – and if you’re successful, employers will notice no matter where you go,” he said.

Melemed said he agrees to this, and after factoring in the financial cost of and scholarship opportunities he can receive from Purdue, Melemed said he thinks he can justify going to Purdue rather well.
“I want to go into engineering,” Melemed said. “More specifically, I am interested in aerospace engineering. I’ve loved outer space my whole life, and it’s the field that I want to go into. Plus, Purdue is one of the best in the nation (for those interested in engineering). Anyways, as long as you do well in a good school like Purdue, you can get into any graduate school.”