Has your alma mater ever mattered?

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Coming from a different field into nursing, I'm curious if the name of the college/university you went to has ever mattered after you graduated.

I've seen how in law, for example, the school you attend has quite a strong bearing on your employment opportunities later on. While I'm sure employment and opportunities in nursing aren't as pegged to alma mater, I do wonder if there is any stigma or benefit attached to certain schools.

Has anyone ever found this to be the case as you've hit the "real world"?

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Believe it or not my community college has an excellent reputation and does get you preference in hiring.

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Specializes in home health, dialysis, others.

If you stay in the same town after you graduate, it will matter more on a social level. If you move at any time, no one seems to care.

After a few years, it probably doesn't matter much to anyone, unless they went there, too.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.

Nope. Has never mattered.

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Specializes in Developmental Disabilites,.

My school has great name recognition. I moved half way across country and was able to get hired over the new grads from the local schools.

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Im not sure about nursing but when I was looking into Surgical Tech I know their were tons of schools that offered the program but when I asked around it seemed hospitals were only hiring people who went through one specific college (the college Im going to for RN). I think if you live in a smaller area then employers may know which programs are preparing students the best, and that may come into play in their decision making.

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I don't think it matters at all. A license is a license to most employers I believe.

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Specializes in Neuro ICU.

Most people will say "no, not at all." I know that it often matters locally - in the city I just moved from, the CC program grads were preferred over the top university BSN grads, funnily enough.

I'm going to be the lone voice saying that it can matter. I made the decision to go to a top university for my ABSN program after talking to alumnus after alumna who were able to get good jobs and get into good master's programs over others because the school is recognized as one of the best. It's not necessarily fair, as nursing students work hard all over the place to achieve their degrees and licenses, but yes, it does happen.

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Specializes in ICU + Infection Prevention.

Here it seems to matter if you have less than 1-2 years experience. Otherwise, it doesn't seem to matter so long as your school is properly accredited.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I live in a pretty insular area, and I didn't go to nursing school locally. The fact that I have an ASN, not a BSN, matters more than where I got my ASN.

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At the rate these diploma mills are mushrooming all over the country, I think it will when the market is flooded with nurses. :twocents:

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I think it matters a lot locally, but makes no difference if you move to another country or an area thats far away.

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