Does an Ivy League Master's hold any weight as an IT?

[marieh]

I'm looking to go back to school for a variety of reasons and I am considering programs (non-education but in my subject area of CS) at 2 of the Ivies and a few more highly ranked state schools. My question is this - Would having, say Cornell or UPenn, be considered a benefit in the international school scene compared to state schools such as UT-Austin or UIUC?

[fine dude]

If you have considerable work experience, the ivy degree can be a nice addition. Most folks go for an EdD or PhD to break into leadership, but for traditional teaching, it might only give some edge as administrators want teachers with proven exam results and extracurriculars. BTW, Carnegie Mellon is way ahead of ivies in computer science. Your best bet will be to teach two in-demand subjects at AP or IB level (Math & CS or Physics & CS) or offer a strong extracurricular, say robotics or business - and help students win at state or national level competitions.

[marieh]

Thanks for the response, fine dude. I already have significant international experience teaching math and CS at the AP and community college level (I already have a M.S. in Math) and have no plans of ever going into leadership. This is purely to satisfy my own intellectual interests and I'm lucky enough to have the ability to take a couple of years off to do it. My only hesitation is, like you said, the fact that there are other non-Ivy programs that are ranked more highly. CMU might be a long shot for me, but I can easily get into Georgia Tech or UT Austin. However, if the name recognition of an Ivy may prove itself to be worthwhile when looking at future IT positions, I'd like to take that into consideration.

[PsyGuy]

Yes it does if its a global Ivy within the context of IE, but neither of those Unis are global Ivys. Those (western) are (in descending order of veracity):

US: (Primary) Harvard, Yale, Stanford; (Secondary) Julliard, MIT.
UK: (Primary) OxBridge; (Secondary) LSE
EU: (Secondary) Sorbonne
CAN: (Primary) McGill,
AUS: (Secondary) ANU
Asia: (Primary) NUS; (Secondary) HKU

[marieh]

Are you saying UPenn and Cornell aren't global Ivies? That seems....wrong? My students fight tooth and nail to get into those, as well as Brown, Dartmouth, etc.

[fine dude]

Cornell, Columbia and U Penn all have quite a reputation for CS and admin do recognize them as several of them have degrees from Teachers' College, Columbia & Penn. It'll definitely not hurt, though, but when combined with your work experience can give a nice nudge to your CV during shortlisting. I have a colleague who guides students on advanced independent passion projects in CS in high school and has a degree from Washington (PMP).

https://www.cs.washington.edu/academics/pmp/overview

[PsyGuy]

@marieh

Its not wrong. A lot of students work very hard to get into a lot of Unis, that doesnt equal prestige or status. Any one of those students (and their tiger moms) would happily give up UPenn or Cornell to go to Harvard or Yale. Those students woudnt give up admission to Harvard, Yale or Stanford to go to UPenn or Cornell (or Brown, Dartmouth, etc. for that matter). Parents will salivate over an IT from MIT (for a CS student), because they think that alumni ITs letter will help their child get into MIT. ISs and leadership can sell that too parents. Carnegie Mellon not so much, its certainty recognized just as the other Unis you listed are, but its not worth anything more than any other Uni. Graduating from UPenn doesnt mean anything more than graduating from UT. You know what getting into Brown means for a tiger mom, didnt get into Harvard.

[marieh]

You're not the first person who has said good things about Washington, fine dude. I'll check it out!

Thank you, PsyGuy for clarifying that UT is on the same level as the Ivy and near Ivy schools and that Cornell and Brown are for kids who just couldn't do any better. I'll keep that in mind!

[PsyGuy]

@marieh

UT, Brown, Cornell are all on the same level, but they arent global ivys.

[Walter]

Err Dave, you wouldn't happen to be from Texas, now would you?
www.forbes.com/top-colleges/
U Penn = #6
Brown = #7
Dartmouth = #10
Cornell = #11
UT Austin = #76

[PsyGuy]

@Walter

All five of those Unis are in the category of NOT being Global Ivys.

[Heliotrope]

PsyGuy wrote:
> @Walter
>
> All five of those Unis are in the category of NOT being Global Ivys.

'Great' save there.
You shouldn't have written "UT, Brown, Cornell are all on the same level, BUT they arent global ivys" if that's what you meant.
Instead you should have written "UT, Brown, Cornell are all on the same level: they arent global ivys."
Although using the word level even makes that phrasing hard to defend.

But thanks to Walter's comment and your clarification in response we now know what you meant.

[PsyGuy]

@Heliotrope

Is "we" anybody other than you, do you rep some group?

[Heliotrope]

Deflecting.

[aridion]

I worked with a Harvard graduated teacher. However, her pedagogical awareness, and understanding of kids, was minimal. However, she had a degree from Harvard, and at an American international school that seems to count.

I have also worked at British international schools. The university you attended wasn't as important. They focused more on how good you were as a teacher.


I am neither British nor American.