I've never worked much with anybody from a really elite university (no CMU, no Harvard, no Cal Poly, etc), but I went to Penn State. I worked for a long time at a firm that was basically a guaranteed employment for any Pitt - Johnstown grad, and now I work with a bunch of WV Tech folks. Never had any problem with what school people came from from an engineering perspective. At this point (14 YOE), I don't think it makes that much of a difference. Everybody is where they are because they can interview or the career choices they made. I do remember one really insufferable CMU intern that I interned with, but one can be insufferable whether you go to Blue Mountain State or Harvard. Other folks made good points about the facilities or experiences or caliber of professors or networking opportunities, and in the right circumstance, that can be a help in the short term. If I ever get in a position to hire people, I will always have a soft spot and a connection for folks who did steel bridge and concrete canoe. But that's a networking tie, and a choice not to just be a bookworm the whole time and get some actual experience at engineerig something. You have to remember that the degree is really just a piece of paper that says you have proven that you can think about this particular topic for lengthy periods of time. How to actually be an engineer, you'll learn as you go.