Sample size of one, but I dropped out of a top public school, immediately started working full-time x 1.5, and ended up with a resume that my now-graduating colleagues are blown away by. A few top companies (Google and Yelp! included) have flat out refused to screen me based on no other conversation than "Oh, I never finished school because _____". Hell, I interned for a large bank and received a great job offer which was promptly rescinded after the right manager found out what everybody else already knew.

It's one thing if I fail the interview process. I get that. I know I have a lot to learn. But the way some of these companies act is just messed up. FWIW, none of my independent clients care.

Yeah, banks (and many big companies) are like that.

I once came across a job application that had TOP SCHOOLS ONLY emblazoned across the top.

Thanks for saving me my time in applying.

http://cs.stanford.edu/~uno/news.html#lectures

So don't necessarily count yourself out immediately. Take what I said with a grain of salt.

However, since they do have lists like that (they being unicorn-type companies, I think) they quite likely do use it as a metric- maybe not necessarily a requirement.

At some schools, the CS curriculum is focused on "pure" computer science. These curricula are packed full of theoretical CS and rigorous mathematical courses, and are great for people who hope to go into CS research or academia.

At other schools, the "CS" curriculum would be better called "software engineering." These curricula focus on programming and applied CS, giving more "practical" skills for people planning to proceed straight to industry.

At NC State, the undergraduate CS curriculum was a pretty good balance between both. You'll get a mix of both theoretical and applied CS, the downside being that you won't get very deep coverage of either. However, I feel that I was well-prepared to enter industry after graduation, and I've been pretty successful in my line of work.

Here's a small subset of what I studied as an undergrad at NC State:

    Theoretical                 | Applied
    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Discrete mathematics        | Java
    Automata theory             | C
    Computability & complexity  | x86 assembly language
    Linear algebra              | Software engineering

    Mix
    ----------------------------
    Data structures & algorithms
    Operating systems
    Computer graphics
    Artificial intelligence
    Database management systems
    Multimedia systems
    Human-computer interaction

Another benefit of NC State is that it's in the NC Research Triangle area, and the Research Triangle Park is only about 10 minutes down I-40 from campus. RTP is home to a TON of tech companies, so there are plenty of opportunities for relevant employment, both for students (internships, co-ops) and for recent graduates (full-time work).

Raleigh is also a great place to live and work. Plenty to do, great job availability, low cost of living, and traffic is never too bad. The only downside is that the public transportation story isn't nearly as good as, say, D.C.'s (the bus system isn't terrible, though -- I generally found that I could get where I wanted to go in a reasonable amount of time, and there are connecting buses that will take you to nearby Durham (Duke) and Chapel Hill (UNC)).

I very much enjoyed my time at NC State, and if I could go back and choose a university again, knowing what I know now, I'd choose NC State again.

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask me questions :)

Might be smarter to have a "Where did you hear about this internship?" question instead and have "on-campus event" as a choice.