“Companies from the West Coast also recruit from N.C. State, such as Microsoft, Google and Intel, even though they aren’t located in the Triangle"

Do you realize that talent exist independent of the academic institution one attends? A sufficiently motivated student with mathematical sophistication can be successful at any software company in the world including Google. It sounds like you literally think the name brand of your school determines how intelligent you are or your technical capabilities. If you aren't satisfied with your courses and expect to learn everything you need to know in a classroom then you will be disappointed. Obviously there are some very intelligent people at NCSU and those people are the ones that went off to Googles, MITs, Cornells and the like. Don't believe me? You can look it up yourself and see NCSU alumnus at those exact schools and company.

But lets say for instance you attended UNC, got an interview with Google... now what? Can you hack through the various interviews and answer with mathematical precision the questions you'll be asked about the analysis of your solutions and various data structures? Or... or... will the school you attended be so impressive they'll hire you on the spot and let you bypass the interview? If you can't handle the material at NCSU in your ECE or CSC classes then you wouldn't be able to handle the material in the same classes at UNC or Duke either since they teach the exact same concepts at the undergraduate level. If you couldn't pass an interview at one of these companies as an NCSU student then what makes you think you could pass an interview as a UNC or Duke student?

Technical people tend to look at your raw talent. Your school name will garner you interest, but it won't get you all the way. If you have the name brand but lack the technical skills you'll be passed up. If you are a genius or exceptionally talented then your body of work will show that despite whatever school you attended.

The Google State grads I know would have been successful anywhere in the country and their resumes display that. State isn't hindering you. You are your own limitation and if you can't get what you want then maybe you need to redefine your approach or just quit CSC/ECE and change majors.

/r/NCSU Thread Parent Link - maxpoint.com