That is GOOD information - what can Harvard say? Admittedly Harvard is one of the best known schools in the country - but really not for Engineering! They have this neighbor down the road called MIT that sort of gets in the way ;-)
I’ve met a few Harvard grads in my 30 years - but mostly they were from the Computer Science department which was decent 30 years ago - and apparently is still attracting decent folks (Bill Gates and whats-his-name from facebook..) though Harvard DOES seem to have a problem with it’s best and brightest actually bothering to graduate (Couldn’t resist saying that....)
They really don’t have a rep on the West Cost in Silicon Valley for EE or ME. Just food for thought. Again though, the prestige of the University really doesn’t matter that much in an Engineering career. Your resume is how get judged AFTER that first job.
Harvard is a bit of a different beast. And that's sort of the unspoken (or not-fully-expressed) premise of the thread:
You go to Maryland to be an engineer.
You go to Harvard to join the Club. The club that, for one thing, runs a lot of the corporations that happen to employ engineers. And runs a lot of what other stuff there is to be run in this world.
As others have pointed out, at Maryland, you can get a great engineering education and entry into the field. After that, as you say, it's up to the individual to build the résumé. I'd imagine that by the third job, or certainly by the fourth, or 10 years out, where you went to school will count for little.
But as others have pointed out, at Harvard, you will make connections that will assure you of work, and you will have a greater chance of entry to the most senior levels of corporate management and governance. Especially if you decide to hop over to a different field of endeavor.
Interesting choices for my son.
sitetest
Harvard and MIT have an exchange program. Any Harvard student can take any class s/he wants at MIT. Sitetests’s son can go to MIT for his engineering classes (assuming he stays in engineering).