not certain about the northwest, but i know i got a lot farther along with my midwestern degree rep (umich) in san francisco than i did boston... i would recommend trying to network with alums from your school who may be up in that part of the country.

I too have a midwestern degree and I wouldn't worry about the rep of your school anywhere. Typically I find more of the midwestern grads migrate west. Cities like Seattle and Portland are filled with mid-western grads. You might be less likely to find mid-western alums in the east but getting an interview/offer shouldn't be a problem. The mid-western work ethic/charater still carries a lot of weight with most employers.

my office has several employees who attended school in the midwest. don't worry about it. it's your work, attitude, ethic and personality that get you hired.

my office has several employees who attended school in the midwest. don't worry about it. it's your work, attitude, ethic and personality that get you hired.

oh by the way, i'm in portland, or.

Devil Dog - just a question as to what schools your midwestern co-workers came from? Of my graduating class at least a dozen are working or have worked in Portland. Is the same porportion of Oregon or Washington grads moving east?

in my experience a smaller percentage of Oregon and Washington graduates move east. out of 15 students per studio, maybe 3-5 move east (if they're not from the east- most OR and WA students are from those states).

some Midwest (a broad definition) schools that my co-workers attended are: Univ. of Illinois, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Univ. of Cinc., Rice, Univ. of Denver, and I think Ohio State.

I've noticed that many grads out of Univ. Minnesota, Iowa State, North Dakota State, Univ. Wisconsin, Univ. Nebraska, and Kansas State tend to migrate to the Seattle/Portland zone. From friends who have made that move and my own interviewing out there it seemed those schools were almost over-porportionally represented considering the region.

What are you thoughts? A friend working in Portland says much is to do with the poor quality of grads coming from Oregon particularly but also Washington. I always thought both schools were quite respectable.

I'm fascinated by the migration of people and their orgins. Chicago was truly a melting pot of people. Minneapolis has many local grads but I work with many Mich and Illinois grads as well as RISD, UPenn & GSD. My personal experiences from interviewing and working has been that the eastern firms, notably Baltimore and north have been very closed towards midwestern and western grads. I was even told in a Baltimore office once "we do it different in the big city." At the time I was coming from a firm in Chicago!?! Don't know what he considered a big city. Granted not all firms in the east are like that but I do think the closemindedness and ignorance factor is higher out there.

i would have to agree with you to some extent on the close-mindedness i first experienced out east. seemed that if you weren't ivy league, you had to do twice as much to prove yourself. of course i'm saying this from the perspective of having moved to boston with a four year degree (umich) and no experience... and being surrounded by grads from the gsd. there's definitely an elitist air... no at all the case on the west coast. here, elitist attitudes stem purely from your work!