my 2c, i think prestige does influence things
OP, your peers and many youths of sydney go well out of their way to attend unsw/usyd, and this has been the case for decades.
I have never heard of anyone go out of their way to attend a non G8, if they have made the course everywhere.
whether you think "employers" value prestige, is pretty situational. firstly if the senior/manager/partner or whatever graduated from unsw/usyd "many have" and values prestige, yes they will think specific unis are shit, and you will then have to outdo the other applicants. understand there will be people like this, however the reverse is not true, this senior/manager/partner will not think unsw/usyd is shit.
pretty much my train of thought,
how many law grads have there been in the past years, where did they come from?
of these law grads how many usyd/unsw ones are successful & have gotten promoted over the years?
what are the odds that THEY will value prestige and be biased?
OP if you made a G8, attend it, take an extra hour everyday, many many many people do this
I think this is the most realistic piece of advice offered thus far in this thread.
OP, to completely disregard the notion that prestige places a part in Job prospects would be doing yourself a great injustice and be naive. However as hungewelll337 has already mentioned it is very situational. Not only does it depend on who the person interviewing/employing/promoting you is and which uni they come from but it also depends on the type of places you are applying for. If you are aiming for mid-top tier firms when you graduate then even graduating from a Go8 won't strictly speaking be enough, you'll need more. It may just get the person reviewing your CV to keep reading, but if your marks are sub-par (typically below a credit average), then you're going to be in a bit of trouble.
I go to a non-Go8 universities (Macquarie) and I think the key to it is this: As long as you have solid marks and some good/diverse extra-curriculars then you should be pretty competitive.
Even the worst firm won't want to employ someone who went to a Go8 with a pass average... Keep this in mind. Just because someone went to a Go8 it does not mean that they automatically have it over everyone else. They may have a head start, again, this is dependant on where they want to work, but that is it. A few years, and a few promotions later, the university you graduated from won't even count.
So my advice is this: While it is important to be aware that this sort of thing is real (unfortunately), it is also important to try and forget about this Go8/non-Go8 business - its vile and crude. if you didn't get into a Go8 then concentrate as much as you can at the institution you did get into, work your ass off, and get some solid marks. Participate in extracurriculars, be sociable and make the most of it. Having done all that, and achieved, you will excel and there shouldn't be any reason a prospective employer wouldn't hire you.
Alternatively, if it bothers you that much you can spend the first year or so trying to transfer out.
