Does master's university prestige still matter with FAANG + quant internships?

[u/LegitimateChimp772]

For some context: I’m from a European country, but not one with top-tier education (not UK, Switzerland, France, or anything like that). I’m just finishing my bachelor’s degree in computer science at the top university in my country, which is around top 200 worldwide.

I’m deciding between doing my master’s at my current university or at a different one that is slightly worse (around top 400 worldwide) and not really as well known as my current one. My goal is to intern at one of the top quant firms next summer as an SWE, but I’m afraid this might lower my chances a bit.

I already have some internship experience, and by the end of summer I’ll have had 2 FAANG internships plus 2 quant SWE internships (not top-tier ones, though). I’m wondering whether choosing the “worse” university will lower my chances of getting interviews in any way. Do recruiters care about this if it is not a top-tier university like ETH or ICL, especially when I already have some experience?

It is not like the other university is bad or anything. I know at least a few people there who got internships or new grad offers this year from companies like js/citadel/hrt, but it is definitely not as respected as my current one.

Thanks

[u/QuantGrindApp]

You kind of answered your own question. If people there are landing js/citadel/hrt then the school clearly isn't working as a filter. And for SWE specifically, once you've got FAANG plus a couple of quant internships the screen is mostly reading off the experience anyway. Top 200 vs top 400 is noise at that point. I'd just go with whichever program you'd actually do better at.