[Blackhawk]

A lot of great advice already here, but I'll offer mine as a relatively recent grad (Purdue ChE '16).

When I was in HS I only applied to schools that were fairly close to home, fortunately being from the Chicagoland area meant that a lot of great programs just so happened to be close by. From there I rated them based on rank, experience from visits and feedback from current students who were from my HS.

Some will say that school ranking makes no difference, but I think that generally speaking higher ranked programs offer many advantages over lesser known or smaller programs. Highly ranked schools have more funding (more opportunities for club involvement, research, etc), larger alumni networks, and tend to have stronger recruitment from Fortune 500s. In addition school "prestige" can be a factor if you ever decide to pursue a post-bacc degree like an MD, JD, MBA, etc.

The exception to this is the schools that happen to be located near major industries or have special connections. As I found out working in the Oil & Gas industry, the local TX/LA schools have very strong representation despite being relatively unknown outside of the region (lots of alumni in the industry and ease of recruiting/intern accommodations).

Either way, the most important aspect for those looking to go into industry is the ability to get quality work experience prior to graduation. I was lucky enough to do an extensive co-op while in school which allowed me to have my pick of jobs upon graduation. Look for schools that emphasize their connection to industry and career fairs, as some schools have a wealth of recruiters show up and others have relatively few which results in tough competition.

A high GPA also helps immensely when trying to land that first internship, and is still 2nd in line to work experience when applying to full time jobs. I'd try to keep it above a 3.5 at all times, this way you don't preclude yourself from the most competitive jobs or post-bacc programs.