Undergrad question?

Question

I was wondering how important the reputation of the school you complete your undergrad is when going trying to get into a graduate program.

Answer 1

It's complicated, but here are some insights.

If an applicant has a very high GPA from a not-so-great college, as well as superb letters of recommendation, very high GRE scores, and submits a literate and focused personal statement that demonstrates facility with theory and method in the field of study, then that student will be competitive. An extremely strong writing sample would also add to the strength of that student's application.

If, however, a program has had bad experiences with students from that school in the past, that might impact any new applicants' chances for admission.

In general, top-tier liberal arts colleges and nationally-ranked universities tend to attract the most talented students, so students from those programs will often have the strongest applications in the eyes of the graduate admissions committees.

However, if an applicant from a top-tier school has a spotty record, a marginal GPA, and lukewarm letters of recommendation, that student will not be competitive in terms of graduate school admissions.

Bottom line: GREs, GPA (in the major) letters of recommendation, personal statement and writing sample will make or break any application.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

the reputation is pretty important.

however, thigns like standardized test scores, grades, and essays are perhaps even more important.

THink of it this way:
say you went to harvard for undergrad. and get C's there. that's worse than going to say University of Illinois and getting B's and A's there. Admissions people look at you as a whole, what undegrad school u went to is just one part of the admisiions process.

Answer 3

From my experience (I went to MIT as an undergrad) reputation is not very important! Your GPA is MUCH more important, as is any relevant job/research experience you can get as an undergrad.

Answer 4

it really depends

but in general, they're more interested to see that you've done well in school and shown that you are capable of graduate work. that, ultimately, is more important than what school you went to, althought that can definitely have an effect as well