Is grad school acceptance deteremined by the caliber of undergrad scholl you go to?

Question

I was wondering if someone goes to a state college for undergrad but then applies to a prestigious institution for grad school, will their acceptance be affected because they went to a regular(not top ranked) undergrad school?

Answer 1

Hi,

I don't necessarily think so. I'm a grad student (phd) and last year I served on my grad group's admissions committee - so i got to help faculty review applications and actually pick some of the people who we would call in for an interview/tour - it was pretty cool! Anyway, I think the only thing that would hurt applicants was if they either went to a school nobody had ever heard of, or if they went to a really big name school and didn't do that well. Other than that, I'd say it wasn't a huge factor. What is important is your GPA, your transcripts - grades - did you take the right classes to prepare you for your field of study? Did you challenge yourself? Letters of recommendation are a huge part of it, so you have to have intelligent people say nice things about you - also your personal statement is a big factor - make sure you spell check it! I noticed some errors in your question :) GRE scores count to an extent, but it's bearing less weight these days. I really have to stress that - a lot of people have this misconception that they have to ace a GRE, but you don't - you just need to do a bit better than average, and you'll be fine. Of course if you do ace them, it looks all the more better. But it's a standardized test, and they don't measure how good of a phd student someone will be, and faculty realize this. For medical and law school, obviously, it's different - those LSAT and MCAT scores do count a great deal. Lastly, if you get an interview, a lot depends on if they like you as a person!

This also depends on where you're applying - if you went to a big name school for undergrad and did really well and apply to a lesser name school for grad school - there's a better chance you'll get in. Conversely, if you went to a small name school it might inherently be a bit more difficult to get into a big name school for graduate work.

In my experience, I went from a smaller name state university to a bigger name state university - and I did OK!

Good luck!

Answer 2

Good question. I hear the same concern in Canada! Even if it isn't true, there is certainly that perception out there.

It isn't supposed to be the case. I even heard that some schools were frowned upon by others for graduate studies candidates because it was believed that the grades at these schools, are inflated! Honestly!

My best advice is to get connected with people at your school and the one(s) you intend to apply to. Depending on your area of study, there is a legitimate focus on compatibility of the students proposal and the professors you would be working with. I don't mean in the social aspects of your potential relationships, but in terms of your intended thesis and their work.

So do 'your' ground work; find out who is teaching at these schools and what their work is like. I am not saying to copy them, but see if there could be a potential relationship of interest there!

Really choose your referee's well. The ones that care will put a lot of time and energy into helping you prepare your application. Remember a referee can check the not recommended box if they want to and they don't have to tell you! The recommended might as well be the not recommended box since there is so much competition for these spots. What you need and what all of us need who apply for grad school is for your ref to check the highly recommended box! Then you have a chance.

It is hard to get a spot, so if this is really important to you, don't quit applying until you get accepted. Good luck!

Answer 3

For the most part, no, not really. Of course, you're school must be accredited. Don't listen to people who say it is important; it really isn't. What matters most is (and these are in order of importance, at least from what I have gathered):
1) Your GPA
2) Your devotion towards your intended grad degree (if it's in the science field, did you work in a lab? or do an internship?)
3) Your GRE scores (i did well on the GRE, but no one really commented on it...i got more recogniton at interviews for my GPA)
4) A good sense of direction and what you want to do and why you want to do it. Of course, grad schools realize you don't know EXACTLY what you want to do, but some idea is always good.

I go to state school (graduating senior undergrad, and going on to grad school next year) and have applied to many prestigious universities for grad school. So far, I have interviews at all 5 that have contacted me. So no, if you go to state school, just do well and make the most of your opportunities. No one asks WHY you didn't go to Harvard, Yale, or Duke...they know there are perfectly brilliant people outside of those universities. Not only that, there IS a great deal of grade inflation at the Ivy League schools, while at state schools, grade inflation is harder to come by (you've got all those people in one class, so you must grade objectively and you really can't "bump up" grades for just one person). I will say this though: Emory tends to recruit from more prestigious schools (just look at a list of current grad students there), but Case Western and Vanderbilt don't, and those two are ranked higher (at least for the departments I'm looking at!). It depends, but the short answer is no, not MOST of the time. Good luck...and really, don't worry about how prestigious your school is...just make the most of it and you will be sucessful. I promise.

Answer 4

No. Grad schools look at your performance in your undergrad courses and your overall scores. Depending on what graduate degree you are seeking, they also look strongly at the standardized test set for that (MBA = GMAT; General = GRE; Law School = LSAT; Med School = MCAT). Where you went to school won't matter. State schools are sometimes some of the best schools, even if not Ivy league level. One of the oldest colleges in NC is UNC, a state school.

Answer 5

Some graduate schools check to see if your undergrad school is nationally and regionally accreditted. Sometimes they require you take a bunch of pre-requisite classes first before attending grad school if there is a problem with accreditation.

Answer 6

The answer is partly yes because the quality of your undergraduate education does come into play when you apply to grad school. But it's not the only factor.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

Nice...first you have to impress them by spelling school right....But yes, this is the U.S. everything is about big names and high caliber things, it all about politics. To say it is not is to be blind to the beast.