college question: how much does the reputation of an undergrad school affect chances at grad school?

Question

need to know because i am trying to decide between going to UC santa cruz and UC santa barbara. I like ucsc better, but ucsb has better rankings and reputation. if i am trying to get into grad school (For instance for biology or med school- i don't know yet) how much will it matter which school i choose (assuming i do equally well at each school)?
thanks

Answer 1

Maybe it shouldn't, but the reality is that it does. The top undergrad schools are very selective, and only the highest performing high school graduates make it in. Once they are in, the playing field is level all over again, and now in college the students are competing against each other. Just like in high school, you're going to get a bell curve, only the average will be much higher. (It's a hellava shock going from being the top ace in your high school to average, or even below average). The same happens in less prestigious schools, but the bar is lower because they were less selective at the outset.

You have 4-5 years to prove yourself as an undergrad. Once you graduate, you have now distinguished yourself against your classmates. Your major, the class average, all these are take into account, but ultimately a Stanford or Berkeley grad with a 3.8 will be accepted at a top grad program over a UCSC or Cal State Northridge grad with the same GPA.

There are other factors (GRE, essays, Letters of Rec) that will affect your placement, and star performers come out of all colleges - but on the AVERAGE, all things being equal, a high GPA from a prestigious school will do better than an high GPA at an average school.

Now, a mediocre GPA at a prestigious school vs a high GPA at a mediocre school - that might be a different story.

Answer 2

It certainly comes into play. However, you're talking about 2 schools that aren't THAT far apart in the rankings. Ok, it's a pretty big difference, but it's not as bad as UCSC vs UCLA or Berkeley.

So, do you really think UCSC will allow you to get a better GPA than at UCSB? If you enjoy your college more, you tend to do better. However, enjoy it too much, and you can really hurt yourself. You don't have much leeway since you wanna go to med school so really think whether you'll do better at UCSC.

If you just like UCSC cuz you think you'll have more fun, that's not a great reason. You can have fun at any school and the two you're comparing are quite similar in terms of atmosphere.

Answer 3

I would go to UCSB. Reputation of the school does matter but more importantly do your grades, references, and test scores. Going to either will not hurt your chances for getting accepted into graduate school but just make sure you are a top student in your major. Get to know the faculty in your major right from the beginning and take courses that will help you in the long run (medical school).