<p>I'm still a high school senior, but out of curiosity, are grad school admissions as competitive as undergrad? Like getting into an ivy league for undergrad would be OMG***BBQ impossible, but is that so for grad school? Like if I would no way get into Columbia for undergrad, could I get in for grad (well you don't know my stats, so would it be easier at least)? Or is it harder.</p>
<p>Not getting in to Columbia for undergrad. in no way means you can’t get accepted for grad. It all depends on what grades you will get in college and how you apply yourself. Lots of people go to public schools or smaller schools and still get into top grad schools. Grad schools generally receive only hundreds of applicants and admit only 10-20 or so. But it all depends on the program and school.</p>
<p>If you’re thinking about going to columbia for grad. school, just get good grades and get really involved in whatever it is you’re interested in. Easier said than done.</p>
<p>Graduate admissions are generally even more competitive than undergrad. Admit rates are often in the 5-15 percent range, because most students are fully funded, so admission slots are limited by the availability of funding. Applying to 10+ schools is not uncommon.</p>
<p>But getting into grad school is entirely based on your undergraduate performance, so rock your classes and pursue research and you will write your ticket.</p>
<p>Also, “name” and “prestige” are totally different at the grad level. Ivies are not always the best choices and don’t always have the best programs. You will need to research your specific field and look for faculty who specialize in your interests.</p>
<p>Graduate applications are very self-selecting as well, so the posted 15% acceptance rate, for example, would be much lower if everyone just applied for the sake of applying like people tend to do with Harvard et al.</p>
<p>Unlike with undergrad admissions, however, you have more control over your ability to get into graduate school. You can’t really control where you grew up, the high school you went to, or the types of opportunities open to you so undergrad admissions is random and difficult. For graduate school, you control the classes you take, the opportunities you seek, and if your institution can’t meet your needs the onus is on you to find it elsewhere either over the summer or a co-op.</p>
<p>In short, graduate admissions is easier in that it’s not quite as nebulous like with undergrad where they’re looking for extracurriculars, personality, etc. Graduate schools look for objective accomplishments: GPA, GRE, relevant experience, LOR, the difficulty of your course load. It’s more difficult in that these things are hard to produce.</p>