<p>Should I chose a extremely prestigious college and compete fiercely with everyone else to get mediocre grades or should I go to a less prestigious college and be one of the top student?</p>
<p>Assume I am going to grad school</p>
<p>Grad school for what area? Masters or PhD or Professional school?</p>
<p>Some top undergrad schools have a relatively more cooperative culture, but that doesn’t mean the work is easy.</p>
<p>Probably the latter option, if you intend on going to grad school. Undergrads colleges are less important when you intend on pursuing a med, law etc. school. Go to a decent college and get great grades and be involved, and you’ll get into a good grad school. People who intend to hire you will place much more emphasis on where you went to grad than undergrad. This shouldn’t limit you from going to a good undergrad college though. If you haven’t done the coursework in either scenario, then it’d be hard to say. Some programs are harder than others at different schools, regardless of the prestige of the school. A “less” prestigious college doesn’t necessarily mean the academia isn’t rigorous.</p>
<p>Do some research on your particular major interest and see where your college options fall.</p>
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It was my experience at a “prestigious” college that there generally wasn’t fierce competition. Students studied with each other and in many cases went out of their way to assist other students in the same class. However, there were quite a few classes that were graded on the curve. Getting A’s can be a challenge when graded on a curve full of top-stats, major award winner type students. I wouldn’t assume you can easily be one of the top students at a less prestigious school either. Many less prestigious schools also have some outstanding students, particularly state flagship types. Some who have attended both say that it was more difficult to get top grades at less prestigious schools (this was not my experience). I suppose it depends on which schools you are comparing and the particular majors/classes within those schools.</p>
<p>In many cases, it is easier to be accepted to a grad program if you are an undergrad student at that same college. Some colleges allow you to pursue graduate and undergraduate degrees at the same time and combine requirements. For example, I was in two engineering grad programs at Stanford before I had my undergrad degree. I finished the first 2 degrees within 4 years, then finished up the last one via long distance while working in southern CA. </p>
<p>If it were me, I’d pick an undergrad school that was a good fit and a good choice for my career goals, where I believe I’d be happy and could be successful, rather than look for a college that is expected to be easy A’s.</p>