College Selection, Prestige v. Program

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am transferring from a Community College in the Seattle area where I am a member of Phi Theta Kappa. Despite contacts from many various universities throughout the nation wanting me to transfer, I have decided that it is best to stay close to home. My major is Economics and my goal is to transfer to a Ph.D program from my Bachelors. My GPA is around 3.6 and I got into all the schools which I applied to. Those were:</p>

<p>University of Washington - Seattle
Washington State University - Pullman
University of Puget Sound - Tacoma
Whitman College - Walla Walla</p>

<p>After seeing the financial aid packages, the two liberal arts colleges are not financially viable for me. So that leaves WSU and UW. UW is higher ranked (41st in US News) than WSU (111), but the WSU program allows for Masters level Math, Microeconomics and Statistics during my senior year.</p>

<p>Is it better, when applying to a graduate program, to have a degree from a much more prestigious University (UW is ranked as high as #16 on the planet) or is it best to have some graduate study from a solid, but not elite university such as WSU?</p>

2

<p>What prevents you from taking graduate level courses at UW?</p>

<p>When applying to an academic graduate program, the reputation of your school in your major is likely more important than the school’s overall prestige.</p>

3

<p>@ucbalumnus: I can’t find any information for undergraduate programs in Economics and their rankings.</p>

<p>I do know that the Graduate program in Economics is higher ranked at UW than WSU. Both are the only places which offer graduate studies in Econ in the state.</p>

4

<p>I think its much better to have a degree from a much more prestigous university. The economics program ranks 34 in the nation, while WSU ranks 72. Forget about master level Math, Microeconomics, and statistics</p>