<p>These days, for most kids, college is a prelude to grad school. As my dtr., who will get some sort of liberal arts degree (philosophy, religion, pol. sci., etc.) reaches the end of her college search we are struggling to judge the relative value of a degree from the schools she is considering in terms of a gateway to the better grad. programs, fellowships, etc. Can anyone advise as to how to judge/measure this important factor? All the schools offer anecdotal evidence of their successful grads but it seems almost impossible to get an objective handle on the way grad. schools look at the relative value of a degree from the various colleges.</p>
<p>i personally believe that the name of the college isn't as important as what you've done in the college...but i could be flat out wrong...</p>
<p>The name of the college helps, but you have to have done something as well. Also innovative schools like Hampshire or Bennington are becomming more and more popular among the top graduate schools along with other LACs. It seems the top grad schools want students who have the ability to not just get the grade, but think and then react on the issue in more ways than one.</p>
<p>If we're talking prodessional schools, biz, law and med, it is clear that the higher ranked the college the better your chance is at top grad schools. Moderator Alexander seems to be the expert on this and there are many threads you can look up for numbers. It seems less important for other grad schools.</p>
<p>the high ranked colleges offer an advantage. the top schools ranked by USNEWS and schools like reed.</p>
<p>These links were posted on the Dartmouth thread.</p>
<p>They go a long way to answering the question.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wsjclassroom.com/college/feederschools.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.wsjclassroom.com/college/feederschools.htm</a>
<a href="http://www.wsjclassroom.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.wsjclassroom.com/pdfs/wsj_college_092503.pdf</a></p>
<p>If you're planning to pursue a PhD, you might want to check out Reed College (Portland, Oregon); they have a long-standing reputation of sending many students onto receiving a PhD later on.</p>
<p>Many of my friends and I are finishing up the grad school application process. Most of us are applying to physics and physics related programs, so I'm not sure if this applies to humanities disciplines.</p>
<p>Arguably the most important factor in grad school admissions is undergraduate research. At strong research universities, there will be more ugrad research opportunities available to students. The quality of the department also makes a huge difference. Grad school admissions can be very informal so having a good connection and getting a rec from a well-known prof can be a make or break deal. This doesn't mean that small or lesser-known schools are worthless. There are as many equally capable grad students from smaller schools as there are from larger schools. In the end, it's best to choose an undergrad school where you would best thrive at.</p>
<p>Sorry if this post is rambling, my mind is kinda mushed right now :)</p>
<p>Thanks Shizz. Valuable insights.</p>