<p>Other then the obvious -Caltech-Stanford-MIT or Harvard-Princeton-Yale combos, does it really matter?</p>
<p>If I chose to go for a Ph.D in AstroPhysics or Computer Science, Would it be wise to get close to a free-ride at my states university(URI), land a high GPA,get to some undergrad research done and then apply to say MIT,Stanford ,Cal-tech and Berkeley...etc. which thanks to the research nature of both of those majors, I would would able to graduate with a Ph.D without any debt.</p>
<p>Or would it be better to go to the best undergrad university I can and graduate with more debt?</p>
<p>Yes, it does matter, with LOR writers who are more prestigious ad. coms. will look more favorably on your application. Don't worry about debt you get a stipend in graduate school. This is why it's so important to do well on the competency tests in 7th grade to get into upper level math classes in 8th. It's the springboard to AP classes and a good college, and from there a good graduate school. The quest for a Ph.D. should begin at no later than 13; I wish more kids would pay attention to this and start reading journals, etc. to get a feel for their discipline. Instead they play wii.</p>
<p>I am in all AP classes(except English since I can't write to save my life)
But my GPA is rather low since I kinda....did DREADFUL my Freshmen year since I was new to the town/moving/depressed...etc. It is close to impossible for me to get into a top 20 school.</p>
<p>YOU, That is a possibility of that, but they are completely different fields.</p>
<p>Homestar,Do people use stipend to pay for there undergrad?</p>
<p>While you're a grad student, any federally subsidized loans can be put back into deferral mode, so the government pays your interest and you don't have to pay any principal. I used the money I had saved from working after graduating early to pay off my only non-subsidized loan prior to starting grad school.</p>
<p>Also, YOU, I think that's only a big concern if he does nothing but post on CC for the next four years.</p>
<p>Anyway, you should apply to all of those great schools no matter what, because you never know what kind of money they might offer you. I wound up going to Carnegie Mellon for cheaper than my brother went to the University of Pittsburgh.</p>
<p>I went for Materials Science & Engineering.</p>
<p>Even if you can't get into absolute top-tier, there's no reason not to try and apply to a few other schools because you don't think you can afford it. You never know if you might get lucky and wind up with a much bigger scholarship than you expected.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Homestar,Do people use stipend to pay for there undergrad?
[/quote]
I am -- like RacinReaver said, subsidized federal loans are put into deferral while you're in graduate school. I'm paying off my loans and will be done paying them by the time I'm done with graduate school, so I will never have had to pay interest on them.</p>
<p>I went to the University of Kansas for my undergraduate degree and got into graduate programs in biochemistry at Columbia, Harvard, Rockefeller, Yale, etc.</p>
<p>If you are at the top of your class at whatever school and have research experience or a passion for your field, you have a good shot of getting in.</p>
<p>
[quote]
But it does matter where you went. It's just not the only thing that matters, and it's not the thing that matters most.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, if most applicants come from elite schools, have 3.7+gpas, almost perfect GREs and tons of high quality research, wouldn't it come down to where the applicant went to? Not saying that this is the case of course.</p>
<p>I don't know if there's such a field for class rank but I remember filling that out UGrad admission and heard references from internationals about using it. </p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, if most applicants come from elite schools, have 3.7+gpas, almost perfect GREs and tons of high quality research, wouldn't it come down to where the applicant went to? Not saying that this is the case of course.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>To be realistic, there will probably be more deviations in the application level as compared to undergrad admissions. Overall, fewer people wind up with a "quality" research experience (based on the number of publications, where the publication was made, the duration of research, etc). Research positions in general are more limited, the GPA spread for some of the elite schools are sometimes not much better than a lower ranked school, many of the extracurricular activities that you thought you could use becomes useless, etc.</p>
<p>What will affect you, albeit implicitly, is perhaps your recommendators who may not be well known in the field as this will discount that part of your application. And of course, a 3.7 GPA from Yale isn't on the same footing as a 3.7 from some average state uni... This is why we have more standardized testing (GRE subject tests), in some fields to equalize those who come from lesser schools.</p>
<p>"Well, if most applicants come from elite schools, have 3.7+gpas, almost perfect GREs and tons of high quality research, wouldn't it come down to where the applicant went to? Not saying that this is the case of course."</p>
<p>Then it comes down to the interviews, how you present yourself and how attractive you look. Certainly two people are not alike.</p>
<p>To answer Nightmareon's question, I thought your undergraduate doesn't matter if you go on to a PH'd.</p>
<p>Yeah I mean I don't see how going to so and so school affect where you will be going to grad school. </p>
<p>Oh and congrats on the free ride- I envy...</p>
<p>So I've been in a research lab here at Stanford for a year now and I absolutely love it and couldn't possibly think of changing to someone else's lab but the thing is my professor is brand spanking new. I mean last year was his first year as a professor and though quite honestly he's amazingly smart and all I don't know if he has the name recognition that some of the other profs in my department do. He does seem to know quite a few professors from other universities and he frequently goes to conferences but seeing as everyone here keeps on stressing the importance of your LOR and the fact that his LOR will be my main one I'm getting a bit worried...</p>
<p>So say someone goes to NYU Stern for undergrad, is it possible for them to get and MBA from an elite school like Wharton or HBS? NYU is ranked 37 but Stern is ranked 7 for undergrad business...</p>