<p>Hi guys. I am currently a high schooler looking at options for college. I have a few schools in mind, but for some reason I really, really want to attend Colorado College. My aunt teaches close to Colorado Springs, and she has had nothing but glowing reviews about the school, and it looked really interesting at the college fair last year. The unique block plan is really appealing, and I LOVE Colorado. </p>
<p>However, my ultimate dream has always been to become a professor, and in recent years that has morphed into a professor in economics. When I told my dad my college preference, he told me that attending a college that doesn't even rank in the top 25 of liberal arts universities would all but kill my chance at an elite graduate school (UChicago, the Ivies, etc.) I am fairly certain that I have a good shot at top tier colleges (I have the GPA, EC's, test scores necessary), but don't know if I would be entirely comfortable living fulltime on a large, research-oriented university, and going to a school just for the name seems kind of pointless. Colorado College also has a variety of economics majors that appeal to me more than the generic econ major at these schools.</p>
<p>So I guess the question is 'can I get into a top-ranked grad school with an undergraduate from an obscure college, especially from the other side of the country?'</p>
<p>You definitely can, but you may have to work harder to achieve it.</p>
<p>The benefit of going to a research oriented university is that there are often more opportunities to get involved in research and potentially more professors doing research of interest to you. The professors at these schools may also be better known in their field, which could greatly improve the weight of your letters of recommendations. Schools that send a lot of students to graduate school may also have more resources to help their students be successful. Then again, if you aren’t going to be happy in that environment or if you have to go into significant debt to attend a higher ranked school, then it probably wouldn’t be the best choice for you.</p>
<p>I don’t think it would kill your chances, but you may have to work harder than others to make sure you put together a competitive application package if you would like to apply to really top programs.</p>
<p>Sometimes with those big, prestigious schools it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. If you think you could stand out at a lesser known school, I would say that is an advantage. You may have more opportunities to demonstrate your interest and showcase your abilities with a less competitive student body.</p>
<p>Your dad, while well-meaning, is misinformed. My LAC was ranked #68 in U.S. News last year, and I currently attend an Ivy League institution which is a top 5 program in my field. Colorado College is also ranked in the top 30 liberal arts colleges in the country, so it’s not like you’re choosing to go to some small obscure college in the backwoods. It’s a well-recognized top college, and very selective.</p>
<p>Being that it IS a top tier college, Colorado will have ample opportunities for research. Contrary to popular belief, professors at top liberal arts schools do do research - they are required to do so to get tenure, and most of them love research and went to get a PhD because they love research. Many new assistant professors at top LACs like Colorado do a 2-year postdoctoral research fellowship before joining the faculty, just like the professors at Harvard and Stanford do. But they often choose to go to LACs because they love working with undergraduates; they have a passion for involving undergrads in research and training them in addition to teaching. Places like Colorado College can afford to be choosy when hiring professors, and so they get great quality.</p>
<p>I’m perusing the Psychology Department webpage right now, and the psychologist at Colorado all got their PhDs at top programs in my field - Michigan, Stanford, UCLA, Duke, Cornell, Boston U. Several of them did postdocs even in the 1990s, when it was more unusual for a student to do a postdoc unless they were aiming for a tippy-top research university. They have active research programs and, it seems like, elegant research facilities.</p>
<p>At my Ivy League, I have fellow grad students who come from all manner of places - well-known undergrads like Harvard and Brown as well as less-well-known places like St. Scholastica and SUNY-New Paltz. Colorado is closer to the first two than the second.</p>
<p>In short</p>
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<li><p>This question doesn’t even apply to you because Colorado College is in the top 30 liberal arts colleges nationwide. It’s not obscure. It’s a very very good school and professors will be familiar with it.</p></li>
<li><p>Liberal arts colleges are top feeder schools for top PhD programs. The idea that you have to go to a research university to get into a PhD program is a myth. LACs offer excellent preparation for grad school, and virtually all LAC professors are doing research so there are opportunities for it.</p></li>
<li><p>Even if this was a concern - students get into top programs from everywhere. What you do is more important than where you go.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I second everything that Juillet said above. I’d only add that one of my grad schools was one of the “elite” ones and I had classmates from colleges I had never heard of, including obscure directional state schools and LACs that show up on no top anything list. They had been accepted and were thriving due to their own vision, drive, talents, and work ethic, not the names of their schools. Then there were classmates from well known but non fancy schools such as Ohio State University and Indiana University. Your Dad is perhaps a great man, but is wrong about this.</p>
<p>Your situation is eerily similar to my own. I will also be attending a LAC in the fall for Econ and have academia aspirations. This is a concern of mine too.</p>
<p>From the research I’ve done about it, it does seem that the path would be marginally more difficult. Even if it will be more difficult, it still may be beneficial to go to CC. For me, I’m thrilled that I’m going to my LAC (Wooster) instead of a large state U. Three things that will help you with Econ grad school admissions: research experience, recs from profs who got their PhDs at top school, and a ton of math classes. Top school want to see math through real analysis at the minimum. Consider adding math as a double major. Good luck!</p>