Hi. I just had a question about admission to graduate schools. Is it seen as better for top graduate school acceptance purposes to go to a prestigious undergraduate school and get average grades or a state school and get high grades? I currently go to a prestigious undergraduate school and have relatively average grades, but I can’t help but think that if I went to my state school I would have grades at the top of my class.
I think this because my school grades on the curve which really makes me compete with others at my school. Also, our admissions percentage is ~15%, which means I am competing against other very smart students. If I went to my state school however, where the admission percentage is ~40%, I can’t help but think that I would have higher grades since the other students I would be competing with would be weaker. I have friends that go to my state school that have higher GPAs than me who I was typically smarter than in high school, for whatever that’s worth.
Also, as I have to spend more time in undergrad worrying about grades I think this may mean that I have less time to do things like research since I am spending such a large amount of time studying to maintain a good GPA.
I am also an engineering student. What do you think about this topic?
[Note: I edited your post title to more specifically reflect your question].
I think this is a false dichotomy and not the question you really want to be asking. First of all, I think it assumes that there’s a linear relationship between the prestige of the university and the average GPA coming out of it, and also assumes that graduate professors buy into that. But there are some really elite schools that are well-known for their grade inflation, such that a 3.6 at Harvard might be equivalent to a 3.3 at Georgia Tech (just a hypothetical example). Second of all, there’s no way to know the counterfactual - whether your grades would be better if you went to a state school. There are all kinds of reasons it might not - maybe the major is just as rigorous at your local public university; maybe you’d get distracted by all of the amazing things there are to do there; maybe they’re known for grade deflation.
Also remember that an admissions rate of 40% doesn’t necessarily mean that they are getting weaker students. Remember that top schools turn away many many qualified applicants every year - applicants who would do really well at that top school, but got turned away simply because the school doesn’t have enough room in its freshman class for everyone who’d be a good fit. Those students have to go somewhere.
With that said, it depends on how average is “average.” The bottom line is that you need to have a good GPA to get into graduate school. Yes, getting a good GPA means that you have to spend time on it; which in turn means you need to learn how to balance the time you need to study with the time you need to get research experience. (However, you shouldn’t need to study so much that you get NO research experience, because if you want a PhD that’s necessary, too). Generally I would say that for a PhD program you want to aim to have at least a 3.5 GPA; however, that’s just a soft estimate: I had lower than that in a social science field and got into a PhD program, and I think engineering GPAs are just on average lower. Definitely keep it above a 3.0, and aim for the 3.3+ range. Other things besides your GPA definitely come into play, so do research and work on identifying your research interests and where you might fit.
But the other thing you have to do is lose any excuses. There are students coming out of top colleges every day with excellent grades and great research experience - you will be competing with them for graduate slots. You’ll also be competing with excellent students from non-elite schools who have great grades and great experiences. Graduate school professors (more or less) don’t really care where you got your undergrad education; what they care about is what you did with it when you were there. So if you can’t get a 3.3-3.5+ without spending a little more time on your grades (and a little less time on leisure activities), then that’s what you need to do to maintain it.
Also, I didn’t answer the question because I think it’s irrelevant, but it’s also impossible to answer. Graduate admissions committees are made up of individuals, and each individual will have a different outlook. Some will be sufficiently impressed by an elite degree that they give some leeway on the GPA. Some don’t care at all. And a few might even go the other extreme - familiar with the grade inflation that sometimes happens at some elite schools, they may discount ridiculous high GPAs at elite schools. You can’t tell, but more importantly, worrying about this won’t get the results you want - so the best thing to do is do the best you can.
I agree with everything @juillet says. Graduate schools look at your accomplishments and when you did with your time in your undergraduate studies. In engineering, there is generally less grade inflation than in some other fields so don’t assume that you would have better grades in a less “elite” engineering program. Your goal is to prepare yourself for graduate studies and that means getting the best grades you canand getting a lot of meaningful research experience. That can be done at most any school these days and so if you are at that name brand school but not doing the things that are necessary to prepare yourself, you will have a hard time competing against other applicants.