<p>I was wondering how difficult it would be to get into an Ivy League for grad school coming from a state flagship school like Rutgers or UMD - College Park?</p>
<p>Why must you go to an Ivy grad school? In many cases, the topmost graduate program for a particular field is not one of those eight schools. Can you verbalize even one aspect of one of those school’s graduate program besides the fact that it’s an Ivy when you’ve not even entered college, you’ve not decided upon nor graduated with a major and you seem to be shallowly chasing prestige?</p>
<p>Answer my question.</p>
<p>The answer to your question is: It depends.</p>
<p>How? 10char</p>
<p>Because:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>As was already stated, the quality and reputation of Ivy League programs differs per field. In certain fields (like economics, English, and philosophy) Ivy League programs are among the top programs and are very competitive, whereas in other fields (notably engineering) they’re not as highly ranked as other programs. In still other fields most or all of the Ivies don’t even have a graduate program.</p></li>
<li><p>“Public/state” schools vary, too. State flagships vary. There are state flagships like UCLA and Michigan; then there are flagships like Rutgers, Maryland, and Bama; and there are flagships like University of Montana or University of Nevada (i.e., good schools but not as well known or well-reputed as the others).</p></li>
<li><p>Graduate school admissions are far more dependent on what you do in undergrad than where you go. Someone who went to Western Washington but did 3 years of research in the best lab they could, has a 3.7 with good GRE scores, did two summer REUs, presented at national conferences and has a second-authored publication has much better chances of admission than someone who went to UCLA but got a 2.7 and has no research experience and lukewarm recommendations. Just GPA and GRE aren’t the keys, either; so much is dependent on intangible factors like which professors write your recommendations, how strong they are, how articulate your statement of purpose is, your research fit with the department to which you are applying, who else is applying with you that year, how your interview goes, even simply the year which you apply. Maybe the professor you want to work with is planning to leave next year but does not make that public, so he declines to take you. Maybe there’s an inside candidate in his lab who he wants to accept and he only has one spot.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>So this question is nigh on impossible to answer in general, even for someone who is applying to grad school this year. It’s even more impossible to answer for a high schooler who hasn’t even entered college yet, much less picked a major or done any of the things necessary to build a graduate school portfolio. Moreover, it’s a moot point - between now and August (not to mention May 5 years from now) you may change your major, change your interests, and simply decide that you don’t want to go to graduate school.</p>
<p>If the question is “is it POSSIBLE to go to a top-ranked graduate school from a state flagship,” the answer is yes. If the concomitant question is “all other things being equal, if I’m being compared with someone from Harvard and I went to Rutgers, will the Harvard student get in?” The answer is “all other things are never equal.” You’ll be evaluated on the merits of your application. Yes, having gone to a prestigious program that is noted for its strength can sometimes be a point in your favor, but professors are far more interested in what you actually DID to show your worth.</p>
<p>So if you are asking this question to try to decide where to go to undergrad, you should go to whatever undergrad you feel is best for you at THIS moment in time. Rutgers and Maryland are both excellent places that can prepare you well for graduate school and a variety of careers. And as I’ve said before, I’ve never heard anyone say “I regret the college I went to and will for the rest of my life!” People simply don’t think as much about their college life and experiences after college as high school seniors assume they would/will when they’re 30 or 40 or 50.</p>
<p>I was going to write something snarky here but as usual, juillet just said everything that needs to be said about the topic.</p>
<p>Nailed everything I would have said!</p>
<p>thanks. those were some wise words</p>
<p>Juillet definitely took the high road here. Well done, you.</p>
<p>Haha thanks. It was definitely my first inclination to be snarky, though.</p>
<p>Why do you have to keep pointing that out, like you were expected to be snarky? Just wondering</p>