<p>Now here's something I've been wondering for a while now, and I figured I should ask CC what they think.</p>
<p>I currenty have two choices for my undergrad: a full-ride at a state school and a half-tuition at USC. My parents are wary of me going to USC and putting myself in debt, only to go further in debt for grad school. But would going to a state school limit my opportunities for grad school in any way?</p>
<p>It really depends on what kind of programs (major, research-oriented, PhD, Master, etc) you are planning on applying to. Since you are just entering university you probably don’t have a very clear idea of what you want to do yet. Also, your future goals will likely change over the next couple of years.</p>
<p>A small state school won’t directly hinder your opportunities to get into a great grad school, but it may indirectly. For example, it may be more difficult for you to get involved in research at a small state school (because there isn’t as much going on), which is essential to getting into a research-focused graduate program. It won’t directly hinder your chances simply because of its name or because it’s a state school though. </p>
<p>Again, since we don’t know what particular school you are talking about this may not even apply. Many state schools have amazing research going on, much more so than privates. Also, maybe you don’t want to get into research anyway, in that case it won’t even matter.</p>
<p>Your question is really much too general to answer it. I would say it’s what you make out of it. If you do well and seize the opportunities at a state school you’ll probably be just as fine as if you had attended USC and have saved a lot of money.</p>
<p>The short answer is, no.</p>
<p>Your error is in assuming that top grad schools aren’t also state schools. Most of the top graduate programs in most fields are, in fact, at public research universities.</p>
<p>Also, <em>you</em> cannot go into enough debt to cover half of USC’s costs. Only your parents can borrow that much money. If they’re unwilling to do so, USC isn’t going to be an option anyway.</p>
<p>Take advantage of the free ride; you can focus on studying and grades, take non-paid internships/research opportunities, use the money you would be using to pay tuition to study abroad. If it is a larger state school, your success is going to be dictated mainly by you, and not the university.</p>
<p>I think I was more worried about what Thomas said, about there being less opportunities, not so much the name of a school.</p>
<p>The state school is Mississippi State. I know they do research, but I’m not really sure how easy it is to get involved.</p>
<p>My parents will help me cosign my loans if I decide to go to USC, but they would rather not.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers.</p>
<p>I had to make the same choice four years ago between U of Michigan and my local (large) state school, which gave me a free ride. I chose the latter, and just yesterday I got my acceptance to a PhD program at Caltech. I’m not sure how good research at Mississippi State is, but if you can find a lab that you like early on, you’ll have a huge advantage over other applicants. Your application will basically be what you make of it; I worked my butt off and did research since the second semester of my college career, and it paid off. If you do the same, it shouldn’t matter too much where you go; it’s how hard you work and what you accomplish. Good luck!</p>
<p>A free ride is a free ride. </p>
<p>I went to a state school for my undergrad and now for grad school I got into several schools in the top ten for my major. </p>
<p>It doesn’t make sense not to take the full ride at all.</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation. I could go to my safety school for almost nothing, as compared to other private schools. Also, most state schools have more generous AP credit acceptance policies than private institutions. This being said, with the amount of AP credit I have, I could graduate in 3 years from my state school while still double majoring. Do you think that this would affect my chances at gaining entrance to a top ten law school?</p>
<p>Thanks for the experiences and responses! I guess I’ll mull it over a bit more, but give much more thought into MSU besides the money.</p>
<p>There are other factors besides the potential effect on grad school (USC is a much better fit in general, although I don’t mind MSU), but I did wonder about that.</p>
<p>higheredaspirer; Oh, having to choose between colleges. Good luck with your decisions, too!</p>
<p>USC has a reputation as being a very Republican school. I was going to point this out, but as I read the thread I can only imagine that in an already very red state that the local Ag school would be considerably conservative as well. My roommate went to Auburn and in their school mission statement they used the word “conservative” and so I wouldn’t think that MSST would be much different. </p>
<p>That is a bit of a digression, so more to your point, MSST is a research institution and you are from Mississippi. Therefore it can just be assumed that you went to the local school and provided that you shine there you can certainly get into a legit graduate program from there, depending on what it is.</p>
<p>What’s your focus and interest in graduate school and is MSST’s orientation in that direction?</p>
<p>I’d be inclined to follow the scholarship and be prepared for many years of heartbreaking losses in football.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m from Hawaii. MSU is my dad’s alma mater, which is why I applied there. I have been to the school, though. My life in Hawaii though is partially why I’m drawn more to USC. More familiar environment and all that jazz.</p>
<p>I’m not too sure specifically what I want to do with, but I am reallt interested in human language technology and would love to work on speech-to-speech translators or things like that. But I figure that’d come into play more for grad school, right?</p>
<p>Your undergrad institution is usually not the most important factor the graduate committees consider. I had to make the same choice when i was in high school University of Michigan for engineering (with a large debt) or a New York SUNY state school. I chose the state school because it was virtually free, I worked hard there and got involved with research early on. Now Ill be going to a top 5 chemical engineering program this fall (UT Austin). If you work hard it shouldn’t be a problem.</p>
<p>Just to let you know, you should definitely look into REU programs for your summers no matter which school you attend. They’re generally aimed at students that attend non-research universities, so they can go do research at another school over the summer. They’re a great opportunity to meet new people, do some cool research, and find out if you like research in the first place.</p>
<p>Mississippi State University is designated a Research University-Very High institution by the Carnegie Foundation, which means that it has a very high research output year by year. I don’t think you will have to worry about not finding research opportunities there.</p>
<p>If you are interested in human language technology, MSU has a communication department with professors doing research in the field. They also have linguistics courses and a variety of engineering majors.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it would be quite foolish to go into debt for half the cost of a USC degree when you have a free ride to a great public university.</p>
<p>“USC has a reputation as being a very Republican school. I was going to point this out, but as I read the thread I can only imagine that in an already very red state that the local Ag school would be considerably conservative as well.”</p>
<p>Not sure if you are thinking of the wrong USC or if you have outdated impressions of the school. The OP has half-tuition to the University of Southern California, which is not a very republican school. I’m saying that as a pretty liberal Democrat who was a student once and an alumni once when Obama came to speak on campus. </p>
<p>I know nothing about MSU, so I can’t give any advice there, but I didn’t want you walking away with a false impression of USC.</p>