Getting into grad school

[MRZ09]

<p>This might be a ways away for me, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it. Right noe, it doesn't seem likely that i'll be able to get into a top school. My liklely choices are Boston U, Oberlin, Colgate, Colby, George Washington, and maybe BC. </p>

<p>What I'm wondering is, if I do really well at one of these colleges, would I have a good chance at getting into Yale, Princeton, or U of Chicago for grad school?</p>

[undecided]

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/348756-graduate-school-admissions-101-a.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/348756-graduate-school-admissions-101-a.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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@molliebatmit

There's no perfect way to go about getting into the graduate program of your dreams. Very broadly speaking, graduate schools care a lot about your letters of recommendation and your statement of purpose -- the essay you write about why you want to attend graduate school in a particular field, and what your qualifications are. In some fields, admissions committees care about things like undergraduate research, writing samples, your work or internship history, or an in-person interview. Graduate schools generally do not care about extracurricular activities whatsoever unless they're directly related to the field you want to study -- often there's not even a place to write about extracurriculars on the application.

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@molliebatmit

You don't need to have all the answers early. Enjoy college. You should be thinking about whether or not you'd want to attend graduate school in your junior year. The summer after your junior year is a good time to line up recommenders, pick programs, and study for and take the GRE (although you can take the GRE in the fall of your senior year if it's easier). You can even take time off after college and do something else for a few years before going back to graduate school -- it won't hurt your chances as an applicant, and may even help in some cases. You don't need to start thinking about graduate school in your freshman year of college.

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[BIGTWIX]

<p>all those schools will not hold you back. The names are well known enough where top grad schools know all about them and their academics, and all those schools should be able to provide you with research opportunities.</p>

[tahncol86]

<p>Boston U, Oberlin, Colgate, Colby, George Washington, and BC are all excellent schools that have lots to offer.</p>

<p>Find your field of interest, find the appropriate advisors, take relevant courses that interests you, find the professors to do research that interests you, take courses that complements your research, have some outside experience, and you'll be solid for any grad school.</p>

<p>Oh yeah, most importantly be appreciative to everyone who helps you.</p>

<p>It really depends 99% on you and 1% on brand name (Maybe more in reality... but it definitely depends much more on you).</p>

[flgirl04]

<p>I attended a liberal school not particularly well known outside of the south or east coast. I will be attending at top 10 graduate school in my field. So yes, it is possible. In fact, going to a smaller LAC gave me more opportunities to stand out. For example, I participated in many research projects and was given more opportunities to explore my interests and build my resume.</p>

[ticklemepink]

<p><==== here's a Colgate grad... what do you think? :)</p>

[sefago]

<p>^ I use colgate toothpaste</p>

[sefago]

<p>sorry I just had to pull that joke</p>

[tenisghs]

<p>Hey ticklemepink,</p>

<p>I'm not a grad student but I'm currently working at the Univ of Michigan lol</p>