<p>I am a student at community college in VA. Money was short on my family, so I had no choice despite my okay GPA and extracurricular that would get me to an okay four year university. Now time is up and I will transfer to a school. With my grades at this community college, I think I have a high chance of going to more well-known universities. However, my family is still struggling financially, and it is too luxurious for me to live in a dormitory, while they will have to work 12 hrs per day to pay bills and etc. . So I guess I will have to go to George Mason university, a commuter school, 15 minutes away from my house, and relatively cheaper than the schools I thought of going. I am not devaluing the school; at this point I would love to go anywhere and study. </p>
<p>I am just wondering if I could ever go to a 1st tier grad school after graduating from GMU. A lot of my friends attend the school and none of them seem too eager about going to a grad school; they all want to get a job after graduation. But statistically speaking, have some of you seen students from GMU going into a grad school like Gtown or George Washington? I am interested in going into a graduate school for Public Policy. My plan is to do evening program at Georgetown while working.</p>
<p>It depends heavily on the program of study and what background you have that makes you a strong applicant (such as relevant internships and research experience). So it wouldn’t be fair to say whether GMU students in general get into top programs. Especially since “Top Schools” vary by programs - I wouldn’t have considered Harvard for Social Psychology, and another individual might not think UMass - Amherst for business (which was a great school for social psych in my line of research). </p>
<p>Talk to your professors and ask them where past students have gone. Let them know of your interest in graduate school early so they can help you plan and steer you in the right direction. They may have current project they’re working on and may bring you on as a research assistant. It is not all about grades or standardized test scores when it comes to graduate school. Educate yourself early and make your interests known to those who can help.</p>
<p>If you do well in your coursework, have strong GRE scores and get research experience either in the summers (try looking at REU programs) or at George Mason (as @NovaLynx says), you can certainly aspire to a selective graduate program.</p>
<p>Where you go to undergrad is far less important than what you do when you’re there.</p>
<p>First of all, George Mason is an excellent university. It’s one of the more selective ones in the country and is considered a Research/High university (a “Research 2” or “R2” university under the old Carnegie classifications, which means that they have a high research output on par with College of William & Mary, Drexel, Clemson and Northeastern).</p>
<p>So yes, it is very possible for you to go to Georgetown from George Mason. Your school won’t keep you out.</p>
<p>What you should do to get in depends on the degree you want. Based on the fact that you said you want to go to Georgetown part-time while working, I’m assuming that you want to get into a master’s program. In that case, an REU or working as a research assistant is not necessarily the best thing for you (although it is if you are interested in PP research). You may want to find policy internships instead, and perhaps work for a few years after college before applying.</p>
<p>If you want to be a PhD in PP, then summer research and being an RA during college is essential.</p>
<p>And NovaLynnx - I understand your general point, but Harvard has a top social psychology program. Like top 5. Did you mean you wouldn’t consider it because there was no one there doing research you wanted to do?</p>