<p>having just been completely disenchanted with the admissions process for college, i just wanted to know what grad admissions are like. Basically, do things like geography, diversity, etc factor into admissions? Or is it primarily merit-based, and if you work hard and do well you should be able to get into top schools, as i was naive enough to think college admissions would be like?</p>
<p>Diversity is a minor factor; geography is usually not a factor, and extracurricular activities/leadership are not a factor at all.</p>
<p>However, it's certainly not true that if you work hard and do well, you "should" be able to get into top schools. Graduate school admissions is done by field, and admission to the top schools in many fields is just as selective numbers-wise as undergrad, if not more selective. Plus, the applicant pools are more highly qualified.</p>
<p>thanks for the info</p>
<p>Grad admissions is a lot more selective than undergrad, at least for PhD programs. Naively enough, I thought I was great PhD material and I thus applied to no less than eight graduate schools. Now, three months later I am stuck with eight rejection letters. While both my GRE scores and grades could be better than they are, I do not think I even had a chance to begin with at any of the programs to which I applied. When up to 450 people are competing for one of ten positions, these things don't matter. What matters are research interests, fit with professors and, in my field which is anthropology, language experience and field experience. Many of the people I competed against already have relevant graduate degrees in other disciplines or have years of relevant work experience. How could I compete with that? Right now I am trying to figure out if it is worth trying again next year or if I should find a new goal to pursue...</p>
<p>K J, if you dont mind me asking, where did you apply for Anthropology? Also, which area are you looking to go into? As of now (Junior year) Anthropology is my love. I just cannot find anything explaining exacly how hard it is to get into top programs.</p>
<p>I think it depends a lot on your field as to how difficult it is to get into a top school. I'm in a relatively small field (Materials Science) and it's expected that, ranking-wise, you'll move upwards for grad school. Of my graduating class that went to grad school (about half of us, or seven people) all of us except for myself went to schools ranked higher than our undergrad school (which is top 15). I only went to a school one lower down because I found an advisor with a much better fit than the couple I had gotten into that were top-10.</p>
<p>Also, I was rejected at my grad school when I had applied as an undergrad, but was told I was an "easy decision" by the admissions committee when I arrived in the fall for grad school.</p>
<p>Major difference? VERY subjective. Your statement of purpose/personal essay becomes even more important and sometimes it can make or destroy the applicant's chances because it's the first thing they generally read (in most fields) to see what your goals and interests are to figure out if you'll fit with the department.</p>
<p>Don't attempt unless you seriously can't think of anything else to do besides the PhD.</p>
<p>Think of it this way: what advantage does a 1000+ hour community service earning minority student from Alaska have over an equally hard-working and passionate "blah" student from California in a bio lab or research library? None, really. Professors need people to further their work, not people who are there just because they're quote "diverse." Universities use undergrads for diversity quotas and image promoters; merit and fit are what matter for grads.</p>