<p>
</p>
<p>I didn’t get that. I was merely addressing the OP’s concerns about how difficult it would be to get from Mudd to top graduate programs.</p>
<p>If you read my posts, I think you’ll realize that I was weighing the pros and cons of each type of undergraduate learning environment.</p>
<p>Well according to <a href=“http://www.cpst.org/hrdata/documents/pwm13s/C455E074.pdf[/url]”>http://www.cpst.org/hrdata/documents/pwm13s/C455E074.pdf</a> we have</p>
<ol>
<li>Caltech 35.2 docs/100 grads</li>
<li>Harvey Mudd 24.9 docs/100 grads</li>
<li>MIT 16.6 docs/100 grads</li>
</ol>
<p>which I suppose can be construed as “of course, not nearly as many as Caltech :P”.</p>
<p>Regardless, the relevant points have been made and I think this is devolving into a discussion of opinion rather than objective facts.</p>
<p>hey sooo is there a list of important things like for undergrad (grades, SATs, EC, volunteer, summer, work, etc)</p>
<p>I’m guessing it would be like GREs, grades and then i dont know??? </p>
<p>is it tough to get into a PhD program for Psychology? what are the top schools for Psych?</p>
<p>thanks hah :)</p>
<p>There is a ton of information on the internet that is easily accessible through google on this very topic. There’s also thegradcafe.com. There’s also the career center at your undergrad institution. I encourage you to do a lot of reading, and then you’ll be better equipped to ask more specific questions.</p>
<p>Also, I encourage you to talk to Psychology professors at your school.</p>
<p>I’m not saying this is the norm, but I (a HMC grad) worked in the Caltech hypervelocity lab (Firestone basement) while an undergrad at HMC. In addition, I did manage to find 3 years of engineering-based research at HMC during my tenure. The opportunities were abundant. (I’m only talking about HMC here, not Caltech… so I make no statement as to Caltech’s opportunities)</p>
<p>May I also point out that there is a lot of learning to do before one is fit for the lab?</p>
<p>lizzardfire
My son is graduating from Harvey Mudd this year with 3 years of research, plus one summer at Mudd and 2 summers at SURF programs at other schools. And BTW he turned down Caltech, Stanford, ++ to go to HMC because Mudd has no graduate students. At Caltech and Stanford in particular, undergrads are the minority.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I thought I’d add my two cents in, and agree with several of the points above: applying for grad school is a pain in the butt, and is more nerves than anything else. It sucks because, since it’s more holistic than undergraduate/most professional degrees, you can’t tell with certainty where you’ll be accepted/rejected. </p>
<p>The good part about that, though, is that it also gives you a shot at ‘reach’ schools. My stats, for example, aren’t great in relation to this site, but the non-numerical stuff came into heavier play for interviews than it would have for undergrad: a polished statement of purpose, understanding my research, understanding my own research interests, and enthusiasm.</p>
<p>Bottom line, like everyone has said, wait a year or two before really thinking about grad school. Figure out what you want to major in, whatever it may be, and start talking to the professors in the classes you take. Go to their office hours; explain you’re interested in grad school, and don’t quite know where to start. Explain your interests. Ask if they know anybody you might be interested in working with, and talk to them. (That’s how I got into my two labs)</p>
<p>Keep your grades up, and–maybe at the end of your junior year or so–get ready to take the GRE. Ask for letters of recommendation near the end of your junior year/beginning of summer, and you should be good.</p>
<p>wow… You are really ahead of yourself, which is really good. Just talk to people, esp. the successful grad students and professors. One kid I’ve TA’ed before, a freshman told me up front his goal is getting into a top law school upon graduation, worked hard and got his A from that class, that is kind of momentum does the magic.</p>
<p>Have fun as an undergrad. Make a lot of friends. Explore, because you may never be able to do so afterwards. </p>
<p>Sometimes you can be too sexy for the program.
Sometimes the stars just don’t align right.
Sometimes you’re sexy enough and the stars align.
Sometimes plan, 2, and, B, are better,</p>
<p>You’ve gotten a wealth of information here. My daughter is a graduating senior in the social sciences currently going through interviews for Ph.D. programs. While I agree with LongPrime about exploring, having fun and enjoying your friends as an undergrad, I also think that you’re being smart to find out now what makes a successful grad school application. The two are not mutually exclusive. My daughter is an example of work hard, play hard, involved in lots of campus activities and study abroad, while at the same time laying the groundwork for grad school.</p>
<p>My daughter got involved in research in her area of interest first as a volunteer in spring semester of her sophomore year. One of her profs indicated in class that students interested in his lab should come talk to him so she did. After working in his lab as a volunteer, she became a paid member of his research team. She’s attended professional conferences where her prof has introduced her to profs at other schools doing the kind of research she’s interested in; these are the same profs she’s interviewing with for grad school. With this prof and her research, she’s also preparing an undergrad honors thesis which also strengthens her grad school application.</p>
<p>Daughter’s prof told her that many times kids don’t come talk to him about grad school and research until the end of junior year or beginning of senior year when it hits them that they’ll be graduating and they decide to apply to grad school. By then, they will have less than one semester of research experience (apps are due as early as late nov/early dec) to reflect on their application. That’s not really even enough time to be involved enough to know what you’re really interested in. So I applaud you for looking at the big picture and doing some pre-planning.</p>
<p>Good luck, have fun, explore, wander, and keep your focus! It will serve you well in the long run.</p>
<p>Good Luck.</p>
<p>DS, CMU '06. Dual Major. 3.7 gpa. 3 years w/ award winning prof. Completed 2nd iteration of a critical project with PITT as a summer position. Couple of activities. Accepted to 1 of 5 “top schools”. But the one acceptance was very good.</p>
<p>Finding his first permanent job was harder and even with more credentials. But the job he got is a peach.</p>
<p>I’ve got a question to pose to the general community if anyone has any thoughts. I’m a rising senior from a new engineering school (accredited, but new) and I’d like to go to grad school; I’d like to aim for the big schools MIT/Stanford/Caltech - but I don’t know if I can get there and I was wondering if anyone had thoughts. My qualifications are:</p>
<p>I’m an undergrad with 3.75 GPA, three years research experience at the labs at school, an internship with the Department of the Army’s Night Vision labs. I have my name as a second author on a paper and patent, and hopefully another patent/paper before graduation. I took the GRE and got a 770 Q, 540 V, and 4 AW. I’m going to graduate with a bachelors in MechE and a second in Physics. I don’t know if this is good/bad/irrelevant, but I’m also 17 (I throw that in because it was a bad thing for my sister when she applied to med school, so I don’t know if it’s pertinent).</p>
<p>My professors want me to retake the GRE - I’m wondering if it’s worth the risk that I’ll do worse. Could I get into the bigger schools with the qualifications? Should I retake the GRE?</p>
<p>Thank you so much. I’m really confused about all this and I’m looking for any sort advice from someone who may know.</p>
<p>I doubt the GRE would break your application.</p>
<p>I think you have a decent shot–especially if your letter-writers are colleagues/friends with anyone in your respective adcomms.</p>
<p>
Except for the writing section, which no one in science/engineering seems to care about, those are the same scores I received on the GRE, and I was accepted to everywhere I applied (besides the school whose application I withdrew). I’m in biology, which probably does not emphasize the quantitative section as much as MechE would, but my guess is that 770 is still acceptable in engineering. I was worried at first about my scores, too, but they never came up during discussions with professors about my application. I get the impression nobody cared that my scores weren’t up at the highest end.</p>
<p>Your non-GRE credentials are going to matter far more than your not-outstanding-but-still-fine GRE scores. Also, I don’t think age is pertinent. I’m entering the top program in my subfield two years “early,” and I have a 16-year-old friend who is entering a top program at Stanford. I haven’t seen any instances of younger applicants facing difficulty in PhD admissions if they can acquire the same qualifications and experiences as “normal”-aged applicants have.</p>
<p>I kind of have had the same question. But I plan on pursuing Grad School for MS in Bio Medical Engineering. Would Davis hold me back at all to pursue the “top” programs? Its ranked #24 for undergrad BME I believe.</p>