Importance of Undergrad Prestige?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Okay, so I'm facing a choice between engineering at University of Michigan and USC, but that's just for context. I don't want this to be a debate about which school I should go to.</p>

<p>What I'm really wondering is, for someone with grad school aspirations, does the prestige and quality of a university really come from the undergrad level? Would the differences between the two above schools really make a difference in how grad schools will evaluate me, as long as I do well at either place?</p>

<p>Any honest input on this would be great.</p>

2

<p>You can go to excellent grad schools coming from either, assuming you work hard, earn good grades, and form good relationships with your professors.</p>

3

<p>The difference in prestige won’t matter (I’m assuming you think that USC is more prestigious, but I’m really not sure). What may matter is the quality of courses and research opportunities. There will most likely be a larger program at Michigan but you will share it with a larger number of undergrads.</p>

4

<p>Michigan is probably more prestigious than USC outside of California, especially for engineering. But I don’t think it’s a huge difference.</p>

5

<p>USC seems to be more prestigious in general, but Michigan is very prestigious for engineering. Both are highly regarded.</p>

6

<p>You see? This is EXACTLY what I mean. People DO care about prestige. And I have a solution.
I compiled the results obtained from what academic deans perceive as prestigious, top counselors see as prestigious, and USNWR selectivity rankings.</p>

<p>(Prestige Score) US News Top 30/ PA scores/ HS counselor scores/ Selectivity Rankings (scaled)</p>

<p>4.9 Harvard 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9
4.9 MIT 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9
4.9 Princeton 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.9
4.86 Yale 4.8 | 4.9 |4.9</p>

<h2>4.83 Stanford 4.9 | 4.9 |4.7</h2>

<p>4.73 Columbia 4.6 | 4.8 | 4.8
4.7 Caltech 4.6 | 4.6 |4.9
4.63 Brown 4.4 | 4.8 | 4.7
4.63 Cornell 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.6
4.63 Penn 4.5 | 4.6 | 4.8
4.6 Duke 4.4 | 4.7 | 4.7
4.56 Dartmouth 4.3 | 4.7 | 4.7
4.56 Johns Hopkins 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.4
4.56 UC Berkeley 4.7 / 4.6 | 4.4
4.53 Chicago 4.6 | 4.5 | 4.5
4.53 Northwestern 4.4 | 4.6 | 4.6</p>

<h2>4.5 Georgetown 4.1 | 4.8 | 4.6</h2>

<p>4.43 Wash U 4.1 | 4.4 |4.8
4.33 Carnegie Mellon 4.2 | 4.6 | 4.2
4.33 Notre Dame 3.9 | 4.6 | 4.5
4.33 Rice 4.1 | 4.4 | 4.5
4.3 Michigan 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.1
4.3 Vanderbilt 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.3
4.26 Emory 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.4
4.23 UCLA 4.2 | 4.3 | 4.2
4.23 USC 4.0 | 4.4 | 4.3
4.2 UVA 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.0
4.16 Tufts 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.4</p>

<h2>4.06 UNC Chapel Hill 4.1 | 4.4 | 3.7</h2>

<p>3.83 Wake Forest 3.5 | 4.3 | 3.7</p>

<p>According to this list, University of Michigan is slightly a bit prestigious than USC, but it shouldn’t be too different. So you are better off picking from fit and social life or something like that. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

7

<p>MrPrince, can’t you just stay on your own prestige-whore thread? Your list, besides being extremely flawed and with a laughable motive, does not deal with the specific subject the OP is asking about, nor the intended course of study.</p>

8

<p>See the problem with many of you is that you feel you are at the top of the world just because you have a computer screen in front of you.
Because some people say “it’s flawed because you used counselor rankings!” or if your particular school isn’t doing well, you immediately jump the bandwagon and yell “it’s flawed because you used counselor rankings!”</p>

<p>Without giving a little credibility or acknowledging a list or pointing legitimate flaws, all you do is put down things because they don’t match what you really believe. In fact, you are pathetic.</p>

9

<p>i think too much is put on this notion of ‘prestige’ when it come to undergrad and not enough emphasis is put on the individual. my situation was coming from a lowly state u. and choosing between three ivy’s for grad school. . .and i know of many from the same boat. faculty recommendations go a long way when one moves from one level to the next, so get to know your faculty!</p>

10

<p>Come on guys, I don’t want people to start bashing each other, I just wanted input on if small perceived differences in prestige really makes a big difference at the undergrad level when it comes to applying to grad school.</p>

11

<p>Absolutely not in this case, choose based on fit. Where are you looking to work after graduation? I would lean towards Michigan if you want to work on the East Coast or the Midwest after graduation. Otherwise, USC all the way.</p>

12

<p>@MrPrince:</p>

<p>First, I posted a response to your earlier thread and you ignored my criticism. See post #33 in your thread if you want to have a discussion on that topic.</p>

<p>Second, this thread actually has nothing to do with your ranking at all. Nothing. The OP isn’t asking which school is more prestigious, or by how much. They are asking how much prestige actually matters. Therefore, even if your ranking did measure prestige, it would totally fail to answer the OP’s question. So perhaps you should self-promote in a more useful place.

When have you ever heard that this is the case? Seriously, is there a single individual on CC who wants to advocate for this position?</p>

13

<p>I would go with Michiagan. I like Ann Arborn much more than LA</p>

14

<p>

I do not believe that there is an inherent prestige ranking; indeed, prestige is largely subjective.</p>

<p>Of course, if you were to make an honest attempt, you should exclude acceptance rates, as prestige is entirely opinion. Opinion may be affected by these rates, but these rates are not inherent to prestige.</p>

<p>Actually, unlike you, I don’t have a horse in this race. You allegedly go to MIT and have a noted Ivy League bias, so would likely have tweaked the methods to yield the results you were looking for. But even if you didn’t, you’re merely recycling a flawed ranking from another source and calling it your own, with some minor adjustments (though still using their methods and information).</p>

15

<p>Since few people are answering the OP’s question directly, I want to make sure he gets the message that NO, PRESTIGE (or the name of your undergrad institution) WILL HAVE 0 IMPACT IN GRAD SCHOOL ADMISSIONS.</p>

<p>More important are your research/internships and your GPA (that the adcoms will not normalize). A 3.7 PSU > 3.4 Michigan, I am warning you now so don’t get too caught up in the prestige game that you hurt your GPA. Certain fields, such as Law, are complete GPA whores.</p>

16

<p>Son is graduating from USC in June and starting his PHD at Cal Tech [the MIT of the West] in Sept. Going to USC sure didn’t hurt his grad school acceptances- got in everywhere he applied. So choose the college you want to go to AND make the most of your time there.
Sentiment GX4 said it exactly right. GPA+ GRE’s[ or whatever grad school exam you will take]+ letters of recommendation + research/ internships is what grad schools look it.</p>

17

<p>I don’t think prestige matters greatly when it comes to two peer institutions and Michigan and USC are peers.</p>

<p>In terms of Engineering, however, Michigan does enjoy a slight reputational advantage over of USC:</p>

<p>UNDERGRADUATE PEER ASSESSMENT SCORE (According to deans and senior faculty at major research Engineering programs):</p>

<h1>7 Michigan 4.3/5.0</h1>

<h1>26 USC 3.5/5.0</h1>

<p>GRADUATE PEER ASSESSMENT SCORE (Accordong to deans at major Engineering programs and corporate recruiters):</p>

<h1>7 Michigan 4.35/5.0</h1>

<h1>32 USC 3.55/5.0</h1>

<p>This slight edge will not, however, enhance admissions chances into graduate schools. I would choose based on cost of attendance and on fit.</p>

18

<p>Well your question talks about the prestige difference between Michigan and USC, and there really isn’t that much gap between the two. So I would say it doesn’t really matter wherever you go.</p>

<p>i wonder though. Does the prestige of the undergrad college really have ZERO impact on grad school admissions?</p>

19

<p>

</p>

<p>As a student whose aspiration is to attend Med School, I have done research on the subject and I’ve come to the same conclusion.</p>

20

<p>“In terms of Engineering, however, Michigan does enjoy a slight reputational advantage over of USC”</p>

<p>I would say the reputational advantage is more than slight. But anyway to answer the OP’s question, how well you do at your school matters more than which school you attend, especially if it’s just between Michigan and USC.</p>