<p>Hello,</p>
<p>What is the importance of which school you got your bachelor's degree from when attempting to get into graduate school? I know it's probably a better chance for those who graduated from Harvard etc., but how much better?</p>
<p>If you go to a top undergraduate institution, you will have a better shot at graduate school if you take advantage of the resources available to you at that top school. </p>
<p>If you go to Harvard and never talk to a professor and sit like a lump for four years, you are not going to be admitted to the top graduate program in your field just because you went to Harvard. On the other hand, if you go to Harvard and make friends with a few professors, get involved in your field (for example, by doing undergraduate research), and otherwise take advantage of the resources available, you will be in a good place to apply to top graduate programs in your field.</p>
<p>In short, your undergrad institution can be a factor in graduate admissions. It is not by any means the only factor, nor is it the most important factor, and it is only a factor at all if you take advantage of the resources at your undergrad institution.</p>
<p>Mollie is right. Graduate schools aren't going to take a kid who yent to Yale, graduated with a 3.1 and never did anything of note during his undergraduate career over a kid from Central Michigan who has a 3.9, tons of research and great LOR's. It doesn't work like that, thankfully.</p>
<p>However, usually (not always, but usually) the top names in the field are at the top universities. Thus, you can network better as they will probably have had many other graduate students/post docs that have gone on to have their own labs, and their recommendations will also carry more weight, thus making it easier to get into a graduate school.</p>
<p>Anyway, the point is that it's completely possible to get into a good graduate school if you do the right things in undergrad, no matter where that undergrad college happens to be?</p>
<p>As someone from an Ivy, I can definitely say that I have met precisely two people from another Ivies in all my interviews, and another small handful from similar schools like MIT, etc. The vast majority of kids are from all over the place (huge state schools, tiny liberal arts colleges). So definitely don't worry about getting into a good grad school.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I do have to say that my PI definitely has name recognition, which has been helpful even if just as a lead-in during my interviews and I <em>know</em> that having a good rec from my PI definitely helped my application--and as ec1234 said, you tend to have more PIs of that type at big-name schools. </p>
<p>Also, as mollieb will probably agree, grad schools appear to be willing to look over less than stellar grades if they were received at school that's known to be top-notch and rather difficult. Certainly I found that to be true in my case.</p>
<p>I agree 100% with forestbrook's and ec1234's posts. You can pretty much do anything from anywhere, but it is an easier row to hoe if you're coming from a great department with lots of strong names, and you take advantage of what those strong names can offer you.</p>
<p>Personally, I don't think I would be in graduate school where I am right now if I hadn't gone to MIT. I got my first lab job at the NIH because I went to MIT (well, strictly speaking, because I was an MIT cheerleader), and I got my second job, in a big-name lab, because I had the first one.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>As an aside, what does "PI" stand for?</p>
<p>Principal Investigator. The head of your lab.</p>
<p>How much is it concerned if your UG school grades a bit more harshly than other schools. Like I've seen a lot of schools where the average is a 3.2-3.4, while our average is only a 2.8 and only about 30% of the kids graduate with Latin Honors, would a 3.4 be equal to a 3.7-3.8 at schools with higher GPAs?</p>
<p>when applying to law schools, an evaluative indicator is used to balance different school's grade disparities. while other programs might not have this per say, it could be stressed in your personal statement or on the app (i.e. by providing a class rank, etc...)</p>
<p>mollie said:</p>
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<p>I got my first lab job at the NIH because I went to MIT (well, strictly speaking, because I was an MIT cheerleader)</p>
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<p>man - that could be taken so out of context. even within context, its ROFL!</p>
<p>Haha, my supervisor told me later that summer that he'd hired me because he wanted to see what an MIT cheerleader was like. :)</p>
<p>I was like, uh... great... glad to hear it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
However, usually (not always, but usually) the top names in the field are at the top universities...their recommendations will also carry more weight, thus making it easier to get into a graduate school.
[/quote]
I've been wondering about that. My advisor is very well-known in her field; will that help? On a related note, are we allowed to ask professors from other universities for recommendations? I'll be studying abroad for a year and was planning to get at least one recommendation out of it because I'll be working closely with professors in my intended field.</p>
<p>heck ya! you can ask for letters of rec from anyone you've worked with.</p>
<p>
I was an MIT cheerleader
</p>
<p>What the hell? No offense, but MIT actually has girls? And a sports program? You just blew my mind...</p>
<p>Don't make me get grouchy. MIT has 41 varsity sports teams, which is reportedly more than any other school in the country except Harvard.</p>
<p>
Yes yes yes and yes yes yes. :)</p>
<p>scruffy- <a href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/life/athletics/mit_athletics.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/life/athletics/mit_athletics.shtml</a> </p>
<p>blazingson & mollie- Good to know. Thanks!</p>
<p>I was just being a jerk and messing around :)</p>
<p>Haha, but considering that I wrote that piece on the MIT admissions site, I don't think it's much of an independent source. :)</p>
<p>Scruffy, sorry. I've just heard that from way too many people over the years who were being perfectly serious.</p>