Importance of Undergraduate School in Graduate Admissions?

[mathboy98]

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@dalis_protege

the quality of the undergraduate program means very little compared to a “prestigious” school with plenty of name recognition, especially for top tier grad programs. with grad programs that receive several hundred applications, the first round of rejections is all based on nonsense numbers, like the GRE, and name recognition. you can even work your ash off getting lots of research experience under your belt as an undergrad at a lower-tier school, and it can still be worthless to a grad admissions committee if you worked with a professor they don’t know.

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<p>This is slightly exaggerating, I think, but I believe name recognition really matters when it comes to letters of recognition. The one senior from my school last year I know very well, who was accepted to Princeton’s, MIT’s, Berkeley’s, and UChicago’s math Ph.D. programs (at MIT now) actually had a great relationship with an exceptionally famous name from my school. I’m very, very sure that’s what got him in, because there are other applicants with great coursework. Oh, and he took some courses that I think have name-recognition in and of themselves. </p>

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@cookiemom

The top schools will give you access to classes not generally available at a state school. Also, if you qualify for financial aid, Harvard is cheaper than UMass.

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@RacinReaver

I don’t know how true this is. I’m at Caltech, and there’s certainly fewer classes

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<p>I think, to both of you, the basic truth is that a large, top school offers the most variety in terms of good courses. For instance, Harvard has a very large selection. A top school more likely does tons of good stuff in its courses, and the courses themselves can have name-recognition. Even if Caltech doesn’t offer some classes, it is sure to offer very high caliber classes, and going through them will mean something to the admissions committees.</p>

<p>By the way, an REU or other out-of-school experiences are great ways to make up for not being at a large top school. I think Caltech is kind of an exception because it has tons more resources than the small schools I’ve seen. It basically becomes significantly harder to do without these out-of-school experiences if you don’t have a number of resources at your undergrad school. </p>

<p>I would emphasize that it is more what you do right, not what you do wrong, that will get you into schools. So take what you have, and do more, and you’ll be fine even at a school with fewer resources.</p>