<p>Like if I went to Columbia SEAS would it be easier to get into Columbia Law? (Compared to not going to columbia for undergrad)</p>
<p>Columbia, like <em>most</em> schools discourages matriculation to its own grad schools. If anything you'd be at a slight disadvantage (though you can always try the guaranteed 6 year JD/BS/A degree, a separate plan for the law school).</p>
<p>why do they discourage this?</p>
<p>It's definitely harder. Schools want diversity, accepting their own undergrads doesn't bring any.</p>
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<em>most</em> schools discourages matriculation to its own grad schools.
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<p>Popular misconception. Harvard Law stopped listing the raw numbers of where the students came from. Maybe because it showed that Harvard grads made up a ridiculous percentage of the population.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that Columbia grads make up a significant portion of the Law School. In fact they're a plurality of the current 1L class.</p>
<p>Whether that's causation or correlation is up for grabs (i.e. Of course Harvard Law is full of Harvard grads - Harvard grads were among the best and brightest college recruits, so it's likely that they'll be disproportionately represented at grad programs etc.)</p>
<p>I talked to a Columbia undergrad about grad school and she said that VERY VERY few Columbia undergrads go to grad school at Columbia as well.</p>
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I talked to a Columbia undergrad about grad school and she said that VERY VERY few Columbia undergrads go to grad school at Columbia as well.
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<p>First 'go to' is not the same as 'get into'. Very different things.</p>
<p>Second, again, the idea that grad schools discourage ugrads from attending is probably a Popular misconception. I thought this was true too until I got to the law school. It's just not true.</p>
<p>Also the choice to attend depends on a lot of things that are completely independent of ease of admission, including wanting a change of scenery, being admitted into a stronger program at another school, or self selecting out of graduate school, etc.</p>
<p>Well lets first divide grad schools into law/med school and all other degrees and then lets further divide up all other degrees into masters and PhD programs.</p>
<p>for masters programs in practically anything, if you have a good GPA (~3.5) you are practically guaranteed acceptance....not sure how well this holds if you are like a bio major and apply for a philosophy masters....but its the case if you are applying to the same department or a school/department that is somewhat similar to your own. </p>
<p>PhD programs are significantly more competitive but if you are one of the top students in your department and/or have a very close relationship with a professor in your department that would certainly push you over the top and you are much more likely to be accepted than someone applying from another school.</p>
<p>As for law/med school (disclaimer: i know more about med school thank law school because i was friends with more premeds than prelaws...and also people tend to apply to med school right out of college more often than law school): i think the "theory" that its harder to get in if you went to columbia is exaggerated. First of all because if you went to columbia undergrad you are MUCH more likely to have columbia law/med school on your list of schools to apply to so they inevitably get alot of applicants from columbia. I personally know of 4 people from my year alone who went to columbia med school right out of undergrad....clearly this isn't counting those i dont know of and those who took yrs off before applying. If you think of it, there r 3000 colleges in the US and only 100-200 spots in each med school class so 4-6 from one school is pretty significant and of course thats not counting the ones who got in and didn't matriculate (probably because they went to a better school)</p>
<p>Bottom line though....you shouldnt go to columbia in the hopes of getting some sort of free ride to grad school and conversely you should certainly not go elsewhere thinking it'll put u at an advantage when applying to a columbia grad school...that's just ridiculous.</p>
<p>i believe harvard is a notable exception to the matriculation rule; they actually seem to have significant preference for their own students (look at the med school, in particular).</p>
<p>the alumni i've asked have always told me that the school promotes exposure to other departments/schools, but it's true that professors have also said that they love to keep the strongest undergrads for grad school as well. so i suppose it varies.</p>
<p>luckily, harvard med is probably among the least prestigious of their graduate schools. it doesn't do so well compared even to other boston-area med schools. one of my best friends was very relieved he got into Tufts so that he didn't have a Harvard dilemma.</p>
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luckily, harvard med is probably among the least prestigious of their graduate schools.
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<p>Um, shall we trash KSG or the School of Ed some more?</p>
<p>What about like their School of International and Public Affairs? Would it be harder to get into that one if you went undergrad elsewhere?</p>
<p>If you went to same grad/prof school as undergrad, your alum contributions won't be split between different institutions, hence it is probably easier to get into your own school's grad or professional programs.</p>
<p>The answer to this question is yes, but not directly. While at Columbia, if you choose to do research with professors in your department and shmooze with faculty in your major, you can easily gain acceptance, as these people have direct control over your admittance. For the most part, people outside your school don't have this opportunity, and if you have several (positive) connections to people on the admissions committee, you can get your acceptance chances significantly increased. But, as I said, you cannot be sure of acceptance, and you won't gain any advantage unless you make an effort to get to know people on the admissions committee.</p>
<p>I can also confirm that, at least for Harvard, it's an advantage to go to the college. I read somewhere on their page that the biggest part of students at HLS (or possibly it was HBS, maybe even both, not sure) comes from the college. I don't think that it will hurt you for Columbia, either. Why should they put their own alumni at a disadvantage? They want to get donations etc. from them, so certainly they will not punish them!</p>
<p>You're forgetting that by preferring to have students of other undergraduate schools attend their professional (med, law, etc) they also increase the pool of alumni who could potentially donate to them.</p>
<p>GRADUATE schools is different - there is a valid point that if you are a strong student you will likely be able to continue undergrad research at the graduate level without too much difficulty. but the professional schools don't work the same way.</p>
<p>I can see your point, Ivilleslacker, and you're certainly right that they can increase the pool of potential donors by admitting students from other colleges. Yet, as I said, I cannot imagine that the Columbia professional schools will punish the Columbia College grads for having attended Columbia College -- such a policy cannot be in the interest of any institution, and, therefore, not in the interest of Columbia.</p>