<p>I know on CC there's a lot of emphasis on prestige. But what I want to know is: if someone chooses a school with less prestige because of better fit, what can they do to help themself compete on the level of top tier school grads?</p>
<p>Not in career fields that nearly require Ivy or top schooling (such as Investment Banking, and the such)</p>
<p>They can be outstanding in their Tier 3 school, work as hard as they would elsewhere, and get good grades.</p>
<p>A 4.0 is a 4.0.</p>
<p>Thanks Knights. Any more?</p>
<p>Your education is what you make of it; you can get a good education at a tier 3 school or a bad education at an ivy. It's up to you. </p>
<p>Take responsibility for your own education; don't wait for someone to spoon feed knowledge to you. Take the initiative and go broader and deeper into subjects important to you/your major. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Knights09 is correct. I know someone who went to tier 3 college, graduated as the valedictorian, and got into Penn's veterinary school, which is more competitive to get into than med school.</p>
<p>Seek out the professors in your major. Even in tier 3 schools, many of the faculty will have come from top universities, and will be delighted to find someone who is intelligent, hard-working, has initiative, and is sincerely interested in their subject (and isn't just trying to suck up). They will go out of their way to help you, give advice, offer suggestions, and write recommendations to grad school. But it is up to you to take the initiative.</p>
<p>Where go to undergrad does not matter much if you are planning on going to Grad school. It's better to be a academic superstar and graduate in the top 10% of a less selective school than being "one of the masses" at a ultra selective school and graduating at the bottom-middle.</p>
<p>Thanks for comments so far. I guess I was looking for actual things I can do to offset my (future) school. Such as, take couple of classes (not for credit) at more prestigious university, or anything anyone else did.</p>
<p>Do research, look for internships, be a leader, all those things. That I think is probably one of the biggest advantages of attending top schools, they make it easy to do these things. At big state U's, I'm not so sure if everyone who wants to do this can. So yeah, if you can do these excellent things and maintain a high GPA and whatnot you shouldn't be at much if any of a disadvantage when compared to an Ivy grad.</p>
<p>The most important thing for landing a job out of college are internships. In fact internships are more important the less highly rated the school. Pretty much anybody that can get into Stanford or a similar school is going to be smart; at lesser schools employers perceive themselves as open to more risk. The way to allay their concerns is to have relevant experience prior to graduating. By showing future employers that you know the nuts & bolts of a job and have already done it you will stand out from the others clamoring for jobs who can only say they "think" they'll like the job. And it turns out that internships are also 3-6 mos interviews; most employers make offers upon graduation to their interns because they know them well.</p>
<p>If you're thinking of grad school in something like the sciences or med, then your key is research<a href="which%20are%20akin%20to%20internships%20for%20business">/u</a>. Do a search on this forum for molliebatmit (current PhD student at Harvard) and she talks quite a bit about the importance of research in grad apps. Just like internships, a grad school is more likely to make a 4-7 year bet on someone who has shown they have done the work and can explain why its right for them over someone who expresses a willingness to give it a try and see.</p>
<p>Many so-called "Tier-3" schools tend to be large publics or privates. They can be large and impersonal, but that doesn't mean people won't help or don't want you to succeed. The key is to take initiative. The career center or pre-professional advising center can help you, but they're not going to be emailing you and asking you to stop by so they can see what they can do. Your profs can give advice on grad school, picking courses at your school to match your interests, and will be needed for letters of rec in some situations. But while the top schools assign a faculty advisor and often have smaller classes where you're going to get to know profs anyway, at larger schools classes can be big and you don't have an advisor. But you can take the initiative to attend office hours and get to know a few profs. Clubs offer exposure to career areas or things you can do for fun/personal growth, but again you need to take the time to join and participate.</p>
<p>Finally there is the idea of motivation and persistence. I know its unfair to make generalizations, but here goes... Peer effects are important; we take our cues of what is normal and expected from what others around us are doing, and peers ostracize/punish those who deviate too much. At top schools the kids got usually in because they're strivers and achievers; they want to go someplace and they're passionate about getting there. They expect to accomplish a lot in life. For these kids, there's lots of examples around them of how they can direct their energy, of directions to explore they may not have known about. By the time you get down to schools with more casual admission standards, a lot of kids are there just because they weren't sure what else to do after HS. Without any particular drive or direction, they're enjoying what in some sense is a 4-year vacation from the real world. Classes are a pain, intellectual discussion and the life of the mind is scorned. Not everyone is like this, maybe not even most; but there are definite currents at different schools, and the person who is alert in class and asking questions may not be admired. Nor may you be surrounded by people who are seeking out internships, attending talks and so on, making the most out of their college years. However you CAN find people that want to learn and achieve almost anywhere; the trick is to search them out and never lose sight of what your goals are.</p>
<p>Thanks Cervantes & especially mikemac.</p>
<p>You need to put yourself in the larger community of your future career. By that I mean pursue internships (or research or win contests, depending on where you're headed). After maintaining good grades, being marketable through experience is the most important thing. You may have to look outside the connections your school offers you to find those internships, etc, but that's really the only distinct disadvantage to attending a lower ranked school. Of course, some big companies only recruit from certain schools (whether these be Ivies, prestigious LACs, or local state Us), but there are very few opportunities closed to a hard worker by the school you're attending.</p>