Professors' conflicting opinions on grad school matching

Graduate School
1

<p>Dear all, </p>

<p>My program advisor (who also taught me in one of my core major classes) has been very insistent on me applying to all the top 5 ranked programs, saying that "I should at least try" and that I stand a very good chance at getting into my current school (Michigan) and that I should not waste time on schools ranked lower than the Top 20. I get the impression that he possibly has written the strongest letter of all 3 professors I've requested letters from. I understand that he's also an extremely talented and well-known researcher in my major, so his name should carry some weight, I presume.</p>

<p>The professor I did research with looked at my profile and told me not to waste time with the top 10 schools, even at the Masters level. He advised me to apply to lower ranked programs, expanding my search to schools under the Top 25. Though I did research with him, I do not think his letter is as strong as my program advisor's; a contributing factor is that he was a bit distant while I was active in his projects, so I ended up working more closely with his grad students. (His grad students have said that he has a positive opinion of me, so it maybe that some people are difficult to read)</p>

<p>The professor who is writing the third and (I expect) weakest letter has not had any input whatsoever, because I have had little contact with him. The only reason that he is on my reference list is that I did extremely well in his class, and his class was an advanced undergraduate level class. </p>

<p>I took my case to another professor, who did not know me as well, is currently teaching me but is not (yet) arranged to write a letter for me, agreed with the second professor, even going to the extent that I may not make it back into my current school, saying that my situation was "dicey" but noted that he wasn't on our school's graduate admissions committee and that he hasn't been a student for 20 years. </p>

<p>What do I do? I currently have a few Top 10 programs and a couple under Top 25, but most are between Top 10 and 25. I'm a bit anxious because since these people are writing letters for me, I don't want to come across as ignoring them, but I'm getting very conflicting opinions at this point. The schools that I'm currently applying to / have applied to is basically a rough consensus of professors' opinions of a match and my perception of match in terms of interest/program compatibility.</p>

<p>Note that I'm not using rankings as a basis for selecting schools, but I'm using it as an indirect measure of how competitive a program is, because the more prestigious it is, the more likely it'll attract competitive and talented applicants. I also don't want to apply to every program on the list due to time and monetary constraints and, most importantly, interest matching; some schools are not strong in the areas that I'm interested in, even if they do get name recognition.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Hmm, this is tough. I wonder why you have so many conflicting opinions too. I would suspect if you have done well at your University, you should have a good shot at getting back into it, unless they don’t want their undergrads being grad students there (which I doubt is a reason). I would say, due to the monetary constraint and time, pick your top 2 or 3 favorite higher ranked schools and apply to them and then pick your top 2 or 3 lower ranked schools and maybe even one school you consider a possible safety. I would do something like this, and obviously shrink the number of apps if you don’t have the sufficient money at hand since 5-7 apps is probably a bit pricey.</p>

<p>Good luck with this process tho! hope all goes well!</p>

3

<p>The problem is that I haven’t done too well at school. I’m a little bit better than a B+ student. My school seems to prefer taking in undergrads who were A- students. I do have the money, but this is a time-consuming process. I don’t want to see myself spending more than $400/500 on this admissions cycle; the more prestigious schools seem to have a higher admission fee.</p>

4

<p>Well being a little over a B+ students means you have like a ~3.4-3.5 GPA, which is good! From what I have gathered about trying to get into grad school, the GPA you have seems pretty solid for getting into majority of schools, especially since you have research experience. Grades aren’t everything, they mostly help get your foot in the door but then they view your other credentials to decide if they want you. I have def heard of people who were more B students but had lots of research and internship experience and managed to get into a top grad school program thanks to that. </p>

<p>Now, that’s my two cents, so I hope that you are able to figure out what the best path of action is for yourself! Good luck!</p>

5

<p>I’d say to apply to 2-3 top ten schools, maybe 1 or 2 of the 10-25 range, and one or two schools that perhaps you haven’t heard of or thought of. (Likely a state school either in your state or outside of it).</p>

<p>The benefit to these state schools is that they are trying to move up in the ranks so they may be more likely to offer you financial aid, and you may have more opportunities within your community. (It sort of goes back to the debate about whether you want to be a big fish in a small pond, or not).</p>

<p>I would caution you not to get too caught up in the idea of Top 10 or nothing, as one of your professors seems to suggest. Academia as a whole is sort of snobby, but you are going to get a good education no matter where you go.</p>

<p>When you ask your advisor for letters for schools outside of their recommendation, tell them that you have taken their advice very seriously, but you still want to apply to x school as a safety school/dream school (whatever the case may be), and you would really appreciate a letter.</p>

<p>Ultimately you are going to graduate school for you, not for them, so the way I see it, apply to several different types of schools, then as the acceptances and aid packages start coming in, weigh your options based on where YOU want to live, how much money you can afford, and what sort of projects and professors you want to work with.</p>

6

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<p>Actually, my major GPA is in the neighborhood of a 3.4. (My overall is around a 3.65, because I did very well in applied math classes and gen ed) </p>

<p>Currently, I’m applying to (rankings in my major): </p>

<p>Top 10: Illinois and Cornell
Top 10-25: Michigan (current school and school of choice), Maryland, UPenn, Purdue
Below 25: Ohio State and Michigan State </p>

<p>Note that this is for a Masters degree in CS, so I will likely not get any funding.</p>

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<p>I definitely get this vibe from my program advisor, who did his PhD at Princeton. My dream grad school is actually my current undergrad school, which I think will be the most affordable choice because it is a public state school and I’m an in-state student. However, Michigan has a very strong and respected grad program, where admissions is pretty competitive, so I’m not sure whether I’ll get in.</p>

<p>Thanks for the tips and advice! :)</p>

7

<p>Apply where you want - whether that is in the top 5/10 or whether it’s lower than top 25. When your professors ask, just tell them that yes, it is above/below where they believe you should be but you feel that the program is a really good fit for you so you want to apply there.</p>

<p>I’m one of those B+ students (3.4 ugpa; 3.6 major) who got into a top program (top 10 in my primary field; top 20 in my secondary) because of my research and other experiences. If you are a good candidate otherwise and have a solid GPA, then you still have a good chance.</p>

<p>I think with a 3.4 GPA and research experiences you have a pretty good chance of getting into an MS program. You have a good spread of programs (most in the middle; some above and some below) and I think you are being very sensible about this.</p>

8

<p>Who cares about rankings? Find which schools match YOU best in terms of research interests, number of faculty who can help you, preferred size of the program, etc. If those are all “top 10” programs, do it. If they’re all “low” ranked schools, then apply to those. Most likely you’ll naturally find a mix of schools anyway. While some future employers may be impressed by the name of the university you go to, the employers you’ll actually WANT to be hired by will pay more attention to your output.</p>