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btw is it true that if you are undergrad in some school it's harder to get to grad in the same school?? I mean I've heard they want to exchange students a bit...
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Not sure if it's true for all schools, but it's def true for MIT because they even explicitly stated that</p>
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Not sure if it's true for all schools, but it's def true for MIT because they even explicitly stated that
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Actually, it's not true for MIT -- the most common undergraduate origin of MIT grad students is MIT itself, and about 20% of each graduating class goes off to grad school at MIT each year.</p>
<p>Mostly it depends on your field rather than your school. Engineering programs and other master's programs at MIT love academic inbreeding. Science PhD programs tend to be more wary of it.</p>
<p>I disagree that it's easier to get into grad school at MIT than undergrad. It takes a very different set of credentials -- I don't think the two processes are directly comparable.</p>
<p>Stanford Computer Science! #1 in the world, baby</p>
<p>@molliebatmit</p>
<p>A someone who may apply to MIT grad school in the future, what are the set of credentials you mentioned? does it have more to do with one's research track record in the undergrad years?</p>
<p>somewhere with more attractive people, more of a social life, and who aren't workaholics.</p>
<p>Yup -- you need research/internship experience, good grades, outstanding letters of recommendation from professors who know your research ability, a solid GRE score (it's like the SAT, but easier), and a well-written statement of purpose essay. You also want to have a good fit with one or more faculty members with whom you'll do your graduate work -- the school is not so important at the grad school level, but individual professors are.</p>
<p>Grad programs are looking for the best future scholars in your particular field, so there's no emphasis on anything that doesn't relate to your field, like extracurriculars. There also tends to be less sympathy for people who didn't have good resources in college, because you have to have research experience, even if you went to a school with a poor research program -- this is why it helps to go to a school with a great research program.</p>
<p>I got into Wesleyan, but I'm still hoping for Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Penn.</p>
<p>@mollieb</p>
<p>thanks for that advice!</p>
<p>I have a good state school <em>paying</em> me to go there (PSU), but i've also been accepted to Stanford, which has an excellent undergraduate research program. My long term goal is to be a research professor myself, so that advice will definitely be a factor in my matriculation decision.</p>
<p>aka i'm going to Stanford :D</p>
<p>One of these for electrical engineering...
U of IL (Already in)
Ga Tech (Already in)
Princeton
Cornell
Columbia (3rd gen legacy)
RPI (Waitlisted, but I'm fairly sure they'll let me in when I press a bit)
Carnegie Mellon
Northwestern</p>
<p>I have an ACT of 33 and a SAT of 1440/1600 and GPA of 4.00UW.</p>
<p>@molliebatmit: MIT's department of Chemical Engineering is perhaps an exception:</p>
<p>"Does the Department admit its own S.B. students to the graduate program?</p>
<p>We consider our own undergraduates for the M.S.CEP program, but for no other degrees. This policy is difficult for us, because we must turn away some excellent students. However, we feel very strongly that our students benefit by going to another school for an advanced degree. We make the M.S.CEP exception because the Practice School has no equivalent at other schools."</p>
<p>Right now, I'm waiting on Cal, Stanford (deferred), Cornell, CMU, and waitlisted at Caltech.</p>
<p>If I don't get in anywhere above, I have to decide between
UMich (accepted)
UIUC (accepted)
I'm fine with either, leaning more towards UMich right now.</p>
<p>Probably Berkeley, since I was accepted for being a Regents candidate.
UNLESS I completely fall in love with NYU Stern when I visit next month, haha.
UNLESS by some kind of miracle Wharton accepts me (deferred ED)
:)</p>
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I disagree that it's easier to get into grad school at MIT than undergrad. It takes a very different set of credentials -- I don't think the two processes are directly comparable.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's easier for top students to get into top grad school than undergrad. If you have a good GPA and publish a paper, you're probably going to get in most top 5 schools. If you get a near-perfect GPA and publish a 1st author paper, then you'll get in everywhere. Chances go up even more if you work for a big name as an undergrad and get a rec from him/her.</p>
<p>Going to an undergrad school with a good research dept. can be important, but it doesn't have to be a prestigious college. (Many state schools have top 10 engineering/science programs, so their professor's recs will carry a lot of weight.) </p>
<p>Bottom line is that you can completely control the results with talent and work ethic for grad school, whereas you cannot for undergrad admissions.</p>
<p>Caltech! unless I get into hys</p>
<p>I'm still waiting on decisions from Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Duke, Princeton, Yale, and Harvard</p>
<p>if I don't get into any of those colleges (or if I can't afford them if I get into them), I'll probably go to UMich b/c I can go there for not too much (about $14,000 a year b/c I got a $10,000 scholarship and a $20,000 scholarship, which both stack on each other)</p>
<p>columbia or georgia tech unless I actually get into HYP, which is doubtful</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo :) I'm happy with my second choice so getting the "so sorry that we cannot offer you admission" from MIT wasn't as devastating as I thought it would be.</p>
<p>Undergraduates are usuallly admitted to a university. Grad students are admitted to a DEPARTMENT. Each department runs its own admissions, with its own rules. At some schools these are standardised, but not at MIT. As a result, at some departments going to MIT as an undergraduate gives you a boost for grad admissions, at others, it precludes your entry. Other universities around the globe often echo this. It really is almost impossible to generalise about graduate admissions.</p>
<p>Caltech
10char</p>
<p>
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@molliebatmit: MIT's department of Chemical Engineering is perhaps an exception:
[/quote]
Yes, and the biology department is an exception in the other direction, as it does admit its own undergraduates for a science PhD.</p>
<p>
[quote]
It's easier for top students to get into top grad school than undergrad. If you have a good GPA and publish a paper, you're probably going to get in most top 5 schools. If you get a near-perfect GPA and publish a 1st author paper, then you'll get in everywhere. Chances go up even more if you work for a big name as an undergrad and get a rec from him/her.</p>
<p>Going to an undergrad school with a good research dept. can be important, but it doesn't have to be a prestigious college. (Many state schools have top 10 engineering/science programs, so their professor's recs will carry a lot of weight.)</p>
<p>Bottom line is that you can completely control the results with talent and work ethic for grad school, whereas you cannot for undergrad admissions.
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I agree with this completely. In my case, I got into all of the top programs in my field because I had worked with one of the big name guys, who wrote me a really great LOR and had me as an author on a C/N/S-level paper. So for me, getting into the top programs was easy, but what's not easy is for potential applicants to assume a priori that they'll be able to acquire those kinds of credentials.</p>