<p>I'm not exactly sure what I want to do... it may be professional or graduate school but my parents seem to think this problem would be more prevalent if I decide to get a PhD or something like that. Do schools on the east coast prefer Tufts undergrads over WashU undergrads? I REALLY love WashU and I want to go there, but Tufts is closer to home (I'm from NY) and my parents are really pushing Tufts, even though they tell me I can go wherever I want. They said that professors on the east coast know Tufts better than WashU and would choose to work with a kid from Tufts over a kid from WashU if given the choice. </p>
<p>If anything... I would have thought WashU would have been preferred just a teensy bit since they're more of a research institution whereas Tufts is kind of a research-institution/LAC hybrid-type thing. Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you :)</p>
<p>Go whereever you think that you’d have more resources to do well. Neither Tufts nor WashU are prestigious enough to raise an eyebrow when you are applying to graduate school. You’ll be in the shadow of the Harvard and Berkeley kids.</p>
<p>Personally, as a graduate school-bound math major I found access to a rich graduate curriculum invaluable!</p>
<p>You really think I’d be “in the shadow” of BERKELEY kids? I have nothing against Berkeley, but there are like over 10,000 undergrads, some of lower quality than others. I have a friend who picked Tulane over Berkeley out of state without batting an eye.</p>
<p>Your undergraduate institution does not matter in regards to graduate school admission so long as you take measures to differentiate yourself from your peers. </p>
<p>rainbowrose: I will only talk about math now because I don’t have enough experience with other fields. </p>
<p>However, in mathematics there’s definitely a strong correlation between the “prestige” of the undergraduate institution and the “prestige” of the graduate programs that students are accepted to. For example, more than 80% of the admitted students to MIT’s program came from top 10 universities in mathematics (according to US News). And yes, Berkeley has an excellent math program that produces several extremely strong students each year. (For comparison: Berkeley is ranked #2 in math while Tufts is ranked #83. The strength of the graduate program matters to graduate school-bound undergraduates because it determines the resources available to them as well as the impact of their letters of recommendation.)</p>
<p>Of course correlation does not mean causation. However, I have heard over and over from faculty in admissions that students from prestigious undergraduate institutions are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt than students from good-but-not-exceptionally-strong programs. </p>
<p>I agree with Tickle here. In my book, Tufts and WUSTL are both prestigious undergrad institutions – pick the school you think you would have the best UG experience in and don’t worry about which one would increase your chances of getting into grad school as they both will offer great opportunities. And Barium, Berkeley - come on, UGs from Tufts or WUSTL seem WAY more impressive to me than Cal undergrads (Agree with Rain[], I don’t bat an eye at a Berkeley student- all AP/honors high schoolers get into Cal from where I am from, but few get into selective privates like Tufts).</p>
I have decided on WashU! Now to break it to my parents…</p>