Undergrad and its affect on grad school admissions?

College Search & Selection
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<p>How much does your undergrad school affect grad school admissions? If a student could attend a higher tier school, but they chose a state flagship with good research opportunities due to the reduced cost, would this be an issue? Assuming that student earned high marks and obtained a few internships during their undergrad years, would it really matter which school they attended? I'm specifically interested in STEM fields, if that would change your answer.</p>

<p>Thanks for any responses!</p>

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<p>Just a note, I'm currently a junior. This is a decision I will likely face next year, but I want to plan ahead. </p>

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<p>Bump?</p>

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<p>How much does your undergrad school affect grad school admissions? If a student could attend a higher tier school, but they chose a state flagship with good research opportunities due to the reduced cost, would this be an issue?</p>

<p>Nope.</p>

<p>Assuming that student earned high marks and obtained a few internships during their undergrad years, would it really matter which school they attended?</p>

<p>Nope.</p>

<p>I’m specifically interested in STEM fields, if that would change your answer.</p>

<p>Nope.</p>

<p>First of all, state flagships are often the top-tier schools in their field, especially in STEM fields. Just picking the first STEM field off the top of my head (physics) some of the top 20 universities in that field are UC-Berkeley, UCSB, UHawai’i, Penn State, UC-Irvine, CU-Boulder, Michigan, Michigan State, Stony Brook, UIUC, UCLA and Oklahoma. In oceanography, atmospheric sciences and meteorology, the top programs are dominated by state flagships. Many states’ public flagship universities are top-rated, research-intensive universities with fantastic resources and top-notch researchers.</p>

<p>But even if you went to a public comprehensive regional (like a Cal State or a CUNY or Southern Connecticut State), that’s totally fine too. There’s a dude in my top 20 PhD program who went to SFSU, and another who went to Stony Brook. There’s a woman who went to a tiny college no one’s ever heard of before. Quite a few of my friends went to Penn State or Michigan. A best friend in a different but also top-rated program went to SUNY New Paltz. And I myself went to a mid-ranked private SLAC.</p>

<p>What you do in college matters far more than where you go. Get good grades, foster good relationships with at least 4 professors who can write you recommendation letters (1 backup), get some research experience and do at least one summer REU (but two if you can get them!), and you should be fine.</p>

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<p>I agree with Juliette. In some fields your undergrad may be weighted a bit more if it is know to be a very strong department. But that is not a distinction made between public and private or ranking overall. And it isn’t a deal breaker, just a consideration.</p>

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<p>By “grad school”, do you mean PhD program, or professional school like MD program?</p>

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<p>PhD program</p>