Undergrad's effect on Grad

Graduate School
1

<p>How much does the strength of the school you went to for undergrad help or hurt your chances.</p>

2

<p>there have been countless threads on this. do a search.</p>

3

<p>In short: It matters quit a bit.</p>

<p>Of course, it depends which type of program you are talking about, and which field. Which sorts of programs are you interested in?</p>

4

<p>Thanks
Sociology, and I’m transferring to a UC, (hopefully UC Berkeley) in fall 07; I’m applying right now.</p>

<p>Do schools prefer their own undergrad for grad, I’ve heard they give them more preference but I’ve also heard different?</p>

5

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<p>As always it depends on the field. In big departments (e.g. the sciences) there is probably less resistance to accepting their own undergrads. </p>

<p>Very small departments may actually have policies (perhaps unwritten) against accepting their own undergrads. That is the case with Classics here at Penn for example. But even within the field, this varies; Ohio State has many grad students who did their undergrad in Columbus.</p>

<p>So check before you apply!</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
Ohio State has many grad students who did their undergrad in Columbus.

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</p>

<p>Eww, academia-cest. ;)</p>

<p>
[quote]
Do schools prefer their own undergrad for grad, I’ve heard they give them more preference but I’ve also heard different?

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</p>

<p>You will most like be deterred rather than preferred. Of course, the exception to prove the rule is those students for whom graduate study at the university is merely the next step in their brilliant, outstanding undergraduate research that must be continued on the same track. For them it wouldn't make sense to leave. But this is a tiny minority.</p>

<p>
[quote]
How much does the strength of the school you went to for undergrad help or hurt your chances.

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</p>

<p>In applying to PhD programs (unlike law, for instance), what matters is not the brand name of your school itself but the brand name of your advisors and letter-writers. And top schools much more often have the top professors.</p>