I am currently finishing my bachelor’s in psychology at CSUN. I want to transfer to UCB, UCLA, or USC for graduate school but I am worried that CSUN does not make me stand out academically. The school is ranked very low and I am not sure if that matters. Currently I have all As at CSUN, but my GPA is a 3.4 because I went to UCSB prior and that lowered my GPA. Does anyone know if the school you attend for undergrad effects your chances of getting into a highly ranked grad school? Also, is there anything I can do to make myself stand out? I have been interviewing for research intern positions but have not heard back yet:/
Speak with your professors about this. They know where their students have been admitted to grad school.
I gave an answer to this question in the FAQ of this forum, and funnily enough, specifically mentioned CSUN in my answer.
Q: How much does my undergraduate school matter for graduate admissions?
A: This is a tricky question to answer, and opinions are going to vary a bit. The general consensus seems to be “Some, maybe a lot, but what you do in undergrad is way more important than where you go.”
Let’s be honest - professors, like most people, can be swayed by prestige. But it’s not the sparkliness of the name; it’s the familiarity with the department, the faculty, and the work and rigor that go into that program. If your field has excellent departments at Wisconsin and Duke and Michigan and Stanford, then if you come out of one of those universities the professors at your graduate schools know that you had good training at the department. They know the faculty members there - maybe they went to grad school together, or collaborated on past projects, or were postdocs together - and they trust their word in letters of recommendation. They know that the cutting-edge research is coming out of so-and-so’s lab, which just happens to be where you did your RA job. So when your application crosses their desk, a lot of the things you discuss are known quantities.
However, this does not mean that if you go to East Carolina University, Cal State Northridge, UNC-Wilmington or Loyola Marymount that you have worse choices of getting into graduate school. This also does not mean that “a 3.3 at Stanford is the same/better than a 3.7 at CSUN.” This also doesn’t mean that you should go deep into debt to attend a more prestigious school, or transfer away from your current undergrad. It’s simply a data point - one that’s taken into consideration. There are lots and lots of people who go to excellent graduate schools from these schools and other smaller regional publics and lesser-known privates. What’s more important is what you do. So get involved in research (yes, there is research going on at places like these), form relationships with professors (yes, they still count even if they don’t know Professor Fancypants at Harvard), try to do a summer research internship at a different university, and take the most rigorous courseload you can (consider taking graduate courses if you are able).
First of all, going to a UC isn’t a “transfer.” It’s a completely new degree.
Secondly, CSUN is not “ranked very low.” It’s a good, solid regional university that has a pretty good reputation in psychology. I have a friend who went to CSUN for undergrad, got her PhD in psychology at DePaul, did a postdoc at Yale and is now a professor at UCSF. Someone in my graduate program at Columbia went to SFSU for undergrad. I know a couple other Cal State system grads who have gone to great doctoral programs in psychology.
The way you make yourself stand out is by what you do in undergrad. So keep applying for those research internships; talk to the professors in your department about your goals and get their advice; visit office hours and develop good relationships; and try to get your GPA up if you can.