Which school!?

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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<p>(I posted this in the general admissions forum but I guess people from NYU would know the situation better...)</p>

<p>So it's around the time that we're all narrowing down our decisions, waiting for some to come in still, and just choosing which school ultimately fits us.</p>

<p>Well for me, my dream school has been NYU. I've gotten in and now I'm having second thoughts.</p>

<p>Which leads me to plan for the future...grad school.</p>

<p>So i have a few questions about grad school, which will affect the decision i make to which undergrad to attend.</p>

<p>1) When apply to grad schools, do the schools you apply to judge you by the school you attend, or by your GPA, accomplishments, etc. Obviously, they're all going to factor in, but how much of an effect of where you went for undergrad is going to bear on the decision of your admittance to a top grad school?</p>

<p>2) I've asked two people this, and most say they almost won't judge you on where you go to school as an undergrad, which leads me to my second question: Then what is the motivation to attend a top undergrad like Yale, Harvard, or Cornell (lost graduation rate btw) when you know its harder to attain a higher GPA since the courseload would be difficult? </p>

<p>Now finally, I really want to attend NYU but does attending a less selective school in NYU like Steinhardt going to affect my chances at a top grad school, or put me at a disadvantage, or even fall short of providing me the potential to go far?</p>

<p>NYU's expensive, I just want to know I'm making the right decision. Also I was accepted to UCLA...great academics, great price. I just don't think it fits me, which is why i asked the questions above. UCLA is ranked higher than NYU, so I assume the selectivity is higher. Will I be at lost if I chose NYU over UCLA?</p>

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<p>Alright, this is what I know of the advantages of attending a top undergraduate school: </p>

<ol>
<li>most people would agree that the four years you spend at your undergrad college are the best years of your life and the friends you make will be with you forever, so you want to carefully select the place you attend.</li>
<li>networking; attending ivies and other top schools will help you in the future. You should realize that the people who attend these schools will likely become successful and powerful in the future, and it's definitely beneficial to know colleagues in high places. Also, the alumini and career services department will also be superior in hooking you up with a job. </li>
<li>the ivies and top schools have the best grad school placement if you look at the WSJ rankings; they will get you into law school, med school, business school, etc.</li>
<li>although many people claim that public schools are catchin up to ivies and top schools, I still don't think they're anywhere close in academic quality, personal attention, resources, and just plain quality of life.</li>
<li>A lot of the top schools, depending on what profession you want to go into, give you the opportunity to bypass grad school. For example, many graduates of Wharton or Stern never opt to get an MBA because they're making 6 figure salaries within 5 years.</li>
</ol>

<p>So, as you can see, I've only scratched the surface of what an education at a top school can do for you; Obviously, you will still have to work hard, be confident and ambitious in order to get where you want. However, your college will help you get there.</p>

<p>*note: the top colleges I'm referring to are the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, CIT, Duke, the elite LACs, and any other top 25 school.</p>

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<p>Also, to answer the GPA question, it depends what Grad school you're looking at. For Med school, they look strictly at GPA, Law school to a lesser extent, and business school, not so much. But seriously, I would choose somewhere that I would want to go, somewhere that I'm comfortable with, first and foremost. If you don't feel you fit in at UCLA, don't go, even if you feel it's a more practical option. Some of my friends have done that, and have ended up transferring and wasting more money, and more importantly, time.</p>