If you are interested in grad school and money is a concern, a good strategy might be to go to the subsidized state school, zip through in 3 years, then go to grad school at a big name place.
Do you have evidence that this actually works? Graduate school admissions are extremely selective at top universities (much moreso than undergraduate admissions).
My evidence is anecdotal: I have observed many grad students in Tier-I schools come from Tier-II undergrad backgrounds. A determined search could probably verify this by looking through a bunch of online grad student biographies.
I don’t think a person who is smart and disciplined enough to get into a Tier-I school, but instead goes to Tier-II school for undergrad, will suffer a big penalty in terms of acceptance chances at Tier-I grad schools. Not because the admissions people don’t take the prestige of the undergrad university into account; they surely do. But a Tier-I capable individual at a Tier-II school will receive a lot of counterbalancing benefits as a result of standing out relative to his/her peers. Such a student will probably get better grades, and receive more positive attention from professors, including letters of recommendation and summer research opportunities.
I’m not entirely sure how committed I am to grad school. I’d probably go as far as a Masters, but I feel like a PhD might take up a lot of time and not be particularly useful if I don’t stay in academia.
If you are interested in grad school and money is a concern, a good strategy might be to go to the subsidized state school, zip through in 3 years, then go to grad school at a big name place.
Do you have evidence that this actually works? Graduate school admissions are extremely selective at top universities (much moreso than undergraduate admissions).
My evidence is anecdotal: I have observed many grad students in Tier-I schools come from Tier-II undergrad backgrounds. A determined search could probably verify this by looking through a bunch of online grad student biographies.
I don’t think a person who is smart and disciplined enough to get into a Tier-I school, but instead goes to Tier-II school for undergrad, will suffer a big penalty in terms of acceptance chances at Tier-I grad schools. Not because the admissions people don’t take the prestige of the undergrad university into account; they surely do. But a Tier-I capable individual at a Tier-II school will receive a lot of counterbalancing benefits as a result of standing out relative to his/her peers. Such a student will probably get better grades, and receive more positive attention from professors, including letters of recommendation and summer research opportunities.
Okay, thanks!
I’m not entirely sure how committed I am to grad school. I’d probably go as far as a Masters, but I feel like a PhD might take up a lot of time and not be particularly useful if I don’t stay in academia.