first two questions are obvious yesses. For 3) I agree with James_Miller, and add that as a current undergrad at a research university, I have found partnering with interesting, high-quality grad students and postdocs to be way more helpful in terms of getting support to do the research I want to do. Often (in my experience) they are far freer with their time and advice, more innovative and willing to take risks, more interested in working with undergrads, and often more on top of new directions a given field may be going in.
If I could do it over, I’d focus on reading some grad student bios and seeing how well they fit my interests.
I’d also note that a huge percentage of high schoolers I know were sure they wanted to become e.g. engineers, they’d wanted that for the last ten years, etc., and by the end of freshman year they’re in physics or environmental studies. So choosing a university based on excellence in a prospective major alone is one of those huge risks everyone thinks won’t affect them. Obviously some of them are wrong.
first two questions are obvious yesses. For 3) I agree with James_Miller, and add that as a current undergrad at a research university, I have found partnering with interesting, high-quality grad students and postdocs to be way more helpful in terms of getting support to do the research I want to do. Often (in my experience) they are far freer with their time and advice, more innovative and willing to take risks, more interested in working with undergrads, and often more on top of new directions a given field may be going in.
If I could do it over, I’d focus on reading some grad student bios and seeing how well they fit my interests.
I’d also note that a huge percentage of high schoolers I know were sure they wanted to become e.g. engineers, they’d wanted that for the last ten years, etc., and by the end of freshman year they’re in physics or environmental studies. So choosing a university based on excellence in a prospective major alone is one of those huge risks everyone thinks won’t affect them. Obviously some of them are wrong.