How much does undergrad matter if planning on going on to a Ph.D.
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Anonymous
| My child is a junior and I'm wondering how much your undergrad school matters if you are planning to go on to get a Ph.D. - If so, what specifically does matter in college selection? |
Anonymous
I don't have at my fingertips, but there are sites where you can see PhD placements. Some folks think SLACs are good because students may have more opportunities to develop relationships with professors and help with admissions. If your DC is interested in particular fields, then I would search on that. GPA extremely important for best programs. |
Anonymous
| What you have done in college matters a lot - research, LORs, GPA, test scores, your PI's connections...etc. Which field? |
Anonymous
| Honors programs at large public research universities can be great for this, especially if the honors program comes with additional access to research opportunities and professors as mentors. |
Anonymous
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I think good SLACS are ideal for this. Lots of attention from professors.
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Anonymous
| There are some schools that are heavy hitters in feeding kids into PhD programs - Swarthmore, Reed, Carleton, Harvey Mudd, etc. You're going to find the feeder schools to be largely SLACs because so much in admissions for PhD programs is about recommendations and connections. PhD cohorts tend to be very small - many programs accepting fewer than a dozen students/year - so good grades and high GRE scores alone won't cut it. |
Anonymous
GPA extremely important. Plus prior research experience. So, a top (4.0) student from U of Oregon will do better than a 3.8 kid from Harvard. Top SLACs will have faculty more involved with their students, more research opportunities, mentoring etc. All of which helps too. |
Anonymous
| GPA, going above and beyond in major courses through extra research or independent studies or graduate level courses, professor letters and recommendations are also huge, jobs or internships in your major area of study are big too. |
Anonymous
No, no, no. For PhD programs, your grades in your specific field matter the most. If you're getting a PhD in Classics, your B in statistics will affect your GPA, but not your chances of getting into a top Classics program. Likewise, if you're getting a PhD in Organic Chemistry, your B in 20th Century American Lit will not matter for PhD admissions in Organic Chem. -Tenured professor at R1 |
Anonymous
| Depends on field. I can't believe nobody mentioned GRE or other relevant exam. At my "very good" state school we immediately delete any applicant who scores below the 97th or so percentile. Also, math and stats grades are extremely important if the area is at all quantitative (even psychology does a lot of data-heavy work these days). Communication ability also important. Prior research experience a plus. Rec letters come next. Undergrad school least important of all factors, at least for our program. We barely look at it. |
Anonymous
| If the goal is using a Ph.D. to become a professor, then they need it to come from one of a small handful of universities. People can say that it doesn't matter where you go to undergrad, but the students in those programs seem to come from great undergrad schools |
Anonymous
Yes pedigree is essential for academia, and also consulting roles that hire PhDs. |
Anonymous
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Definitely helps to go to a good undergrad "feeder school".
But I went to Big State University for undergrad and still got into Chicago for the PhD. |
Anonymous
But if you are pursuing a PhD in psychology, a B in statistics will affect one's chances as research in many disciplines involves probability and statistics. Some universities have programs designed to assist those who intend on pursuing a PhD: For example at Northwestern University: Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences https://mmss.northwestern.edu/undergraduate/program-overview An easier option exists at the University of Michigan: https://lsa.umich.edu/qmss (quantitative methods in the social sciences) |
Anonymous
| If you know your child is going PHD route I would go small school or big school with honors college. They will need professor recs that are super personalized. This is what my brother experienced and he went to Ivy grad school after |