If most careers require grad school does where you get your 4 year degree really matter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

Yale lists the 86 undergrad institutions that are represented at Yale Law School on their website. You'll see lots of non-prestigious schools listed, from Northern Arizona University to Florida International University to Southern Utah University.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

Yale lists the 86 undergrad institutions that are represented at Yale Law School on their website. You'll see lots of non-prestigious schools listed, from Northern Arizona University to Florida International University to Southern Utah University.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics

Yale used to list the number of Yale law students attending by their undergrad school. The top 20 schools comprised 65% of the entire law school. Yale undergrad was 20% of Yale law school.

Then there was one kid from all the remaining schools...though they listed more than 86 in total.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

Yale lists the 86 undergrad institutions that are represented at Yale Law School on their website. You'll see lots of non-prestigious schools listed, from Northern Arizona University to Florida International University to Southern Utah University.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics

Yale used to list the number of Yale law students attending by their undergrad school. The top 20 schools comprised 65% of the entire law school. Yale undergrad was 20% of Yale law school.

Then there was one kid from all the remaining schools...though they listed more than 86 in total.

ear after year, Yale Law School is ranked #1 in the US. (Harvard Law & Stanford Law School complete the top 3, followed by Chicago, Columbia, & NYU as the top 6 law schools in the USA.)

In 2019 (last year they tracked these stats..600 law students in total)), the undergraduate schools with the highest number of alumni then at Yale Law School were:

Yale--90 students enrolled in YLS
Harvard--59
Columbia--34
Princeton--31

Stanford--22
Dartmouth--21
Cornell--19
U Chicago--18
Brown--17
U Penn-16

UC-Berkeley--13
Georgetown--13
Duke--10

Northwestern--8
U Michigan--8
USC--8
U Virginia--7
Johns Hopkins--7

Among LACs:

Amherst--6
Swarthmore--6
Bowdoin--5
Barnard--4
Pomona--4
Wellesley--4
Williams--4

Looks like a good Top 25 list for humanities majors planning on attending law school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

Yale lists the 86 undergrad institutions that are represented at Yale Law School on their website. You'll see lots of non-prestigious schools listed, from Northern Arizona University to Florida International University to Southern Utah University.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics

Yale used to list the number of Yale law students attending by their undergrad school. The top 20 schools comprised 65% of the entire law school. Yale undergrad was 20% of Yale law school.

Then there was one kid from all the remaining schools...though they listed more than 86 in total.

ear after year, Yale Law School is ranked #1 in the US. (Harvard Law & Stanford Law School complete the top 3, followed by Chicago, Columbia, & NYU as the top 6 law schools in the USA.)

In 2019 (last year they tracked these stats..600 law students in total)), the undergraduate schools with the highest number of alumni then at Yale Law School were:

Yale--90 students enrolled in YLS
Harvard--59
Columbia--34
Princeton--31

Stanford--22
Dartmouth--21
Cornell--19
U Chicago--18
Brown--17
U Penn-16

UC-Berkeley--13
Georgetown--13
Duke--10

Northwestern--8
U Michigan--8
USC--8
U Virginia--7
Johns Hopkins--7

Among LACs:

Amherst--6
Swarthmore--6
Bowdoin--5
Barnard--4
Pomona--4
Wellesley--4
Williams--4

Looks like a good Top 25 list for humanities majors planning on attending law school.

Is it harder to be in the top 10 applicants from @ particular year from Duke or the top applicant from Northern Arizona University?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

So few people get into Yale law school, regardless. Basing your UG experience on hoping to attend one of the top 3 law schools is pretty short-sighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, your premise is wrong, therefore your question is moot.

I think the premise is correct for DCUM purposes. A kid in the running for top schools is looking mostly at careers that require grad degrees. If your kid has something different in mind, that's great, but most in this group don't.

FWIW, I am another example of lesser-known undergrad to top 10 law school. I'm really glad I had a chill undergrad experience and graduated with no undergrad debt. No one cares where I got my BA.

[Anonymous]

At least in my field of science, acceptance to grad school depended mostly on finding a professor whose research interests align with yours and who has space in his or her lab. Yes, you need decent grades, recommendations, & good GRE scores, but they do not seem to care at all where you went for undergrad.

[Anonymous]

I have noticed some schools tend to be easier and less rigorous, so I assume the grad program would know this and be less likely to take those students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, your premise is wrong, therefore your question is moot.

I think the premise is correct for DCUM purposes. A kid in the running for top schools is looking mostly at careers that require grad degrees. If your kid has something different in mind, that's great, but most in this group don't.

FWIW, I am another example of lesser-known undergrad to top 10 law school. I'm really glad I had a chill undergrad experience and graduated with no undergrad debt. No one cares where I got my BA.

That's not true at all. Kids at top schools will go into banking, consulting, tech, hedge funds, etc. At most 50% of those kids will pursue any graduate degree after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

Exactly!!! Grad schools recognize that many smart kids go down a tier or two (to afford college) or simple blossom in undergrad. Plenty of kids from schools ranked 50-200 attend top grad schools. Because it is about your grades, gre/mcat/lsat, and recommendations. Much easier to shine and do meaningful research at a smaller school where 90% of the students won’t be planning to attempt that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not that much. State school, then JHU for my PhD. My spouse did ivy, then JHU, colleague did Columbia then JHU. We’re all the same.

Agreed. Buy what college you can comfortably afford. Your grad degree or professional degree is the one whose logo matters most.

For example, I went to a no-name public university and then got my law degree at Penn, and all that mattered was my JD from Penn. No one cared or asked about my undergrad.

Same with my husband. He did his undergrad at Penn state and then got a law degree at Columbia and it's the law degree that got him his job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Eh, not all schools are equal.

A top honors degree from third rate undergrad may not get you into prestigious graduate school, especially if their programs suck in your field of interest.

There's a lot to be said for being the big fish in a small pond. I ended up at a third rate undergrad for financial reasons and had no problem getting into a top grad school and top law school. Leaving undergrad I had tons of awards, glowing recommendations, and perfect grades. I don't know that my application would have been as stellar from a more competitive school.

How many other kids from your undergrad were at your top law school with you? How many of your law school classmates graduated from the undergrad of your law school?

Congrats to PP for threading the needle and getting into top law school the harder way. We have a very close relative at Yale law. They went to a different ivy for undergraduate. Over half of the YL entering class each year is from the same 20 or so elite undergrads. Most of the rest are from T25-40 types/6-15 ranked LACs. There are almost no students from colleges below the top100 and these students are either hooked demographics or truly genius.

Yale lists the 86 undergrad institutions that are represented at Yale Law School on their website. You'll see lots of non-prestigious schools listed, from Northern Arizona University to Florida International University to Southern Utah University.

https://law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics

Yale used to list the number of Yale law students attending by their undergrad school. The top 20 schools comprised 65% of the entire law school. Yale undergrad was 20% of Yale law school.

Then there was one kid from all the remaining schools...though they listed more than 86 in total.

Simply because people that can afford Yale law school are also those who could afford full pay at t20 schools.

Your kid who goes to their state u for financial reasons is not that likely to even apply to Yale law. They once again search for an I state law school that gives some merit or is affordable

Does not mean more kids from other schools are not “qualified”. Just that outside of the elite bubble most look for affordable

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least in my field of science, acceptance to grad school depended mostly on finding a professor whose research interests align with yours and who has space in his or her lab. Yes, you need decent grades, recommendations, & good GRE scores, but they do not seem to care at all where you went for undergrad.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not that much. State school, then JHU for my PhD. My spouse did ivy, then JHU, colleague did Columbia then JHU. We’re all the same.

Agreed. Buy what college you can comfortably afford. Your grad degree or professional degree is the one whose logo matters most.

For example, I went to a no-name public university and then got my law degree at Penn, and all that mattered was my JD from Penn. No one cared or asked about my undergrad.

Same with my husband. He did his undergrad at Penn state and then got a law degree at Columbia and it's the law degree that got him his job.

Penn State is a top 60 school and plenty of kids can get good jobs out of Penn State without going to law school (and do like several of my relatives).

UCB/UCLA is a top 15 school that is very reasonable for in-state kids...but it's not a no-name school and it opens lots of doors right from undergrad.

[Anonymous]

If you want to go into sales, finance (which is basically sales), consulting or work your way up the non profit ladder - you are fine with an undergrad degree only. For everything else - and it's a big world out there - a masters is essential to have the valuable skills necessary to be highly paid and regarded in your field. If you live in DC and are even moderately successful you must know this. Even the people I know that manage their family money full time have a masters of some sort.