Quote:
|
Some of your professors are bound to be "networked" (there are a lot of professors who graduated at top schools who teach at state schools).
|
This is a really important point, and one that is rarely acknowledged on cc. I would modify it a bit, though, to say there are many networked professors at middle of the road universities, including some who do not have extremely illustrious educational pedigrees, who have national reputations in their fields, especially in research-heavy fields. If you find yourself at a mid-ranked public or private for whatever reason, do your homework and find out who has current externally funded research projects going on, check their publication records and see who they co-author papers with, go talk with anyone who seems likely to have something to offer you. It might be harder to find a well-connected professor at a middling school, but it is a lot easier to get her/his attention. If you are a stand-out, you will stand out.