<p>Hi, I currently attend the University of Southern Indiana – which isn’t particularly a top school or relatively known school for that matter. As a undergrad, instead of simply graduating with a bachelors in one area of the sciences – and because its my sole desire for a future in research – I’ve decided to triple major with bachelors in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biophysics and am currently an Honors student that would receive University Honor Scholar status on the degree itself. I’m currently a junior with a 3.9 GPA and I’m set to work with several professors until I graduate each semester in research programs. Additionally, I also have undergrad teaching opportunities as a TA.</p>
<p>My concern is that I want to apply to an MIT grad school with a degree from a less-known 4-year school. Does this potentially matter?</p>
<p>Additionally, I’ve already had several papers published in the Computer Science area outside of my major out of my own research of many years. I chose to major in sciences and intend to supplement research potential with my relatively superior knowledge in software engineering.</p>
<p>Given that I do apply with a triple major in these areas, 3.8+ GPA (I’ll retake every class that comprises this goal until I get A), strong research experience, and letters of recommendations, if the 4-year degree isn’t from an existing top school - would it still be considered? How strong are memberships in national honor societies or research societies such as Sigma Beta or Sigma Xi, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, etc?</p>
<p>If I specifically put off grad school because I want to expand a large knowledge base with research in multiple genres of the sciences for research potential, such as in mathematics, chemistry, biology, and physics, and then apply to grad school once I’ve racked up a handful of bachelors in these areas with several years of solid research experience and solid letters of recommendation, would that be perhaps a more “road less traveled” ideal approach to getting into an MIT grad school?</p>
Yes, it does matter. It’s not the only thing that matters, but it’s a factor.</p>
<p>But the thing that matters much, much more is your background in a specific field, and how well the professors who do admissions feel you would fit with the department in terms of your research interests. </p>
<p>You would not be well-served by triple-majoring in disparate fields just to have a heavy academic courseload – you would be better-served by focusing on the field you plan to attend graduate school in, getting significant research experience in that field, and getting outstanding (“best student in my career”) recommendation letters from professors who know you in a research context.</p>
<p>Your goal should not be to get into “an” MIT grad program. Your goal should be to find a short list of programs in a specific field (or subfield) that have a number of professors with whom you’d specifically like to work for your PhD. Graduate school is about specialization.</p>
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If you can’t get an A in the first place, retaking the courses is likely to be counterproductive.</p>
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No.</p>
<p>It’s true that a candidate from an unknown school must work harder to set himself apart in the pool of applicants to a top science PhD program, but having “handful” of bachelor’s degrees is not the way to set oneself apart. Again, the goal is not to have “solid” research experience and letters of recommendation, but to have stellar research experience and letters of recommendation. Your potential as a researcher in a specific field is much more important than your performance in class, let alone your performance in a wide variety of classes that will be irrelevant to your graduate work.</p>