<p>So, I have attended the university of wisconsin eau claire. It is a smaller school but still does ok in the rankings. How much will this background at a lesser known program influence my chances of admittance at a high ranking graduate program? I am really worried about this but people keep telling me I am paranoid. </p>
<p>Be brutally honest (good or bad)</p>
<p>What kind of graduate program? Master’s, Ph.D., medical, law?</p>
<p>For Ph.D. admissions, the strength of the specific department not the overal university is what is relevant.</p>
<p>I am hoping to get a PhD in literature.</p>
<p>My top choices for grad school are…</p>
<ol>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Duke University</li>
<li>Vanderbilt University </li>
<li>Emory University</li>
<li>University of Washington</li>
<li>Penn State</li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh</li>
<li>Notre Dame</li>
<li>University of Rochester</li>
<li>Binghamton </li>
</ol>
<p>I have chosen some “Reach” schools as well as some “Mid-level schools”</p>
<p>I attended the university of wisconsin eau claire. Will this positively or negatively influence my ability to attend a top graduate school for a phd in literature? More generally, how does the ranking of an undergraduate program influence the chances of admission in graduate programs?</p>
<p>thanks for the help</p>
<p>Honestly, Chicago and Duke are going to be EXTREMELY difficult to get into. With the recent budget cuts at Chicago, the first thing to go is the humanities PhD students, and I imagine it’s about the same at Duke. Also, very few new graduate students enter each year, so that you’ll be in competition for 10-20 spots, and many other applicants are going to be from top-10 schools. It’s still possible if you have amazing recommendations from very well-respected professors, but if you are at a relatively unknown university, the possibility that there even ARE very well-respected, well-known professors in literature at the given school is very low, and much less that they’ll be in contact with undergrads. Just my (brutally honest [sorry]) opinion.</p>
<p>Honestly, though, your other picks won’t be too big of a reach. I think you could make a lot of those happen with amazing recs from professors and top grades.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answer. I know duke and chicago are long shots. But, I just wouldn’t want to live with the “what if I had gotten in” feeling. So, I have decided to try some tougher schools.</p>
<p>Dont cut your reach schools, since you NEVER know. </p>
<p>I am a grad student at Duke (sciences) and to my knowledge they have not started cutting any budgets. They are freezing a lot of the budgets, so they will not be increasing the incomming class for awhile. Duke has a large endowment so they are doing relatively fine compared to some places (cali state schools as an ex).</p>
<p>Duke is ~top 10 in my field. We have a lot of people from state schools and lesser known school. It may be different in the humanities though.</p>
<p>Where you went to undergrad has virtually no impact upon your admissions. What is really important is what you did at your undergrad, and the strength of your application. With strong recommendations, a strong personal statement, and good experience in whatever it is literature people have to have experience in (in the sciences, we have to have research…yeah), your package will be competitive.</p>
<p>You already have a thread in this forum that you posted less than an hour ago asking the exact same question.</p>
<p>The answer is no. Graduate schools, in general, don’t care whether you went to Harvard or Podunk State. What’s important is what you did at that undergraduate college – the quality of your research, who you worked with, what kind of projects you worked on while you were there, the strength of your recommendations, the strength of your transcript, what kind of summer or off-time research experiences you participated in, your GRE scores, and your personal statement. That, plus the fit between you and the department you choose.</p>
<p>This question gets asked all the time on this forum. I’d recommend reading this thread in the “Ask the Dean Topics”</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ask-dean-topics/509647-do-top-grad-schools-admit-applicants-less-selective-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/ask-dean-topics/509647-do-top-grad-schools-admit-applicants-less-selective-colleges.html</a></p>
<p>I think the Dean in this case is “Dead On” in saying that grad schools like a diversity in the Undergrad institutions of their grad students. With that being said, I do think the prestige of the undergrad makes a difference. It is far from a silver bullet though. It may give an edge if all else is equal. Often undergrads from top institutions who give low grades will get breaks on their GPA. </p>
<p>I’ve certainly known of a situation where a guy who has great recs, GRE scores, and research but has gone to a 3rd tier school gets into better grad schools than the guy who is top of his class at a top five Liberal Arts School because this LAC student didn’t have the GREs, Recs, or research experience.</p>
<p>Sorry, I thought I had posted my first question at the wrong spot. thanks for the answer</p>
<p>This may give some perspective:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/389155-parent-opportunities-meet-college-admission-officers-2.html?highlight=caltech+UCSD+professor[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/389155-parent-opportunities-meet-college-admission-officers-2.html?highlight=caltech+UCSD+professor</a></p>
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<p>I knew I wasn’t paranoid. I had the feeling that a kind of elitism prevailes at these top universities.</p>
<p>of course this is true. elitism prevails at top universities, for better or for worse.</p>
<p>and as i have recently learned, a lot of graduate admissions is about having the right people pull for you. it’s often the case that students at top schools work with well known professors who happen to know other well known professors at top schools. those students can definitely use that to their advantage, whereas other students may not have such contacts. network, network, network…</p>
<p>I actually go to UWM (Milwaukee) so I know what you are feeling like as a fellow PhD applicant (albeit in History). While I am still a bit paranoid about the reputation of my undergraduate school, I realized (after speaking with many professors) that what you did at your school, and the recommendations you will have are what counts. Thankfully, I will have recommendations from known professors in their respective fields. I would suggest to make sure that your letters come from known professors (with tenure) and have some research experience.</p>
<p>it is a bit intimidating I know. But, when it comes down to it, Eau Claire does have decent rankings and some street cred. It is considered one of the better schools in the midwest. Also, Milwaukee is the only other research university besides Madison in Wisconsin, that has to mean something. So, perhaps we are blowing this a bit out of proportion…</p>
<p>btw, i wasn’t trying to say it’s a major factor in admissions. perhaps it is, perhaps it isn’t. all i really wanted to say was that school prestige matters to an unknown extent in graduate admissions.</p>