<p>Adcoms in the sciences and certain departments in more quantitatively-based fields are going to be far less concerned with undergraduate prestige - more ‘objective’ data, ie GRE, GPA, Science/Quant grades, specific research and quality of research - is far easier to judge in a hierarchical way. That’s not to say that prestige of undergrad institution can’t have some influence for science graduate applicants, but it definitely figures in very differently. The work itself is quantitative, and therefore lends itself far better to comparative, ie admission-oriented, judgment. English departments - and for that matter, most humanities departments - have far more idiosyncratic methods for judging applicants. </p>
<p>I just felt like this had to be said, because so many random posters keep interjecting “I went to a nothing school for undergrad and got into a top ten science school”. Yes, that’s fine, but the admission process for science/quant, just like science/quant research, career options, and analytical approach, is QUITE different from what goes on in humanities departments. These programs are often just as much about the people as the research, if not more. I went to an Ivy for undergrad and was admitted to another Ivy for the Ph.D., and I had a 3.35 undergrad GPA. I applied to the second Ivy 3 weeks after all the other students, and was admitted the second my application reached the DGS’ desk. Overall, I was less prepared. Yet, the prestige of my undergraduate institution, my writing sample, and my recommendations, were far better than even the other admitted students, because my B’s and C’s in undergrad were ‘Earned’ by competing with wiz kids . . . not from slacking. </p>
<p>This is not true of everyone, but I can think of a number of Ivy League undergrads with below a 3.5 who went to top universities for the Ph.D. . . . partly because we were forced to take general requirements in which we received C’s (Calc, Stat, Physics, Astrophysics in my case) with students who had won Intel competitions, when we were majoring in humanities. </p>
<p>Just thought I would try and put a spin on this argument from someone who went through the process. On the other hand, I do know students from no-name undergrad who went to Ivy Ph.D. programs for humanities . . . but they almost always had some mitigating factor, such as a superstar recommender or a Master’s Degree (even an M.A. from a lesser-known school still helps a humanities student get a second look, if even just because that student will be assumed to understand what their responsibilities will be as a grad student, and that they now ‘know the trade’ better than a fresh undergrad).</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>