High School Student Thinking Ahead to Graduate School/What Academic Route to Take During Undergrad

Graduate School
1

Hello! I’m an ambitious student about to go to Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Specifically, William Smith College). Here are my current stats:

High School Weighted GPA 3.85 (as of Junior Year, so what appeared on my apps) ; will be around 4.1 after this year. Furthermore, it’s literally impossible to get a 5.0 weighted GPA at my school; every student is required to take a low level religion course yearly, and it drags down your GPA. The highest GPA I’ve heard of someone getting in recent years was a 4.45, and he’s currently going to a little Ivy.

I could go in depth on extracurriculars, but because I’m focusing on my academics, I’m trying to stay on topic. I’ve had a shooting upward trajectory throughout high school, beginning with an awful freshman year to finishing senior year with a GPA around 4.23. I currently go to a very competitive private Catholic school, and I’m set to graduate in the low teens/possibly upper top 10 in terms of class rank in a class of 47. I’m strong in the humanities and some science, and not strong in math. I recently completed a 35 page research symposium analyzing the cognitive makeup of the major presidential candidates from the elections of 2000-2016, creating a cohesive summary of the ideal psychological blueprint for a politician. (I’m in no way trying to bore you or brag; I’m just trying to get across what my high school experience has been like. I’ve taken a total of 5 APs out of the 10 (I think) available at my school; the others are all science and math courses. I got a 3 on the AP Lit exam and a 4 on the APUSH exam last year; I’m not taking any this year.

Enough high school backstory; I’m planning on going on to HWS, planning on majoring in political science with potential second majors in IR, psych, and sociology. I’m planning on having a minor in a region, such as the Middle East.

Post undergrad, I would prefer to go into a prestigious graduate program at a very selective university, such as Georgetown, Yale, or Harvard (simply giving examples on my list). I know I don’t appear to be a particularly strong student at present: I’m a late bloomer and, even though I got into a good school, I really want to succeed and follow through on my goals of working in the political realm.

*Bottom Line: I need HWS to smooth out my edges and to really push me to get to great opportunities; is my trajectory on point? Is it possible for me to make it into a Ivy League graduate program? If so, what should I do to maximize my chances?

Thank you so much in advance; any and all advice, including hate-filled sarcasm and biting remarks, will be greatly appreciated :slight_smile:

2

I am fresh out of hate-filled sarcasm. :wink:

So hey, good news: grad schools don’t even look at your high school stuff, so whatever “rough edges” you’re worrying about right now are moot. Go to college, have a blast, work hard, get good grades and find a mentor and get involved in research and publish your work if you can, and you’ll be on track to get into a good grad program. You maximize your chances by being proactive in seeking opportunities to go beyond the classroom, and it sounds like you’re no stranger to in-depth research, already. You will be fine.

That said, worry less about “Ivy” and think more about “who do I want to learn from?” Depending on your specific area of interest, you may discover that your ideal mentor teaches at a “lesser” school. Follow your passion, not what you assume is the most prestige. But also remember that you don’t need to start thinking about this until junior year of college.

tl;dr: Go enjoy college. You’re fine.

3

None of your accomplishments from high school (or lack there of) will have any effect on getting into graduate school. They won’t ask for your high school GPA, about APs, ECs, or anything like that.

To get into a good graduate school:

1.) Maintain a high GPA
2.) Do research!! The more research, the better. Specifically it should be research with a professor with the intent to publish, not a research project you take on by yourself.
3.) Make connections with professors who will know you well enough to write you strong enough LORs for graduate school.
4.) Do well on the GRE (grad school equivalent of the SAT/ACT)

A few other things:
1.) I am in the biological sciences, so I can’t speak for the social sciences, but make sure you understand what a “very selective” university in your field is. You may be surprised to learn that top schools are not Ivies. (I have no idea what top schools would be for you, when the time comes, research for yourself!)
2.) Think about what you want your future career to be. Don’t go to graduate school just to go to graduate school. Go to graduate school because you need an advanced degree to succeed in your field of choice.
3.) Seriously consider if you want a masters or a Ph.D. Social sciences may be different, but in my field, there’s usually no need for a masters and Ph.D. as they have different career tracks. You don’t want to waste time (or money) on a masters if what you want to achieve will require a Ph.D. You don’t want to spend 4-6 years on a Ph.D. is a masters is good enough.
4.) ECs are NOT really part of graduate school admission EXCEPT for research or activities that directly relate to what you want to do. (i.e. interning for a senator if you want to study poli sci, or clinical work if you want to study psychology). No one will care if you were president of ski club in graduate school applications.
5.) Your GPA and GRE will NOT get you into a good graduate school, but they will keep you out. A fairly “safe” GPA is >3.5. GRE scores will vary based on discipline. NOT doing research WILL keep you OUT of graduate school.
6.) It is okay to work between undergrad and grad school! There’s nothing wrong with getting some more experience before graduate school.
7.) Did I mention that research is important to getting into graduate school? Research is CRITICAL! If you can get published, even better.

Hope this helps!

4

Thanks for your advice, I’ll definitely be scouting out different schools (not just the Ivies) :slight_smile: And lol, I know I’m getting a bit ahead of myself in terms about thinking about graduate school while I’m still a senior in high school, but I’m determined to be prepared.

5

Choosing a graduate program is different than choosing an undergraduate program. For graduate school you pick WHO you want to study with, not WHERE you want to go based on your preconceived notion of institutional reputation. The problem is, you don’t know what you don’t know yet, so you can’t pick a list of where you will want to apply. Enjoy the first few years and start thinking about it again junior year or so.

6

Great comments above. A few additional things to keep in mind: 1) For the most part, you pay for MA, MS or LLD, they pay you (fellowships) for PhD. For PhD applications at the top programs in most fields, in addition to what you know (GPA, GRE, published research) it is also important who you know, and who they know. To be specific, if you do research, co-author papers with, and impress professors who came out of the top PhD programs in their fields, they will have connections, and be co-authoring papers with professors in those programs, and consequently their recommendations can carry considerable weight with the professors in those programs when it is time for them to choose who will be admitted to their program.

7

There is such a thing as overpreparation in this area. If you lock yourself into specific universities or programs too ealry, you don’t allow your interests (and thus your best fit program) to develop organically as you grow more. Now you are interested in, say, cognitive profiles of political candidates but in two years you might be interested in how to encourage free elections in the Middle East or whatnot and need an entirely different set of schools. So I wouldn’t spend any more time or energy at this moment scouting out schools; I would focus on taking courses and getting a research assistant position so you can learn.

Sure, but this is all the cherry on top. You don’t have to network with famous professors to get into a top PhD program. If you do well at Hobart & William Smith and get excellent recommendations from the professors there, then you’ll be okay.