How will messing up my first year in college (2003) affect getting into grad school?

NovaLynnx
Sun, 20 Oct 2013 11:46:10 +0000

There’s been a saying that you won’t teach at a school as good as or better than the one you attended. There are always exceptions to the rule (e.g., if you’re a rising star with influential publications and/or solid connections/work relationships), but the better the program you can get into (in terms of its influence in your field, success of faculty in producing quality research, etc.), the more options it may produce after graduation. If there is a significant difference in the professional outcomes of students graduating from the masters program as compared with the PhD, I might consider the masters program first to build my CV. Look at where recent graduates end up after graduating from both programs, not necessarily where the professors are from.