<p>My dream has always been to go to a top graduate school and go on to become a top scholar of English literature. I made good grades and get good test scores, but my family simply doesn’t make enough money for me to go to a private school. I will probably be attending University of Florida for undergraduate school.</p>
<p>My question is: is it likely that I could go to a top private graduate school (Chicago, Northwestern, Princeton, etc.) coming from a public university like University of Florida? I have always thought that, in order to come go to a top graduate school, you have to come from a top undergraduate school. Is this true? </p>
<p>P.S. I don’t want any “well, one person from University of Florida went to Harvard so yeah, there’s a chance”; I want to know if I have the same chances of getting in if I went to Florida rather than if I went to a top private school.</p>
<p>Your chances of getting into a “top” graduate school are not hurt by going to a large public university. It is what you do in your undergraduate career which will determine what kind of graduate school you can get into.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you specifics about graduate school in Literature but your faculty advisor certainly can. With my physics advisees, I can make suggestions on how to best position themselves for a good graduate program. It starts with doing well in classes, and taking the most challenging curriculum available to them so that they have the best academic preparation. Then I tell them that getting involved in research on campus and in the summer at REU sites is essential. Finally, the best students also take a leadership role in student organizations and that is a big plus. I am sure that there is an equivalent for Literature.</p>
<p>Bottom line, got the best school you can afford, make the most of your education there and you will be fine.</p>
<p>Thanks, this gives me some hope. Does this happen a good amount though? Like are the graduate programs of ivy league schools mostly made up of undergraduates from ivy and only like one person from a public university? Or are there more people from public universities?</p>
<p>Remember that the “best” school for preparing for academic graduate school is major-specific, in terms of what you learn in courses, what research opportunities you have, and how graduate departments see it. How the entire school is seen is not important compared to how the major at the school is.</p>
<p>Note that a number of public schools (including some that do not have particularly high reputations overall) do seem to be highly regarded for English literature.</p>
<p>Also, look into how likely students in your major are to be funded for graduate study. If funding is questionable, you will likely want to avoid or minimize undergraduate debt.</p>
<p>There are plenty of people who go to top private graduate schools from public schools. xraymancs is right and his approach works at any school. I think the difference between private and public and quality of the program is how much of the positioning falls upon you as the student. Some departments will go out of their way to help students and even push some reluctant students. Others will basically help as requested.</p>
<p>As the spouse of a humanities prof in a highly ranked graduate program, I understand that his department’s strongest candidates come from universities – public and private. At the grad level, important components of your application include your recommendations and your writing sample-- so it is important to develop strong relationships with faculty who are well-regarded in their field and who can candidly assess your ability to contribute to original scholarship in the subject. Similarly, maturing as a student so that you can produce interesting work in a writing sample, not simply collecting current views and organizing them, is important.</p>
<p>Certainly a public university can provide the type of experience that will enable you to become this type of student. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>In my phd program, there are students from Yale, Chicago, Northwestern, UPenn, Penn state, Florida, UNC etc. </p>
<p>They are looking for a set of skills, experience, and initiative. The name of the school becomes a tie breaker for those things. Knowing someone helps way more than where you went to school.</p>