Quality of Undergrad Program

Momwaitingfornew
Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:24:31 +0000

Cosmicfish’s breakdown illustrates the unique differences between graduate and undergraduate admissions. Although people who frequent CC are well-informed, a surprisingly large number of (non-CC) undergraduates applying to graduate school are naive about the process.

With PhD programs, professors and therefore departments are looking for students who will help advance their own research. A senior and well-funded professor can exert influence to accept a student who promises to be an excellent researcher and student for his project(s), even though there’s no guarantee that the student will work with him. However, admissions is often about compromise and projections: Will this student have the versatility to succeed at both core courses and research/dissertation? Does he exhibit signs of creativity that will lead him to solve certain questions in the field? Can he handle the rigor of the program? Are his interests narrow enough to show forethought, or are they too narrow to exclude working with more than one faculty member? Does he write well enough to produce publishable papers?

These questions have different answers for every department because of the individuals involved. The quality of the undergraduate program is only one part of the whole picture, although I would by lying if I said it didn’t make a difference. Yes, a student from MIT may be admitted before you are, but that’s only one spot. But suppose that same MIT student has lackluster LORs that, when the committee reads between the lines, indicates that he is average. Your application then gets an edge because your LORs state that you were one of the most ambitious students Professor 1 has ever taught and that Professor 2 found that your work ethic and contributions to his research project were admirable.

There are simply too many variables, including the specific applications from other students, to determine whether your UG school will make a difference. Get excellent LORs and write a compelling SOP, and I’ll bet you get good results.