Will going to the university of houston negatively affect my chances?

Graduate School
1

<p>I plan to attend the University of Houston because the philosophy department is nice, I can afford the in-state tuition, and its close enough to commute. I plan to get a phd eventually, but don’t know if the university I obtain my ba from will affect my ability to be admitted to my grad schools of choice. So, assuming that my gre/recs/etc. are good, would it be likely that I’ll get into:</p>

<p>University of Chicago
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Georgetown University
New York University
Texas A&M</p>

2

<p>Are you planning on what graduate schools in philosophy you want to apply to before you even start your undergrad??</p>

<p>You might change majors after your first year! Planning ahead is good but things can change a great deal.</p>

<p>Anyway to answer your question, the undergrad name doesn’t mean a whole lot for graduate admissions from what i’ve heard. (Assuming you have excellent everything else)</p>

3

<p>From what I understand, coming from a prestigious undergraduate institution is a plus, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have a shot coming from a lesser known university. All it means is that the universities to which you apply will probably be less lenient when it comes to GPA (and possibly other indicators). For example, a 3.6 or 3.7 coming from some top tier private university might mean as much, or maybe even more, than a 3.8+ coming from some unknown school. Or, if you have a a 3.9+, but your GREs are very low, they might suspect that the school isn’t very challenging, and that the GPA, as high as it is, doesn’t necessarily signify anything. </p>

<p>So, in short, no, going to Houston doesn’t necessarily jeopardize your chances at getting in to the schools you want, but you will have to really keep your GPA high, and ensure that your letters, GRE, etc. are excellent.</p>

4

<p>“Are you planning on what graduate schools in philosophy you want to apply to before you even start your undergrad??”</p>

<p>Yes, I really like plans and lists, even though I know they don’t always work out (thats where plans b, c, d, etc. come in)</p>

<p>@Both</p>

<p>Thats really good to know and thankyou for your replies.</p>

5

<p>Another thing to note would be the sort of people or facilities you will have access to. If this was the sciences, I’d say look at the labs, but for philosophy I guess you’d look at the professors. Are there any renowned scholars you can learn from that you can’t get elsewhere? You don’t need to be associated with anyone famous to get into a good grad school, but it couldn’t hurt.</p>