Undergraduate Univerity and Graduate school

[K Ryan]

Hello, I am applying to 9 graduate schools, 3 MA programs and 6 PhD programs, for early American including several top schools. My question is how important your undergraduate institution is for the application process.

I attended a California State University that is far from prestigious and I'm concerned that graduate programs might disregard my application simply on this basis.

Other than that my application is very solid 3.96 GPA, 620V, 660Q, 5.5, and a really good writing sample.

Thank You for any feedback

Edited January 11, 2011 by K Ryan

[sankd]

If you don't mind me asking, where did you apply?

I graduated from a less-than-stellar undergraduate program myself. Eventually, I went on to get an MA first. I don't really think people are going to disregard your application simply because of the reputation of your undergraduate institution. If that were the case, I would have no chance now or before.

[K Ryan]

I applied to:

Penn.

Princeton

NYU

UVA

William and Mary

NorthWestern

UBC

Oregon U

U Michigan

[sankd]

That is a pretty heavy list. What kind of LoRs did you have? What was the writing sample?

I guess in the end, no matter what happens this cycle do not feel burdened by the name of your undergraduate institution. If things work out or don't work out, there are a host of other explanations for this. You will get past the Graduate School's cutoff, at the very least.

Doing an MA is a good medium ground too, especially if you can get funding.

[rsldonk]

You scores look good, but it depends on how each school evaluates things since each one puts emphasis on different things. Some schools, your undergrad school will make a big difference, others, not so much. I went to the local university, not the greatest place for my undergrad because after I got out of the army, I wanted to come home and I had a wife and kid and was older than most other incoming freshmen. I was able to get into a good MA program (at a place that only offers a terminal MA) and am now hoping to get into a good doctorate program. The nice thing with my route is that with my G.I. Bill money and the fellowship I got with the MA program, I have no student debt. Your work should speak (my opinion here) louder than where you went to school. Just because someone went to Harvard does not guarantee they are a good historian. In fact, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, last year's AHA president who teaches at Harvard, got her BA at the University of Utah and her doctorate at New Hampshire. With the admissions process, there are way too many things that are beyond your control that will impact whether you are accepted or not more than where you got your undergrad degree. There is plenty of things to stress about with this process, but it doesn't help to stress about stuff you can't control.

[barricades]

I do think that school name plays a role, but not as important as a role as what you are able to accomplish and develop with the resources available to you at your undergraduate institution. That's where the letters, sop, writing sample and, to a certain extent, CV, come in. Numerous factors play a role in deciding where you attend your undergraduate career (finances, maturity, chance, family, etc) and I think committees are aware of that and don't pigeonhole an applicant's capacity based on their undergraduate institution. Of course, some undergraduate programs are more rigorous and structured than others, but as a student you do have some degree of autonomy to make your education as rigorous as you want. At my school, for example, a history major could coast through the program easily. There were tons of those. But there were those who used the resources made available to them by the university, who didn't an easy load filled with lower-level classes, who took the extra time to apply for undergraduate grants, who wrote a thesis (not required). I think committees are aware that just because you graduated from a less than prestigious school doesn't mean that you're not "Ivy League" or whatever else material. And the other way around, too. Just because you graduated from Yale doesn't mean you will do well in graduate school.

[meh123]

if you dont mind me asking what Cal State did you attend? Not all of the Cal States have as bad as reputations as you think.

[natsteel]

Your Princeton application may be a bit misplaced... I'm also in early American and when I contacted professors in the department they told me that Princeton was no place for an early Americanist seeing as how the department doesn't even have a dedicated one on the faculty.

I also worried about the reputation of my undergraduate school, but all of my mentors told me that it would not play much of a factor at all.

Did you or your advisor(s) make contact with prospective advisors in any of these departments?

[K Ryan]

Your Princeton application may be a bit misplaced... I'm also in early American and when I contacted professors in the department they told me that Princeton was no place for an early Americanist seeing as how the department doesn't even have a dedicated one on the faculty.

I also worried about the reputation of my undergraduate school, but all of my mentors told me that it would not play much of a factor at all.

Did you or your advisor(s) make contact with prospective advisors in any of these departments?

I was hoping to work with Dr.Barbara Oberg at Princeton, but to be honest I didn't check to see how involved, if at all, she is with grad students. I did a lot of Jefferson specific research and that's her area.

Edited January 17, 2011 by K Ryan

[rsldonk]

I was hoping to work with Dr.Barbara Oberg at Princeton, but to be honest I didn't check to see how involved, if at all, she is with grad students. I did a lot of Jefferson specific research and that's her area.

I would send her an email and find out. Probably would have been a good idea before you ever sent in your application, it may have saved you whatever Princeton's application fee is.

[natsteel]

I was hoping to work with Dr.Barbara Oberg at Princeton, but to be honest I didn't check to see how involved, if at all, she is with grad students. I did a lot of Jefferson specific research and that's her area.

She is the editor of the Jefferson Papers project at Princeton, but I'm not sure how involved she is in teaching and mentoring graduate students. Did you mention other professors like Wilentz or Rodgers, at least, in your SOP. Even still, it was Rodgers who told me that Princeton was not the place for serious early Americanists right now because of lack of faculty in the field.

The place for Jefferson research is, obviously, Virginia but, even there, the early American faculty is in a bit of transition. Did you contact potential advisors at any of the other programs you listed? I was in contact with professors at 5 of the 9 departments you're applying to, so if you want more info on them, just PM me.

Edited January 17, 2011 by natsteel