Obsessively weighing my chances

[dherres]

Is anyone else constantly mentally reviewing their GPAs/GREs/other qualifications as compared to those of accepted students for their top programs? I'm lucky(?) enough to be in a field that provides me with quick access to such information (I/O psych -- the APA's website offers a concise summary for every school with this program. Plus there's a convenient book out there [APA Graduate Study in Psych] that's published yearly with all sorts of info on funding, minimum/average scores, post-graduation opportunities, etc., for all psych programs). It's driving me crazy that I do this, over and over and over......

Along those lines, does anyone know how much the name of the undergraduate institution might affect one's chances for acceptance? Obviously, what really matters are things like research experience, recommendations, etc., but would coming from a VERY well-respected top-tier school sway the faculty's decision about a student's acceptance? I like to think that it would, but really, what do I know.....?

I don't want to wait for another month.

[ewurgler]

I hope undergrads matter. Mine is pretty good.

[t_ruth]

I wish I could! and I totally would be, but my field doesn't really have that info readily available.

[Tritonetelephone]

As someone that comes from a really crappy UG, I hope that they help you if they're good but don't hurt you too much if they're bad. My UG is cheap, close to home, and a VERY good music school (which was my first major). But everything else is not exactly top-notch. It doesn't seem fair to me that I would be expected to know that I would eventually want a PhD in Sociology when I was picking out music schools my senior year of high school.

What I've gathered from my profs is that UG prestige is most relevant to "weigh" your GPA - a low-ranked UG means your classes were probably much easier. That may be fair, so I was advised to take the most difficult class possible (doc stats) to combat it before applying. (And do well on the GRE of course.) We'll see if it worked. :|

[Tonights]

I'm from a top-100 UG department. So not too, too awesome. But I also always took the most difficult classes available, including ones that were composed of primarily graduate students. Hopefully that'll go in my favor.

[ewurgler]

I think the biggest advantage I have seen from going to a pretty well respected research undergrad is the ability to develop relationships with and get LORs from the hot shot professors all adcoms will know.

But, it does suck that we were really not allowed to take graduate courses. You had to petition, but virtually all grad classes had undergrad equivalents in terms of subject matter, so it wasn't usually granted. They didn't want lowly undergrads dumbing down the PhD seminars, as there are no terminal master programs for the most part. I think that is a big advantage for those who went to liberal arts schools. For those who were able to take grad courses in the social sciences, was there significant difference in terms of assigned reading? Or just tougher grading of papers and higher levels of discussion and expectations of comprehension?

[Tonights]

There was a significantly higher amount of reading material - I'd say two to three times as much. Instead of being a textbook or a couple of books, it would usually be pdfs of journal articles. Instead of essay exams, we'd have term papers. Classes would be in the roundtable seminar style instead of lecture. Sometimes the students would take turns facilitating discussion, with professor assistance. Class size would be under ten as opposed to ~30. Gosh, I loved my grad classes. Now I feel even more anxiety about getting in, I want to get back to that atmosphere so much.

[ewurgler]

Oh god, your usual undergrad courses were ~30! I am so jealous. Other than senior seminars, I had around 70 to 100 in a class.

But, I usually had mostly journal articles in my undergrad courses--how many pages per week in the grad courses? Sorry for all of questions, I am curious

[readyforachange]

Oh god, your usual undergrad courses were ~30! I am so jealous. Other than senior seminars, I had around 70 to 100 in a class.

But, I usually had mostly journal articles in my undergrad courses--how many pages per week in the grad courses? Sorry for all of questions, I am curious

Pages per week in each course varies depending on what you were taking - I had some quantitative courses with little or no reading (perhaps 30-100 pages a week) to seminars averaging 150-200 pages, to others with 300+. My feminist pedagogy class now has a book a week, of 275-450 pages.

Don't be surprised that not everyone completes every single reading in its entirety - sometimes it's just too much with everything else going on!

[ewurgler]

Ok--thats about what I am used to.

[synthla]

Oh god, your usual undergrad courses were ~30! I am so jealous. Other than senior seminars, I had around 70 to 100 in a class.

I went to one of those small liberal arts schools; I don't think I ever had a class with even 30 students - lower division classes averaged 20-25; upper division, more like 8-10. I loved the one-on-one interaction with my professors, but of course there were no graduate programs from which to take classes. I think the mpact on my graduate school applications is probably a toss-up. None of my LoR writers are probably going to be regarded as the hot-shots in my field, but I got the chance to know them all very well, which will hopefully come through in their letters.

[fenderpete]

Wow... this talk of small classes is really making me hungry to study in the US! My undergrad cohort was 250, with average lectures at about 80-100 and seminars usually no smaller than 15-20... You guys really have it good

[limeinthecoconut]

Hmm.. My grad class usually has less than 10 people, and we do about one book a week.

[socialpsych]

My undergrad cohort was 250, with average lectures at about 80-100 and seminars usually no smaller than 15-20... You guys really have it good

My cohort is way bigger but classes are about the same size as what you said above. I go to a "medium-sized" school. So most people in the US do not have it that good!