Pedigree?

[captint1227]

I will only be a Junior next semester (fall 2012) in my undergraduate program. I was looking at this forum and it seems everyone involved with this forum are focused on the top schools and maybe have some fall backs schools. I go to an extremely small school, with very little recognition and I know I don't have the best grades. Therefore i will only be applying to a couple upper level schools as best case scenarios. Will this forum be any help for a guy like me that is focusing on lesser quality programs? I dont care about getting the best degrees and the best jobs. I just want to be able to work in the area that love and hopefully do some significant research if I'm lucky. Also I appreciate any suggestions of schools that can help with funding a lower income student. Im looking at programs like Florida State and the University of Florida because im a resident. Other possible schools that look a little more in my range are University of Kentucky, University of Memphis, University of Tennessee, and other Southern schools just because I would like to stay in the same region of the country as my family. Any Advice would be much appreciated.

Ps my main question is will this forum be any help to a guy like me?

[Another Sisyphus]

There's no reason to feel hopeless. First, I'm wondering how bad your grades could really be. With two years of undergrad remaining, that's a lot of potential to work with. I had only a decent gpa when I graduated, and when I told my closest adviser what programs I was applying to he suggested more top-tier programs because there's no point in the risk of selling oneself short. However, those applications will have higher fees.

To get a feel for how much pedigree matters, just check out current grad students of whatever departments interest you. Many of them list where they got their BAs. You could probably find students that graduated from schools similar to the size of yours. I've seen grad students with BAs from nowhere. And as far as pedigree after the PhD, there are professors who PhD'd in programs lower than the top 50 that now profess in top 20 and top 10 schools.

Also, I can understand if you don't "care about getting the best degrees and the best jobs," but this is a highly competitive field, so any advantage might make a difference. Teaching at a community college may be something for you to consider. Some people do that with only an MA, or so I hear.