Which alma mater are you most proud of, undergrad or grad?

[smg]

school of hard knocks

[The_Space_Cowboy]

I am most fond of my undergraduate institution. I can't compare too much, but I am currently a post-bacc student at another institution and it made me realize how wonderful my time at my undergraduate institution was. Although it was a state school "in the middle of nowhere in the upper midwest", I was able to form close relationships with professors who really went above and beyond for me. I was given research, teaching assistantships, and internships that I don't think would have been possible had I been at another institution. I had never been a person to like being involved before college, but I completely changed that in my undergrad. I give all the credit to my professors at this college for helping me find my true calling as well. 

 

With that said, I now attend a state school in a more semi-metro area and I don't care for it. The professors and students seem less personable. I am in a competitive major/program but the hostile "I am smarter than you" type mentality that is very prevalent at this school gets old. People at my other institution were competitive but this is something else. I am applying to my master's program at this program because I can save $$$ but it doesn't compare to my undergrad.

Central Michigan???

[FoggyAnhinga]

Definitely my undergrad - I was involved in a few clubs, sometimes participated in the whole college party thing (though I certainly didn't go to as many parties as other friends did), volunteered around the community, played in the university orchestra, and also attended several football games every year (student section too). I also worked with the student government which was a fun experience. As far as the academics go, classes were certainly more tough in undergrad than grad since I was often enrolling in a maximum number of units per semester (it was a poor attempt to graduate a semester earlier - I'm glad I stuck through all 8 semesters) and the undergrad courses were far more competitive. While I had some difficulty adjusting to my undergrad school for the first two years of my life, everything came together during the latter half, and my life and everything I achieved during those last two years is simply priceless. 

[InHacSpeVivo]

Definitely my ug/first master's (same school). I've had an incredibly positive experience with my current program, but it's a regional state school so there's not the same pride older and/or bigger name schools get.

That being said, sports weren't a super huge thing at my first alma mater, so depending on where (if) I get in for a PhD that could change; I have several big ten, sec, etc. on my list. Though, I expect then it would probably be a "same but in different ways" scenario.

BTW, <3 smg's avatar.

[Catria]

You would have asked me during my first two months in Minnesota, I would have said my PhD institution without hesitation.

Whether it will end up being that way in the long run, of course, will depend on 1) if I ever return from my leave of absence and 2) the research I will get out of my degree if I returned.

But I know the departmental receptionist once said that she knew few, if any, people who would feel more strongly for their graduate institution (or any of their graduate institutions if there are more than one) than for their undergraduate institutions - and every single of these people she suspected that would be the case held jobs that required an advanced degree to hold, and maybe even require a specific advanced degree to hold.

[TakeruK]

I have thought about this a lot too. I used to say, unequivocally, that the answer would be my undergrad school. But now, after many years in grad school and being more removed from undergrad, my answer has changed.

My answer is now: depends on context. I feel like, with regards to higher education, I have two identities. My first identity is my personal identity. I associate things like learning how to learn, discovering my interests, growing into an adult, and developing into the person that I am. So, in this sense, I feel strongly connected to my undergrad institution. I feel like this school was where I became the person I am! Also, I feel this school is the best fit for me in the sense that the "culture" and values of this school matches my own well (not surprising since I was attending this school when I developed a lot of these values). When I think of myself as a person, I think of myself as a representative of this school's alumni. So, I don't think I can separate my personal identity from my school. In fact, I'm wearing a sweater with my undergrad school name on it right now, as I am typing this!

My second identity is my professional identity---who I am as a researcher. I associate things like learning how to become a professional in my field, developing my research interests and building the foundation for my career with my (current) graduate school. My experiences at PhD school will forever be a part of me as a professional, whether I stay in academia or not. I do not think the culture of my graduate school is a good fit for what I personally value in life but that's okay, I'm just here to develop professionally, not personally. When I think of myself as a scientist, I think of myself as representing what a "SchoolName"-trained researcher is. 

I don't know if that makes sense? I do feel strong connections with both BSc and PhD schools, but for really different reasons!

[CBclone]

I'm only in the first semester of a 2-year Masters program, but right now it is without a doubt my undergrad institution. My grad school is directly preparing me for my career (I took a few years to work out of undergrad, found what I love, in grad school for that) and has one of the best programs in my field. But I don't really feel "connected" to it like I did my undergrad school. My cohort isn't very close and there's not much of a sense of community among the grad students in my experience so far. I can't really peg why it is; it just seems different. Maybe it's size: My grad school is about 7000 with a little over 6200 undergrad and little less than 700 grad students. My undergrad school (current stats): about 30k undergrad and 5500 grad. The limited on-campus events for grad students that have been held have had awful attendance, maybe because so many commute from other areas. 

I'd rather spend my Saturdays watching my alma mater play football or basketball on TV than walk a mile down the street and watch my grad school's team play. I do sometimes wish I'd attended one of the bigger schools in my field that have the big population, crazy athletics scene, tons of activities for grad students, more metropolitan areas, but at the end of the day my program is phenomenal and that's what really matters right now. 

[Eigen]

4 hours ago, TakeruK said:

I have thought about this a lot too. I used to say, unequivocally, that the answer would be my undergrad school. But now, after many years in grad school and being more removed from undergrad, my answer has changed.

My answer is now: depends on context. I feel like, with regards to higher education, I have two identities. My first identity is my personal identity. I associate things like learning how to learn, discovering my interests, growing into an adult, and developing into the person that I am. So, in this sense, I feel strongly connected to my undergrad institution. I feel like this school was where I became the person I am! Also, I feel this school is the best fit for me in the sense that the "culture" and values of this school matches my own well (not surprising since I was attending this school when I developed a lot of these values). When I think of myself as a person, I think of myself as a representative of this school's alumni. So, I don't think I can separate my personal identity from my school. In fact, I'm wearing a sweater with my undergrad school name on it right now, as I am typing this!

My second identity is my professional identity---who I am as a researcher. I associate things like learning how to become a professional in my field, developing my research interests and building the foundation for my career with my (current) graduate school. My experiences at PhD school will forever be a part of me as a professional, whether I stay in academia or not. I do not think the culture of my graduate school is a good fit for what I personally value in life but that's okay, I'm just here to develop professionally, not personally. When I think of myself as a scientist, I think of myself as representing what a "SchoolName"-trained researcher is. 

I don't know if that makes sense? I do feel strong connections with both BSc and PhD schools, but for really different reasons!

I find this really interesting, because I really don't think I couple my identity, personally or professionally, to my schooling almost at all. 

My professional identity is as a researcher in my field, with a body of work and collaborators and connections, and while I'm sure my school name helps to some degree, I've never been in professional circles that talk about *where* they went to school- everyone talks about who they worked with, or else was working somewhere they same time they were. And since a lot of well known researchers have also moved, no one is really interested if you worked with them at school A or school B, but rather that you worked with *them*. 

Maybe I'm just odd, but I've never really been able to get into the school spirit either as an undergrad or grad. 

[TakeruK]

When we meet new people in my field at conferences or other work stuff, the first questions are usually what's your name? where do you work? and what do you study? When we refer to colleagues we say "Oh, it's Jane from Ohio State, or Billy from WashU" etc. And institution is important for the observational part of my field because universities sign up and support different (competing) telescopes, so I know that if you are from U Arizona, it's likely you can apply to a certain suite of telescopes in Chile, and if you are from a University of California school, it means you have access to some in Hawaii. Also, my (sub)-field is small enough that if you find out someone is from School X, you might know someone else who is currently there and then you have a mutual friend! 

But I also feel a connection to my current school because I changed tracks with my research so all of my research that I am a part of now is from this school. Almost everyone in my subfield knows me as "TakeruK doing research X with Prof Y and School Z". 

I guess it's more like identifying with my specific department at my school, not just my school in general. For example, I wouldn't cheer for my grad school's sport teams or feel happy if they won or anything like that!

[Oshawott]

The easy answer would be my undergrad institution--its ranked as one of the best nationally and globally, however as an undergrad I didn't really achieve much. My pride for that school would be tied to the school's reputation.

I have just started my graduate degree, and I hope that I will be able to be proud of it--not because of my school's reputation but because of what I've achieved.

Edited December 7, 2015 by Oshawott

[L08]

Undergrad. I went to a women's college. It was an incredibly formative experience in a feminist environment, which I've grown to appreciate even more -- and missed dearly -- as a grad student at an Ivy.

Edited February 5, 2016 by L08

[MarineBluePsy]

On 12/2/2014 at 10:21 PM, shadowclaw said:

 

You know, I can understand really believing what your religion tells you and sticking to it (even though the Bible doesn't actually say anything about how old the earth is... some guy thought this stuff up sometime in the 20th century I think). What I don't get is where this idea about the earth replenishing its resources came from. It was a new concept to me, and to be honest, I really don't see the logic, even if the earth really was 6,000 years old.

 

Now I'm no science whiz nor am I saying whatever science involved in what I'm about to say is correct or that anyone should have this mindset.  I think the people who stand firm on this belief may be looking at things very simply, especially when you consider that we live in the parts of earth that are considered livable.  In that sense what they see is that dryness leads to rain, fire/earthquake/tornado lets to regrowth, etc.  So maybe to them the earth is like the human body in the sense that in certain circumstances it can heal itself.

[juilletmercredi]

^I think it's partially that, and partially just that quite religious people in monotheistic religions tend to have the firm belief that God will provide. It's a core tenet of Christian faith and I think of Islamic and Jewish faith, too. The idea is that God created the world and God created us, so God will always provide everything that we need and we don't have to worry about things running out (on a global scale).

I grew up in a conservative Christian religious household and I remember having a conversation with my mother about overpopulation. I remember her saying something like "God would never let the world become overpopulated. He created it for us to live on and he'd make sure we all have enough room." That was literally her answer to the problem - it was something she didn't feel like we should worry about (as humanity) because God would take care of it. (No explanation of the physical mechanisms of how, though.) I've had similar experiences with other conservative Christians.

And, if you don't have a strong science background, you do know that other resources are renewable (like wood and water) and you may only have a vague recollection of where oil and gas come from from ninth grade earth science. It comes from the earth and the earth grows stuff, right?

[emmm]

Undergrad -- but grad is catching up. I am a non-traditional student, so I am grateful to my grad institution for "taking a chance" on me. And it didn't completely work out, but while here I've discovered what I think is the real "fit." And I've been accepted (again) despite being (now  even) old(er). And my new department is one I've taken quite a few courses in already and it's super supportive. I feed extremely fortunate in attending BOTH these schools.

My medical school, however, is a different story. I am not proud of that one because the experience was almost uniformly miserable. 

[Chai_latte]

Maybe this is a cop-out answer, but I'm equally proud of each.  My first school was an intense, top liberal arts college.  I cut my teeth there, had a great experience and made wonderful friends.  My first master's was at a state school with a lot of momentum.  I learned a lot, had a great advisor and became a more confident scientist.  Now, I'm at an Ivy...teaching quality isn't as uniformly good, but I did my homework beforehand and sought out the great profs.  I like my classmates, and this place attracts recruiters from amazing companies.

Very different schools.

I'm proud of them all, but undergrad has my heart.

[emmm]

Addendum:  Too late to update original post

Even though med school was a pretty miserable experience, I have to admit that having the degree HAS been helpful to me, even though I don't practice.

So -- I am grateful for that, and maybe I'll even consider attending a reunion one of these days....

[littlemoondragon]

Doesn't seem to be as many graduate, but I am more proud of my graduate institution than my undergraduate. I know this sounds petty, but going from a very poor public university to a very rich private university has a lot of perks. For instance: professor are not having chalk wars, because the university cut back paying for chalk and printing. Other perks...

• full funding for all (guaranteed funding in some form or another)
• more competent staff on average
• extra resources (e.g. Career services specialized for phd and masters students)
• extra resources for research (There are lots of travel grants, computing clusters, etc.)
• the name draws in high profile speakers and entertainment
• the networking is fantastic - I am not at all worried about finding a job after I graduate.
• lots of support for graduate organizations (i.e. I never imaged I would be working with a budget as large as I am for a graduate organization.)
• etc... because I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of it.