Has nothing to do with SOPs or GREs

[eastertheatre]

So....now for something different! Do you think that getting your MA from an "okay" public university would hurt your chances of getting into an PhD program at an "awesome" university?  I don't mean Harvard awesome, but more like Indiana awesome. If you have a great MA thesis and are otherwise impressive, does the lack of prestige of your MA school

Comments

[daddysambiguity]

I am in an MA program at a lesser known school and we've had folks get into UC Santa Barbara, University of Michican, UMass, etc. And they are all pretty good in my field - UMich being in the top several.

[eastertheatre]

Excellent -- thank you!

[gangur]

I think that it really depends on the department.

For example, a number of "okay" public schools that I know of happens to have one of the top programs in my field. A few "awesome" public schools in the same state have okay but not great programs.

But I know that at my top program, a lot of the incoming students have MAs from other top programs and were just looking for a change in advisor or whatever and plenty of them have MAs from "okay" programs too. I think that the ones from "okay" programs generally had very good GREs. The ones that are swapping from top programs have an easier time, as I understand it.

[eastertheatre]

This is good to know -- thank you!

[pdxdrums]

From what I understand if you use your MA program to actively engage in research, publish a paper or two, present at some conferences, etc. the prestige of your program will not matter. It's all about the quality of your work and how your research interests fit into the PhD program in question.

[eastertheatre]

I'm starting to see the picture here -- I just have to be really active in my own right, and that is what will get me in. Thank you!

[coaldustcanary]

I got an Masters at a regional state university that is often politely referred to as "third tier" (though I worked with some very well-respected scholars there) and I...am at Indiana working on my PhD now. :) (Though I was surprised by my acceptance, I was told that I shouldn't have been. What you do is way more important than where you do it.)

[eastertheatre]

That is good to hear! Thank you :)

[americanxtragic]

I asked my undergrad thesis adviser this very same question, but more so geared towards whether or not jobs are available to people who went to lower tier MA and PhD programs. He explained that the most important thing is your publishing/conference record. A fancy name will make it easier to get your foot in the door, but having a CV full of publications and/or conferences is a much clearer indication that you are up for the work of a prestigious PhD program, or a tenure track job. Regardless of whether you get accepted to a great program or not, I'd say it's in your best interest to submit as many papers as possible to journals that deal with your field of study.

[eastertheatre]

Good advice -- thank you!