undergraduate study

[petitecoeur]

I had a question about whether graduate schools care about where you did you undergraduate study. I didn't see anything in the tags, but perhaps i'm not looking hard enough

Comments

[hkitsune]

Coming from a university that is notorious for grad deflation (Chicago, Harvey Mudd, etc.) is somewhat advantageous, as far as I can tell, while coming from a university that is notorious for grad inflation (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.) can hurt your application. That is, a 3.25 at Chicago looks much better than a 3.25 at Harvard, even though Harvard has a better reputation.

[brittdreams]

Some of the universities you listed as being notorious for grad inflation have policies in place to combat that now, though I have no idea whether they are perceived as being effective and how admissions committees consider them if they are aware of them.
ETA: These universities, AFAIK, send out something noting the anti-grade inflation policies with transcripts.

Also, I would add that my current graduate institution (a large, public university) has an average GPA at graduation around a B+ but I doubt anyone would think about grade inflation here even though it is rampant. (For example, I TA'd an intro level course and the average grade was designed to be a B. Clearly, that's grade inflation since I had always been told that a C is supposed to be average.)

[bananainpyjamas]

while coming from a university that is notorious for grad inflation (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, etc.) can hurt your application.

Do you have any sources for this? I've never heard that going to an elite school can actually hurt an application. To the contrary, the professors I've spoken to say that undergraduate prestige only helps. Sure, a 3.5 from Caltech will (and should) be given more weight than a 3.5 from Harvard, but to suggest that a degree from Harvard (or Yale, Princeton, etc) is an actual drawback in the admissions process is ludicrous.

[hkitsune]

I know a couple of people who have applied to graduate school from Harvard with 3.5s and have been told that their GPA looks suspiciously low. This is in contrast to people I know at UChicago with 3.5s who impress people with their GPAs. I don't have any statistics, it's purely anecdotal because that's how I roll.

[fullofpink]

There are really popular rumors about Harvard. Most professors are more concerned with their own research rather than teaching so they do the minimum in classes and also tend to hand out As in order to boost their evaluations/course requirements/whatever.

[intextrovert]

My friend is taking some math classes at Yale, and got a 60-something on the first test. She went to talk to the prof about dropping because she was concerned about failing. The prof was like "oh, we don't give below B's unless there are serious extenuating circumstances." My friend asked why and the prof said (rolling her eyes), "Because if you're good enough to get into Yale, you don't get below B's." So apparently, the test was "curved" up to the B range. My friend was pretty indignant, even thought it helped her. We went to a top college, too, but that would just NOT fly. So the prof didn't even think it's legit, but the grade inflation is institutionalized! The sense of entitlement is ridiculous. When you go to a school, you ought to be judged on that school's standards, not compared to some hypothetical students all over the country