Students who attended lower-ranked universities for their undergraduate degree might think they have a smaller chance of getting accepted into their desired graduate school program.
However, experts say graduate schools don’t always choose students who attended a higher-ranked or elite college over others. Graduate programs want to see well-rounded students who are impressive scholars in their field.
Do Grad School Applicants From Top Colleges Have an Edge?
While undergraduate alumni of an institution with graduate school programs may have an advantage, students from higher-ranked undergrad institutions aren’t automatically granted admission, says Rachel Blankstein, co-founder of Spark Admissions in Massachusetts.
“All things being equal, if you were having a student — let’s say from a school that was ranked No. 100 — and they had the exact same grades and scores and resume to a kid from a school ranked No. 2, for example, it is true that the school might be more interested in that student from the school ranked No. 2. But, that’s only if all of the other variables were the same at the time,” Blankstein says.
Students should gain as much experience as possible in their field during undergrad, regardless of how elite their college was, if they want to be considered a competitive candidate.
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High-ranking colleges tend to offer students lots of outside-the-classroom opportunities to gain experience, for instance through publishing undergraduate research, conferences and faculty mentorship. However, students can find similar experiences at lower-tier or smaller universities, says Kristen Willmott, senior private counselor and graduate school admissions director at Top Tier Admissions, based in Massachusetts and Vermont.
“I think that just because you landed at Harvard or Yale or Princeton for college doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a shoo-in for graduate school at a university that’s on par with that or even a slightly lower-tier university,” Willmott says. “We do sometimes see students where they work their tails off in high school and they landed at a top college, but when they were there they attended class and that’s about it.”
Sadia Khan, director of admissions at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, which is a California-based graduate school of Middlebury College in Vermont, says the admissions team looks for students who have a high GPA and a strong academic background.
“It doesn’t really matter where you went to for the undergraduate institution,” Khan says. “However, if your GPA is not ideal, then we do also look at, was this a really competitive college? Was this a really competitive major? Was this a more tough major? Was it a STEM major? If they’re coming into one of our STEM programs, then we look at specific courses.”
For some students, a graduate school program that is prestigious or has a high acceptance rate might not be the best choice for their career goals, Willmott says.
“We want students to land at universities that are the best possible fit for them, that jive with what they’re seeking when it comes to their academic niche, their scholarly pursuits, their research interests, their community experiences that they want to have on campus, and their geographic location preferences,” Willmott says.
How to Be a Strong Graduate School Candidate
Graduate school admissions officers consider multiple factors when looking for standout candidates, including grade point average, standardized test scores and a resume of experiences related to the field a student wants to enter.
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Blankstein says all graduate programs have some form of a personal statement in the application, where students should explain why they want to apply, what they will do after their degree and their qualifications.
For example, the personal essay questions in the fall 2023 MBA application for Harvard Business School in Massachusetts ask prospective students to write about their experiences and what more the selection committee should know about them.
Similarly, the Master of Science in Integrated Marketing program application for Northwestern University in Illinois asks students to answer several questions, including about their personal identity and career path.
“They’re really looking at the whole profile. And they really need you to have the grades and the scores and the resume, and that your essays and interviews are also exactly … at the level that they’re hoping to get,” Blankstein says.
Advice for Graduate School Applicants Who Attended Less Competitive Colleges
Nellie Gaynor, MBA and grad admissions counselor for the admissions consulting firm IvyWise, says students who attended public and larger research universities should use their time at the institution to their advantage.
She says it is appealing to a graduate school if a student can think critically and be independent at a large university.
“I think that speaks volumes to who you are as an individual as well, right? Because you are able to navigate these unknowns and find your path and figure out what is going to be most interesting to you, what do you want to get involved in,” Gaynor says.
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Students who want to attend their dream graduate program should also have a clear vision of their end goal.
“What’s so important that I think people don’t realize enough is how much planning goes into these processes,” Blankstein says. “For many of them, it takes a few years to get the requirements done, whether if there’s course requirements, to study for whatever standardized test is required, to build the resume. And so thinking about it over time and planning is so incredibly important.”
Perspective From Current and Former Grad Admissions Officers
While crafting a strong application for graduate school is important, building connections at the university a student wishes to attend is also key to success, says Willmott, who is a former admissions and financial aid officer for Harvard University.
Willmott says she coaches her students to reach out to one to three faculty members at their targeted graduate programs.
“Those are unique ways that you can stand out above other applicants, by becoming known by the faculty where you’d hope, ‘OK, this person could be my advisor. How can I make a name for myself before the application even hits the admissions read table at the university?'” says Willmott.
Admissions officers also look for students who understand the program they applied for and how it would fit in with their long-term career goals, Khan says.
“It’s a big investment in time and money, and we want to make sure that they are able to get the kind of return that they’re expecting in terms of not just the education but also in terms of their career,” Khan says.
Gaynor, a former associate director of admissions for the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, says aside from what kind of college a student attended, all graduate schools look for students who took advantage of opportunities in their field, which could be completing internships, studying abroad, taking on leadership opportunities or conducting research in a lab.
“All of that is going to help you, essentially, to land a good job post your graduate school experience, which will then play into this factor of making you a strong graduate school application,” Gaynor says.
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