How Do I Choose an Undergraduate School, if my Longterm Goal is Grad School?

By Janice Newton

Should I do my undergrad degree at a prestigious school, where I fear I might not get the best GPA, or at a less prestigious school where I feel I might get higher grades?

Applications to graduate school depend on grades and letters of reference. If you choose a large, prestigious school where you have little contact with professors, you may not be able to get good reference letters. Find out about class sizes and whether the "big names" in the department are actually teaching undergraduate courses. It may be wiser to choose a smaller school where you know you will have lots of contact with professors, who in turn can write good reference letters. Of course, in the end you also have to excel in your program....

Janice Newton, Department of Political Science, York University, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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Rayyan wrote:	I am currently studying under the British system of A-Levels and am applying to a canadian university. I am interested in the Biomedical which requires A-Level Mathematics but I have taken AS Mathematics. However to enter Health Studies only A-level Posted on Oct 05, 2011 at 11:55

milanicovich wrote:	I would choose the larger school because a lot of times the larger schools have graduate schools( and there are loads of benefits that go with that). Besides, there's always a litle thing called asking questions if you want contact with the prof. Posted on Jan 19, 2011 at 04:03

JRT wrote:	I would choose the presitigous school over the smaller school that'll give you "higher grades". Going to the smaller school because you have grad school in mind is just taking the supposedly "easy" way. Trust in yourself and your abilities. Posted on Jan 03, 2011 at 08:56

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