Jump to content

Menu

"Feeder schools" for top PhD programs, top professional schools, and certain industries


Hoggirl
 Share

Recommended Posts

I saw this over on CC and thought I would share since there is always an ongoing debate about whether or not the prestige of an undergraduate instituiton makes a difference. The data are only for top programs - not gaining admission to "a" program.

 

I apologize as I didn't study the methodology very well - it's somehow connected to LinkedIn, so I can't assess the validity of the assertions. I was taking a quick break from packing for our move when I saw it. I should be packing now!

 

https://www.collegetransitions.com/blog/category/infographics/

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting. I hadn't even heard of some of those schools. Now if only I could remember to find this in, uh, 7+ years (oldest was just talking about getting a degree in math, maybe a PhD... of course, what with him being in 4th grade, he's got plenty of time to change his mind a million times). 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you! That's a very interesting analysis - very heavy on the small LACs.

 

That could be read either positively, negatively (students cannot get good jobs straight out of undergrad so they have to spin the roulette wheel and hope they'll land an academic job post-PhD.), or in between.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've seen that data before, and I think it's a little bit misleading, in the sense that the rankings are based on the percentage of graduates (per capita) who go on to get PhDs. So that is obviously going to favor small schools that attract highly motivated, high stats students. Most of these small, highly ranked LACs do not have much in the way of sports programs or Greek life or much of a party culture, and they are often not that generous with merit aid (I know that's definitely true for Reed, which tops the rankings list). So the kids that end up there tend to be very academically-oriented and reasonably well-to-do — a self-selected group of the students who are most likely to pursue grad school. 

 

Also, this is actually something I looked into in terms of linguistics — I looked at the staff profiles for linguistics departments in lots of different universities, looking for CVs that listed both undergrad and grad schools. There were actually far more large uni's listed for undergrad degrees, compared to small LACs. So while the top LACs may have a higher percentage of their undergrads go on to grad school, those students do not make up the majority of grad students.

I think for students who know they ultimately want to pursue a PhD, the small highly ranked LACs are a great choice — assuming the student can get in and can afford it. But I also don't think that a student who ends up at a larger university is necessarily handicapped in terms of grad school admissions. The biggest factor is going to be finding mentors and establishing research interests; that may be easier to accomplish as a big fish in a small pond, but students can do it in big ponds, too.

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you! That's a very interesting analysis - very heavy on the small LACs.

I attended a small LAC, though not a prestigious one. When I graduated, the statistic was something like 68% of students pursued graduate school work at some point. I do think it's largely because of the types of degrees offered. Another component is the type of student there. Someone else mentioned that students at small LACs are self-selective because of the academic environment (though, notwithstanding the lack of Greek life, there were still plenty of parties). Even though I got a good job right out of school, I went back to law school five years later. We also had a large group that attended med school.

Edited by Hoggirl
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to Claremont McKenna because, per capita, at the time, we were the top law school feeder school in the nation. 25% of our grads. I know that our reputation in that regard certainly helped my applications. We seem to be #3 now, but the number one producer of CEOs per capita.

 

And we certainly had no shortage of job offers coming out of undergrad. Job placement was a real strength, and, as opposed to my large uni counterparts, was not dependent on major. I majored in Russian and PPE (poltics, philosophy, and economics) and had job offers from the major consulting and ibanking firms. Many of these firms only wanted certain majors at UCLA, but would take any major at CMC.

 

Eta: we also had a notorious party culture on campus, mostly because the school didn't much care about IDing people at events.

Edited by SeaConquest
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...