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@Carleto
0 answers, 7 votes
 • 3 years ago •
Admissions Advice

Where should apply
Answered

Is it always good to aim for top schools even though some may not be good for my major?

Admission
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Accepted Answer
@CC0TV
11 answers, 8 votes
 • 3 years ago

That's what I used to think, but names don't matter if the school does not care about your major. For example, lets say that Harvard realy does not care about economics, and it's ranked 80th in economics; however, ranked 1st internationaly. It would be a poor choice to study economics there even though the school as a whole is highly ranked. Hope it was helpful.👌🏾

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@CameronBameron3 years ago

Since Harvard is #1 in economics I don't understand this argument. Harvard is #1 in hiring and reputational clout and a Harvard degree always looks good if you are applying to grad school to specialize in professional degrees like Law, Medicine, Architecture, Govt, Public Policy, etc. Why would you say a school would be 80th but 1st internationally, that never happens anyway.

@CameronBameron3 years ago

Harvard doesn't have for example an undergraduate Business or Architecture degree but that doesn't mean that studying economics or art history or math is a bad idea even if you ultimately want to get the Best MBA or Best MArch degree. If you graduate from Harvard, you would have some advantage over other applicants if you applied to the best Architecture or MBA programs in the country.

@CameronBameron3 years ago

You could make the argument that attending Wharton undergrad for Business or Cornell undergrad for Architecture would be the logical better choice but I think professionals might disagree and argue that having a Stanford or Harvard or Columbia MBA is worth more than a Wharton undergrad degree and that having a Yale, Harvard, Columbia, UCBerkeley, UPenn Masters in Architecture is worth more than a Cornell undergrad arch. degree.

@CC0TV3 years ago

I actually know that Harvard is ranked 1st in economics. I was giving a hypothetical example of some students who only apply to top schools just because of their names. Some top schools are not masters at some fields of study. That's why I'm making the argument that you should apply to the best colleges at your major, but not the best colleges overall, especially if your major is considered weak or ✌️not that good✌️ at those top schools. Hope you got what I was trying to say👍

5
@CameronBameron
2,281 answers, 8,531 votes
 • 3 years ago

The best advice I received was to pick colleges where you feel you fit in and that you like. Pick schools that you see yourself thriving at not struggling to keep up. I never understand why everyone wants to go to an Elite or Ivy when they are extremely difficult places to thrive at unless you have spent most of your high school taking advanced classes, college-level courses, have near-perfect grades, and know-how to manage your time to the hour. It's like they all want to say they got into Stanford or Yale, but in actuality, getting in is the easy part, keeping up an A average to get into a good grad school is very hard. You should pick a school that is suited to your ability regardless of major.

Then pick a school that also offers the major you are interested in. So if you are looking at Top 50 schools, pick the schools you want to attend and see if your major is offered.

But a mistake would be to pick a top school for clout or bragging rights, not get in, and then settle for a safe school that you're not interested in. Every school on your list should be a happy place for you.

Good luck

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