I've been entertaining some silly thoughts of going to a top-notch university. My undergrad GPA is quite dismal but I redeemed myself in grad school and graduated with a GPA that is safely above the GPA requirements of the doctoral programs at many universities. I'm thinking of a PhD in Medieval lit but lately I've been having some really fanciful thoughts of one in philosophy. I'm insane. Or maybe I just don't know myself!

I've never tried getting into grad school, much less a PhD program. I managed to get into Georgia Tech for my undergrad, and I did it with a 1320 SAT and a GPA above 4.0 with the silly weighting business.

I'm a little sour on higher education at the moment, since I have a degree in Mechanical Engineering and have never made over $40k/yr with my degree. When I was overseas, I met a lot of guys who went to work after high school and are now plumbers, welders, fabricators, etc, who make a lot more than that.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

It's extremely difficult.

Why would you want to attend one of them?

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I'm not very serious about going to an Ivy league; I'd be delusional if I were! However, the idea of entering a doctoral program is something I'm seriously considering, but not super serious yet. I still need to do some major introspection and reaccess some things.

Anyhow, I would go to, say, Harvard just for the "bragging rights"! Heck, even being accepted is worth bragging about right thur! Ah, but I doubt they'd accept a riffraff like me!

I think it partly depends on who your graduate professors are, who they know, and whether they'll write convincing recommendation letters.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I have a friend from high school who ended up getting a Doctorate in aerospace engineering, and has a job with a contractor who works with JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

He makes big money. Real big.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

That ain't going to happen with a degree in Medieval Literature or Philosophy.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Get into top-tier school only for terminal degree. If it's an undergrad degree then work your bootie off to get in.

In the long term, if you have an MS (or even better, a PhD from CalTech), nobody's gonna give a ***** where your undergrad (or MA/MS) degree came from.

B

Where you can get in may depend a lot on what subject you're pursuing, you're success in that particular field. I think when you're applying for an undergraduate program they look across the board ... i.e., even if you want to be an English major, the fact that you were meddling in math and science will still hurt you. I think when you go for a PhD they look more specifically at your talent in that area. I could be wrong.

Even if it sounds cool to say "I went to Harvard," keep in mind that a lesser-known university may actually better serve your needs if you're pursuing a certain specialty.

I don't really know what I'm talking about, as I went straight into the workforce after undergrad ... probably a mistake, if for no other reason than I simply wasn't ready to handle the "real world."

FWIW, I went to Bucknell, a very good university that folks often joke is for "Ivy League rejects." I never wanted to go to Ivy League and never tried, but I got right into Bucknell's undergraduate program with 1460 SATs. My high school grads were good but unspectacular. I did much better, grade-wise, once I got to college. I wish I'd gone right ahead and taken the GREs, and churned ahead to grad school right after graduation. It woul dbe very hard to go back now.

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)

Harvard denied me when I applied to go there....

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-Justin

91 560 SEC AMG - other dogs dd
01 Honda S2000 - dogs dd
07 MB ML320 CDI - dd
16 Lexus IS250 - wifes dd

it's automatic.

I never applied.

I beleive the Coast Guard Academy is the hardest school to get into. I will always remember them brushing aside the guy in front of me at the college fair back in HS because he didn't have a 4.0 GPA. You need more then that, but if you don't have a 4.0 they don't even want to know your name.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Botnst - This is an interesting perspective. While not new to me, I have to say that I've always been under the impression that where you get your post-grad degrees is quite significant. You have a point there.

Emmerich - Hehe, I'm always lost. It's really not funny anymore, and I shouldn't laugh about it. I mean I know what I like and where I'd like to go, but my mind doesn't always work that way.

I'm quite aware that my field of study is what many may consider "useless" outside academia. But I don't care about what's profitable or what is highly esteemed. I know that I can study medieval lit on my own, and I'm strongly considering that, and in fact I am doing that now. I guess the PhD thing is more a personal pursuit than a professional one. I guess having a big degree will add weight to one's writings, and I mean the research type and not novels.

My entering a doctoral program will be for all the right reasons and for all the wrong ones. Alas, I fear it's more of the latter.

Yes, I'm not completely delusional.

My uncle (mother's twin brother) attended the CGA in Groton. My father, who enlisted in the CG after getting his Masters degree (during the Vietnam era), said that it screwed my uncle all up. He's convinced it was all the time he spent diving under the icecaps, burned out his brain cells. He's a neo-hippie living outside Seattle doing the massage/yoga thing with his wife. I would never guess that he attended the Academy if I didn't already know.

Back in the early 60's the standards were a little looser but not by much.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Big name schools are not better, some are worse. They have their share of liars and cheats and geniuses as any other school. Usually they just have fatter wallets. If you were a business major you could establish connections at name schools, but it looks like you are going into academics.

As a Phd candidate you should KNOW what you want to do by now. Determine your major then find the school with the best program for that major.

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MB-less

As someone with a useless degree (art), I recommend a subject that will earn you money. You can learn/study/read pursue Medieval lit in your own time.
If you do get a useless degree, I recommend not spending a ***** ton of money on it from some hoity toity school.
I don't know how grad school works, but I got into an Ivy League wanna be undergrad (W&M) with average grades and SAT score based on recommendations, my essay, and maybe my chameleon-like race (at various points according to the school I was Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and Asian).

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1984 300TD