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Graduate studies at a prestigious uni after mediocre undergrad uni?

I'm thinking about studying business at Coventry University and was wondering if it's possible (provided I'd have stellar grades and otherwise impressive achievements after 3 years at uni) to get into top universities e.g. Cambridge, Imperial College (and maybe american ones like MIT, Harvard etc) for my master's degree. I'd really appreciate your help!
(edited 4 years ago)
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Jjkmhhu
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Original post by talking_fish
I'm thinking about studying business at Coventry University and was wondering if it's possible (provided I'd have stellar grades and an otherwise impressive achievements after 3 years at uni) to get into top universities e.g. Cambridge, Imperial College (and maybe american ones like MIT, Harvard etc) for my master's degree. I'd really appreciate your help!

Similar situation for me, I went to a mid ranking Russel group and applied to very top ones for masters.

The short answer is it depends massively on the course, some are quite easy and I have friends who weren’t impressive (2:1s, no internships) get accepted to oxbridge. Some are absolute imposso missions, I had a great or maybe even stunning app (5A* a level, 90 percent at uni, prestigious internships, 2 great refs, able to pay fees easily, grew up largely homeless) and got rejected by Cambridge.

A lot of people say it’s easy to but I think for the top courses that’s a load of crap, make sure you work real hard. I began to think I had a good chance and let up a bit.
Moved to Postgraduate Applications forum. :smile:
Agree with reply above, I went to a uni that ranks around 70 - 80 in the UK in a pretty non-academic subject and then got accepted at a university which ranks top 20 in the world and top 5 for my course. In my experience, the most important thing is to A) get a fantastic reference from a staff member at your current university since they can vouch for your overall intelligence/work ethic/ambition etc. (hopefully from someone with strong credentials in the field you want to major in and/or international credentials if you want to study abroad) and B) if you demonstrate your intellectual curiosity in your personal statement (aka wide reading, potential master dissertation topics, etc.).

Good luck!
Yes, you can.

Where your UG degree is from matters quite little.
I think you should give it a shot! If you have good grades and can show achievements and commitment beyond academic abilities you definitely stand a chance.

Just wanted to add that sadly, due to the structure of HE atm in UK I feel many Masters programmes are cash cows for the institutions. Even the top 10 ones. Masters programmes have fees set by uni not government, so it's very favourable to the HE profit model to have multiple postgrad courses and accept many candidates needing less resources due to the post-grad level of independent study. There has been a rise of court cases against top unis for 'scamming' students with half-baked programmes and false promises, reliant on the PR of being a top institution.

In USA I have no idea how admissions work, but the financial difference is quite huge, and also their masters are usually 2 yrs. Bear in mind in USA you can often apply directly for PhD after undegrad, as the MA level is sort of inbuilt into the longer programme than in UK.

My advice is that you should apply for a postgrad course that you feel passionate about, and do thorough checks on the course structure, time running, student reviews, NSS surveys, etc. to make sure it meets your needs, because a top reputation is not equivalent to top teaching and quality of education. I'm speaking from experience :[ And remember that top uni for your field may not be top uni in the overall ranking, that's worth checking too.

Good luck!

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