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I'm a senior undergrad at a top-ish(say, top 15) math school. I'm a solid, not stellar, student. This year I'm taking the qualifying exam grad courses in algebra and analysis and have been taken aback by the "pressure cooker" atmosphere among grad students here. That is, even moreso than in the undergraduate program.

If I'm self driven, could going to a "less prestigious" school afford me more space(I mean in a psychological sense) to produce a more solid contribution to math? By "less prestigious", I mean a school "ranked" significantly lower than the range of schools that I could comfortably get into. For me, "less prestigious" would be ranked around 40-60 on, say, USNews or NRC.

My reasoning is that at such a school, I would be more able to learn the fundamentals at my own pace, as opposed to a pace dictated to me by the program. I know I want to do math, and I think my learning style may be better suited to going at my own pace. Thoughts?

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    I have always thought that it is not the school that makes you what you are. I have known many people who thought they were strong since they went to top schools, but actually were really not so good at mathematics. It's easier to study when you feel well where you are. However, I am from Europe, and this can be a little bit different in the US, since the differences in the schools there is important. In Europe, when you say you went to university, nobody (less people than in the US at least) asks you which one.2010-11-02
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    Not having college debt makes life after college far more fun and less stressful. If a top school comes with 50-100K in debt consider if you'd rather have the nice house you could mostly buy for that much instead.2010-11-02
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    @a little don: Debt should not be an issue. If your "top school" does not offer you full support (whether by fellowship, teaching assistantship, etc), then in some sense you didn't really get in, and barring really compelling reasons, you should probably go somewhere else.2010-11-02
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    That's right, I was thinking more about undergrad.2010-11-02
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    by the way, what does the "soft-question" tag means?2010-11-02
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    Djaian, your comment "In Europe, when you say you went to university, nobody asks you which one," I would disagree with. In France, going to Ecole Polytechnique is quite substantial on a CV. In the UK going to Oxbridge is somewhat analogous. IMO it really depends on what country you're talking about in Europe.2010-11-02
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    @Ryan: OTOH, the grandes ecoles are generally more coveted for their equivalent of an undergrad degree. I've been given the impression that for a research PhD it matters much less. Oxbridge I do agree with even on the PhD level.2010-11-02
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    What exactly is your definition of prestige? I would say that it's hard to go wrong if you choose to attend the most prestigous school you get into. However, that doesn't mean that was necessarily the best choice.2010-11-02
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    @Djaian - it means that its a "math related" question. the question does not involve math within itself, like whats the integral of...2010-11-02
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    [This discussion of the U.S. News school rankings](http://budiansky.blogspot.com/2012/02/us-news-root-of-all-evil.html) by a longtime U.S. News writer may help to persuade you not to put too much trust in the U.S. News rankings.2012-03-27

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