devil7

For a PhD, both are similar in reputation. You should decide based on who has been assigned as your advisor (or has agreed to take you as a student) at both places in my opinion as you have been offered aid. You should see who is a better research fit for you. I think the city and all other things are secondary and you should look at these only if you have a tie in deciding between advisors.

For me, the most important two things would be: fit with PI and him agreeing to work with me, and getting funding (I can not join a program without being funded.). I was surprised to see so many people voting for 'Pretty Good Research fit with several PIs'. I personally do not see why that matters, because in the end I would be working with one PI and this decision is taken prior to joining in most places for the doctoral program (except in places like MIT i think).

The main thing you would ask professors is about their research vision in for the next few years. From there, my advice would be to play it by ear. Some professors are more open and you can talk to them about their style of research, the average time it takes for a student Ph.D. under them, how much freedom they give their students while picking the research problem, etc, while others may not be so open. However it would always be beneficial to talk to one or more of their students prior to the phone conversation with the professor (It'd help if you knew someone in the department and asked him/her to get information from the professor's students or introduce you to one of the professor's student. A student would hesitate (I sure would) reveal information (especially negative information) about their advisor to a stranger.). About your second question, I am in the same boat as you . However, I would disagree with you when you say that after getting accepted, the student has an advantage over the PoI. If a large number of incoming students want to work with a professor, he would want to be very selective. Thus, even though the college may want you to join, the professor still has all aces up his sleeve. BTW, in my case, I had contacted the PoI first and expressed interest in working with him, and he had suggested a Skype call. Thus, it is not like he contacted me. I'm not sure what to make of his response. The best option is perhaps to wait for a few more days. Disclaimer: I have only had a phone conversation with a PoI, who was open and very nice. These are just my two pence.

No, unfortunately I have not heard back from him. I am thinking of waiting until the end of this week and then write a follow-up. Thank you for the advice. I was quite worried about how to write a follow up. I mean I do not want to sound arrogant but still want to know if he wants to work with me or not. I guess, writing the follow up like you said would be a nice way out (unless he writes to me, of course).

Thanks a lot. I guess, I'll wait for a few more days and then send him a polite follow up.

Hi all, I received an admit from my top choice (a top 5 US university) with RAship. I wrote to my PoI expressing interest in working with him. He replied within an hour saying that we should talk. I followed up asking for suitable slots. However he has not replied. It has been 4-5 days since I sent him the email. Is this a polite way of saying that he is not interested in working with me or is this quite common among professors? Thank you. I would appreciate any thoughts/advice about this.

Hi, How much indicative of the quality of the program are these ranking? For example for communications, UIUC/UCB are ranked 3 and MIT/Stanford are ranked 1. How much better does this mean MIT's program is when compared to UIUC? Thanks.

Hi guys, Need some advice. I've been offered an admit in my #2 choice school, with an RAship under my preferred advisor (as notified to me by the graduate school). I am yet to hear from my #1 school. Should I write to the Prof. I've been offered RAship under. I wanted to know what the protocol is here. (The prof had interviewed me once.)