I have been accepted to two schools, both very highly regarded in my field. University A has near-perfect job placement, with alumni holding tenured or TT positions at top research universities. University B has had some big successes in placement, including in my specific area of interest, but is not as consistent as UA. However, it is my impression that UA has a higher rate of attrition than UB--more people leave with Masters degrees, or just leave. I'm weighing a lot of factors in my decision, and I actually still need to visit UA, but I was wondering how others have weighed job prospects against attrition. My current thinking is that I can still get good training at UB and get a good job at the end, but I need to hold myself accountable, take advantage of as many supplementary resources as I can, and get my research published as much as possible while in school. Just getting through the program is not enough. UA, on the other hand, seems to have such standards built in, such that getting a PhD there entails accomplishing all of those things. I'd like to think that I have the personal motivation to get this all done regardless of the university's standards for students, but who knows, I guess. At UB I would also be participating in a relatively new, NSF-funded supplementary program that would give me additional certifications that might increase my job prospects (certificate in Neurobiology of Language, additional training in experimental methodologies, additional professionalization training, increased research funding opportunities). That said, I might just be kidding myself about the real odds of me getting a job after attending UB because I love everything else about it. Anyone have any thoughts on how the rate of attrition should affect my view of the job stats?