EL_V

I'm just looking for general feedback here, if anyone has any thoughts. Here's the situation: I'll be choosing between two PhD programs with similar rankings that are offering nearly identical funding packages. They're both large, public universities, and both of my "persons of interest" at each school have been quite pleasant so far, reaching out to me by phone & email. I'm visiting both schools in the beginning of March and hope to have made my final decision shortly after. The essence of my dilemma is that School A is a better fit academically, but School B is in my hometown, meaning that my fiance and I would be able to move back to the city we grew up in, and be settled there for a good 5-7 years (hopefully). I feel that my decision will ultimately affect a lot more people than just my fiance and I. We both come from very close families. My fiance lost his father last year and has a younger brother in high school, and I know being close by would be wonderful for them. Plus, my family would be ecstatic if we decided to move back. Everyone will be very supportive no matter what I decide, but I can't help feeling conflicted. [For reference purposes, School A is 8-9 hours away by car, which is also about how far away from home we currently are] Is it a mistake to privy personal factors above academic ones when choosing which graduate school to attend? I don't want to regret having chosen a school that doesn't really offer what I want when I could have had that at School A, but on the other hand, family means a lot to my partner and I. I'm hoping that once I visit School B (in my hometown) and get a feel for it, I'll have a great experience and feel it can offer me a lot, and then the decision won't be so difficult. Either way, I know that seeking balance between professional and family life is a common theme/problem in the world of academia, so I'm sure someone out there might have some wise words for me. Thanks for reading

Just wondering

Hello everyone, I'm a newbie, and I just wanted to say how much better I feel having discovered this thread. I've been lurking around thegradcafe for a week or two, especially since I found about the existence of the admission results search function. It's nice to know I'm not the only one losing my sanity by checking when LAST year's decisions came in. Good lord--my life! Haha. Anyway, I mainly just wanted to express my appreciation to you all for sharing Wishing us all the best of luck!