rileydcat

I've come to the conclusion that in order to get truly informed opinions, I should just probably go ahead and divulge more information. School A = Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment, PhD in Environment (env chem & tox) School B = University of South Florida College of Marine Science, PhD in Oceanography (chem) As for the department rankings, I had been going by US News grad school rankings. I spoke with a professor from my alma mater the other day about my concerns and he disagreed, stating that these two programs were about even at Tiers 2 or 3. Does anyone have any opinions in response to this information?

I was addressing the overall rank of each school: School A is top 10 and School B is ~172 nationally. As for the departments, School A is ~40 and School B is un-ranked for earth sciences.

I'm having a tough time deciding between two marine/env chemistry programs and would like some input please! School A - Top 10 private university (not ivy) pros: full tuition remission, health insurance and fees paid, 28K RA stipend for 5 years, exciting research opportunity, up-and-coming professor, collaboration possibilities between several other local universities and government agencies, large campus, tons of social events, nice large city, great sporting events, no true qualifying exams - just presentation and defense of dissertation proposal, tons of coursework options cons: several hours drive to the nearest ocean, very minimal fieldwork, mostly lab work, far from my SO, possibility for "small fish, big pond" syndrome, if I bring in outside funding it would go towards relieving the departmental tuition grant so I wouldn't see that money School B - Low ranked public university pros: full tuition remission, health insurance, 22K RA stipend for 5 years, exciting research opportunity, the professor is at the top of his field, collaboration possibilities between local government agencies, lots of fieldwork involved, research cruises, the campus is on the ocean, beautiful scenery and city, small intimate campus, the department is growing despite university-wide budget cuts in other departments, only 2 hours from SO, if I bring in external funding it goes into my pocket cons: the department branch only houses grad students and researchers, less social events, no sporting events, in a state that I'm not particularly fond of, small city, limited coursework options at the branch - would have to drive to the main campus for more options (~30 min drive), POI is up there in age

I was just invited for a recruitment/interview event at USF College of Marine Science Feb 28-March 2, which seems pretty late to me. But I guess it's better than no invite, right?!