East45

Now, I'm an engineer in background so originally UCLA was more just to satisfy my current advisor. However, during the visit I met an PI and lab that I completely loved. The attitudes, people, and research is exactly what I want to do with my graduate career. The advisor is also extremely well connected and very well known, meaning that finding employment afterwards shouldn't be a problem. I can see myself learning a huge amount and keeping in touch with him for a long time afterwards. I'd be doing mostly engineering and materials work in the lab, and many professors at my current institution have strongly recommended him. The downside? I don't want a Chemistry degree, and I didn't really like the rest of the department. UCLA also has a large amount of hoops to jump through for the degree and a low retention rate. Plus, I'm just extremely worried about the job market for Chemistry phds right now, it just doesn't seem like something I should jump in to since I'm not sure what route I want to take after graduating. It seems like it might be a very long, hard slog without much payoff, and I really don't have an interest in pure chemistry. That seems to defeat the purpose of getting a phd in chemistry, which should be to set myself up for a career of chemistry. I've also lived in Southern California for my entire life so I'm wondering if a change of scenery would be beneficial. Northwestern materials is exactly the kind of department I see myself excelling in. I clicked with the department as a whole to a much greater extent than at UCLA, and the general themes of the program much better fit my interests. It also has an extremely high retention rate and a very good time to degree average. I also loved Chicago when visiting. However, I didn't find a professor or lab I was as excited about to start in as at UCLA, but there were 5 or 6 I wouldn't mind working for. At this point it really comes down to, do I choose the best advisor or best department?

Hi all, I'm trying to make a decision about grad schools before April 15th and I've narrowed it down between some pretty different choices. I think the question is very much coming down to a choice between personal and professional growth, so I'd really appreciate your opinions. The first school is a top 15 chemistry program in the US and it has my absolute first choice advisor. The research is exactly what I want to do and I've clicked very well with the lab, so the professor has firmly offered me a spot. The connections this lab are really pretty much the best I've ever seen, and the pedigree of graduating students is pretty much a list of professors at major universities. However, there's an very low retention rate and the school is located in the same area I've lived my entire life. I'm dying for somewhere new. I'm also kind of nervous moving from an engineering field to a physical science field because of the career opportunities. I'm definitely less interested in the chemistry coursework, and the cumulative exams at this institution are legendary. School 2 is a top 5 Materials Engineering program where the general direction of research and attitudes fits my background much better. Extremely high retention rates and good opportunities after graduating. There are a good 5 or 6 faculty I wouldn't mind working for, but no-one that really jumped out at me as much as School 1. If I wanted to go industry afterwards, a Materials degree affords me much more opportunity than a Chemistry degree. School 3 is my wild card, a major Bioengineering program in mainland Europe. It's a joint position between two extremely well known professors at the top research university there (two guesses where). The research is not really what I want to do, but I liked the two professors better than anyone I met at school 2, but less than school 1. They've gone out of their way to waive the usual masters requirement for me, so I would be jumping immediately into research with no class or qualifying requirements. The opportunity to live in mainland Europe on an appropriate stipend for 5 years is also really hard to pass up. Getting back to the US afterwards, especially for industry, would be a challenge with a European degree. It really comes down to: School 1 - Unparalleled connections, limited personal growth. School 2 - Good mix of professional and personal growth. School 3 - Really unlimited personal growth and unknown professional growth.