levie

Hi All, I've been admitted to two PhD programs and am having a tough time deciding between them. They both have something I want in terms of research experience and preparation for my career goals, yet they are complimentary (rather than identical) programs. While mulling these over in my head, I have identified several routes that I can take but do not want to do anything in poor taste. So I come to you all for help and guidance. My options are as follows: 1. Suck it up, choose a program and don't look back. 2. Start one program and bow out with a master's, then complete the PhD at the other university. Best of both worlds? Or bad form? In this case, I would gear my master's research so that it could be bridged to the PhD program at the second university. Is it looked down upon to begin a PhD program and leave with a master's? Does anybody care? 3. Ask university 1 if they would change my acceptance to master's status instead of PhD. Ask university 2 if they would be willing to defer enrollment for 2 years (or decline now and re-apply in 2 years). As an aside question, does it generally take longer to sequentially complete a master's followed by a PhD, rather than going straight through? I'm sure the ideas that I'm entertaining here are unreasonable, but they arise from the sheer exhaustion of making the most difficult decision of my life!