spoonsx21

I haven't worked with this professor, but I've spent the last month researching his work. I'm also positive that he's won several best paper awards in the top conference of his field. That's what I'm wondering whether or not it's a huge risk. If I can work with him, he's doing exactly what I'd like to do my thesis on. But if it gets messed up, I'm sh*t out of luck. Is it worth it?

So I've been researching several professors publications and work over the last few months. I've narrowed it down to 2 professors that are working in the field I'm interested in (which is currently very small in the computer science world). I'd be absolutely ecstatic to work with either Professor, however, my long term interests are more aligned with one professor. However, the preferred professor is at a school that is unranked for Computer Science PhD, while the other is at a school ranked in the top 10 schools. Both professors have been successful in getting a lot of funding, and are both directors of research facilities. I feel like my interests are almost perfectly aligned with the preferred professor, but I could see myself doing good work with the professor from the better school. Is it okay to follow the professor, and not care about the school ranking? What are the downsides to this? Thanks for any helpful responses.