I was deciding between three top prestigious schools, A, B, and C for a social science PhD.
A and B had comparable research topics, and advisors that were top in their fields.
School A gave me awesome funding, 26k a year for 5 years with no TAing responsibilities till later on.
School B gave me 22k a year for 5 years, with TAing after the first year.
School C is also top in the field, but the advisors there do not do research that is as in line with what I'm really interested in, and my potential advisor there is also a newer, younger professor. Also the funding is still a 5 year guarantee, but it's less money, 20k a year with TAing after year 1.
And for some goddamn reason I picked school C. I think because it's close to my family, and the weather is nice, and I was rejected from there for undergrad so I've always wanted to go there. They told me at school C that even though their professors don't necessarily do the same sort of research I want to do, it shouldn't be a problem for me to branch out and do things independently, and that they'd help me with that. Also, when I visited school C, I liked all the people the vibe of the campus and the program better than at school A or B.
So basically I got a good "feel" about school C vs. the other two, and I picked it.
I turned down 1.) better funding, 2.) better research opportunities for the research I actually want to do, and 3.) a more influential and well established advisor.
And initially I was excited since I just thought, "Well, they're all good choices, I can't go wrong, might as well pick the one that feels best.
And now it's been about a month and I can't help but feel utterly sick to my stomach, like I've made a completely horrible decision that will basically affect the rest of my academic career. What should I do in this situation? Is there any way to go back on my choice? For the last week or so I've been cursing myself daily.
