Hi folks,
I'm a few years in to my PhD, and I have the choice of moving with my adviser, let's call him Adviser A, to a new, slightly more prestigious institution, or staying in my department and working with a new adviser, let's say Adviser B.
Adviser A is a legend in the field, and eerily smart. He is quick to get to the bottom of problems I'm having, and catches mistakes I'd never notice. He literally wrote the textbook for what I study. However, he's not very focused on advising. He replies very selectively to emails, and is often traveling. This past year he's been visiting a different institution out of the country, and we've spoken maybe once a month, except for the few weeks that I visited him. He is famous for his aloofness.
Adviser B, on the other hand, is young, and just got tenure; he's plenty bright, but doesn't quite have the impressive skills of Adviser A. I've been working with him for the past few months, and he's been super available, meeting with me weekly, which is a big change, and I think has made me more productive and happy. Although he doesn't have much background in my field, he helped me a bit with some of my research so far, and has expressed interest in learning about my area through my research. He also has had a lot of good advice for the general process of being an academic.
The one slight wrinkle is that although my department has plenty of bright people in my general area, the department Adviser A is moving to has a few people who are experts in my specific area. If I stayed, I could still visit them/Adviser A from time to them.
What is more important to you, oh people of the Grad Cafe, being around people who know a lot about what you're working on, but having to be very self-motivated and self-disciplined, or having an adviser who will be hands on and work with you,?
