AtlasShrugs

I accepted School A yesterday! It's going to be a huge risk since it's a new program and remains unranked, but I'm willing to bet it will make significant progress based on their 2020 impact plan I saw. I feel like the dissertation topic is important, but I spoke to their PhD graduates who are currently doing research in fields different from their dissertation. Perhaps this is much more common than I originally thought? Regardless, I'm very excited. The dean and other faculty members congratulated me yesterday and today for making a wise decision.

Advisors in both schools have similar reputations/networks (I would say it's slightly higher in School A). Rankings in the particular field is a bit tricky because it's still fairly new. For instance, US News officially ranks only about 30 schools when there are about 80 of these departments in the US. There is a valid reason the 50ish other schools are not ranked, but it really distorts the comparison of schools in this field. But officially, these are the roundabout rankings: School A National: Top 10 Department: Unranked, but it would be Top 15-20 (when compared to similar institutions) School B National: Top 50 Department: Top 5/30 (again, these rankings are missing about 50 other schools)

Much thanks for the helpful feedback. So, yes, the subfields are very very different in both schools even though it's the same PhD. To give a close analogy, let's say I'm getting a PhD in Psychology. In the future I want to do work on youth, and like you said, it really doesn't matter what research I do, anything is fine as long it is related to youth. School A has no faculty members doing research on youth, but plenty on older adults. I find this interesting, but I will never see myself working on older adult populations in the future. The opposite for School B, it has very intriguing research on children and I was so close to accepting until I got the offer from School A. At this point, I don't know my next steps after PhD, but it'll likely be PostDoc, but I want to work on youth research. I'm in such a dilemma..

Yup, in terms of national rankings, School A is top 10 and School B is top 50. For the specific field I am entering though, it's kind of the opposite, but I can guarantee that School A will become more recognized in the field within like 5 years.

I've got my choices narrowed down to two schools for a PhD program in the same field (with full-funding): A. High-tier ranked, but poor research match and there is no faculty member close to the field of my interest B. Mid-tier ranked, best research match for me (mentor and dissertation data have been selected and will be handed to me when I enroll) I am leaning towards School A because it is very highly ranked and I'm sure this will open many opportunities for me when I finish the program. But as I mentioned, I am a really bad match for the school. I've identified several professors I can work with based on dissertation ideas I proposed and they're fairly easy/manageable projects I can complete quickly since I've done similar things as an RA. I feel like this is the reason why they accepted me, because I would be extending work that their faculty members already do. However, these fields are no where close to the stuff I want to do in the future. On the other hand, I love the research project in School B, but I also don't really see myself in that school. So I guess my main question is: How important is my dissertation topic in determining my next steps after the PhD program and the work I do in the future? I really don't want to do any work in my proposed field for School A....

Oh, I think that makes sense, since many public health programs are housed within their medical schools. Still, I'm willing to bet that the free standing schools are better than the programs...Just wish US News rankings incorporated both types so I help me in the decision.

Nope, I don't know what position I am on the waitlist, but there were like 30 of us interviewed and about 25 spots, so I'm assuming I have a good shot. The school is the best in the field, but the particular department is not so popular and I've seen people getting off the waitlist from the previous 2-3 results on here. From my exchange with them, they said I was definitely admittable, but they didn't want to accept me (yet, hopefully) because they want to secure funding. I'm just really really scared of the dean, so I don't want to talk to him/her, and I have this worry that he/she is going to change their mind since my application hit a few bumps in the 5-member committee based on what I heard from my PI (who is also on that committee). I think I'm just going to accept and rescind if needed, it's really the dean's fault for ignoring my requests like this.

Need some advice while we're on this topic. So like many of you, I've got to make a decision for one PhD program (my 2nd choice) by April 15th. I've sent the dean multiple emails requesting for an extension because I'm still waiting to hear back about getting off the waitlist from my 1st choice school (which I would estimate is probable). The committee from my 1st choice school said they would give me an answer after April 15th. Perhaps I should go ahead and accept the 2nd choice offer and rescind if I get accepted into my 1st choice? The BIG problem is, I am a current masters student in my 2nd choice program, so there is going to be some hate directed at me from the dean as well as my current PI if this takes place. I am pretty sure the dean doesn't like me so much, which is why he/she is ignoring my emails and I'm afraid to go to him/her directly. The committee consists of 5 people (dean + 4 faculty that know me well), but it is the dean that makes all the major decisions so I can't turn to anyone else for an extension. Very conflicted

Any thoughts on the difference between a "School of PH" versus a "Program of PH"? The CEPH website is not helpful at all in their definition. There are some schools that are called "[Donor Name] School of PH", yet they are listed under their "Program of PH" category From what I can see, a "School of PH" seems to have more distinct departments and faculty compared to the latter. I got into a School and a Program of PH, with similar prestige and FinAid, but I'm having trouble deciding between the two. I'm wondering if it may be better to head to the School of PH since they just have a bigger department and doing more PH work. Perhaps I'm overthinking this distinction as a factor in my decision?