edk

well, it sounds like you are struggling with your employer vs your parents. but I think the question is what do you want to do? It kind of sounds like you want to defer and work at the think tank for another year. I was in a reverse position where my parents wanted me to defer because I got accepted into mid-range schools and didn't apply to any top 10s because of geographical reasons. Additional parents funding was also on the table. I decided to go to school because that's what i wanted to do. In the end, i think you should do what makes you happy and not worry about anyone else.

I applied to 4 Ph.D. engineering schools and was accepted into 3/4. The problem that I have is that the 1 that rejected me was my top choice/top 10 school and the others are between #40-#60 [according to usnews]... The reason I didn't apply to any other schools "in between", is because I really didn't want to move as I just bought a house and have family in the area. All the schools are in driving distance. I thought that I wouldn't have any problem getting into my first choice as it was my alma mater for undergrad and masters... I had a 3.8 gpa and 800 quant. Now I'm kicking myself as I know that I could get into a "better" ranked school but does it really matter? I liked the schools that I got into and think that I would enjoy my time there. I don't really care that much about rankings, but I'm constantly fighting with my parents because they want me to go to a more highly ranked school and take a year off. I'm arguing that ranking isn't that big of a deal and my education/job opportunities will not suffer as a result of my going to a #40 school rather than a hypothetical #15 school 1 year later... What would you do? Any advice? FYI, parents are really pissed [i believe half is because of their own selfish reasons, they want to say "my son went to blah blah school"]...