cupoftea

I'll be moving there too (PhD in Ed Policy) and don't know a soul (and have never visited) woohoo!

This is a very stressful process. I am not confident in my decision either (its the only one I never visited!) and I have many fears. The bottom line is, everything has positives and negatives and you never really know what is best. you made a choice now try to celebrate it.

Thanks Runonsentence. This was very helpful--its funny--you ask all your friends and family but everyone has their own agenda. Now it seems more obvious to me that I am leaning towards school A.

Thanks I appreciate the advice!

I am currently choosing between two schools and I am pretty much a mess over it. School A: 2 years funding, very small stipendGuaranteed work project for two years that I am very, very excited aboutWill be able to publish with advisorStudents really like my advisor-other interesting faculty as wellvery well ranked schoolbut, program aimed a bit more administrative than I aim to be--but opportunities to work with another program at the school that is not as administrative based/make it work for me (both programs ranked very well and cross over between them)in a very cold and dark location and I hate winterDon't know anyone thereHusband will start out working remotely but probably not the whole 5+ years. There are some positions for my husbands work but not tons. 3 years of funding but no guaranteed work (so riskier for the job market upon graduation)Top ten school but not ranked anywhere near as well as school AAdvisor easy to talk to in person, but very hard to reach via email/phoneAdvisor does not seem to publish much/seem they will help mold my research goals etcOther faculty I approached about possibly working on projects said "we will have to see"Courses more a good match compared to school A--(but as previously mentioned opportunities to do good research/publish are weaker)Students say its hard to get workGreat location with great weather-and I love the heat.Very close friends in the location, and even at the universityBetter for my husband's careerFrom what I can tell School A may be better for me professionally (but not necessarily for my husband). School B would be better lifestyle-wise. Any advice? I keep going back and forth...