othito

So one of my friends mentioned to me another alternative that I didn't consider.... maybe I should try to go to Brown anyways and see if I like it, and if I don't just transfer to another program. What do you all think of that?

Your points are all well taken. Come to think of it, all of the things I can point to that I really like about my top choice PI at Brown are really just charisma, which says nothing about how he might be as a mentor. Even if I had a meeting with him every week, the environment in a lab could be totally different from what I expect. None of this is possible to figure out from an interview. I think I knew all of this at some level, I just needed to be reminded of it. Thank you so much!

NeuroGal: These are all things that I'm considering. Like I said, the guy is awesome, I've met with him twice and had phone conversations with him at least three times. Our personalities really jive fantastically. I remember when I got into the program he texted me to let me know, then called me up and said "Congrats! Now let's cut the crap, where else are you thinking about?" I really appreciate that kind of no-fluff straight talk on a personal level, and he always makes me feel really comfortable and excited about his work. But who knows what it'd be actually like to work in his lab, as opposed to just talking to him? Thing is, I have fairly specific interests. I'm interested in how biophysically realistic parameters can generate empirically observed computational properties of small circuits. This can manifest itself in many systems or problems, but that's the level I'm interested in, and because Brown's program is relatively small their community on that front is much smaller.

So I've gotten a number of acceptances for Neuroscience PhD programs. I've narrowed it down to UCSF and Brown. The former is clearly a better program, and everyone I mention this to (my PI, my grad class professors, my major advisor) says I should go there. I can see myself rotating with 5 or 6 people, three of whom are doing particularly awesome stuff. There's also much more of a "community" for the specific kind of work I'm interested in (microcircuit dynamics). But there's this one guy at Brown who is just awesome. I know the conventional wisdom is not to go anywhere for one person. But this guy at Brown is amazing. He's smart and funny and really down to earth. He seems like he would make a fantastic mentor, and all of the people from his lab who I have contacted have agreed that he's a great mentor. He even called me yesterday morning to tell me that if I want a spot in his lab, it's right there waiting, funding and all. He even has a particular project that he wants me to start (a collaboration with another prof. at Brown). UCSF would be a safer bet in many ways. It's better respected as a program (and for good reason), and I would have (many) backups in case I don't like the lab environment. But I just can't get over how awesome this Brown guy is.... Other factors to consider: - UCSF doesn't have great teaching opportunities (since they don't have an undergraduate), and eventually I want to teach, but there are ways to teach at local colleges in San Francisco and people do do it frequently (or so I'm told). Brown on the other hand has great teaching opportunities. - I'm originally from Providence, so Brown would be like moving back home (a fairly big downside for me) and I LOVED San Francisco.