Choosing based on school or advisor - Cs PhD

[VanillaLattte]

So, I was promised acceptance to two schools so far, school A and school B in completely different parts of the country. (respectively west and east coast)

I am interested in the research they both make, but the CS department is smaller in school B, much newer and maybe not as great as in school A. While, my advisor there seems really great and all the previously graduated students went to great places and seem to be doing great. It seems they have a lot of funding and a lot of publications as well. Furthermore I really liked my interview with this school and got the impression that my advisor had a great relationship with students and even connections to help them after graduating.  Also, I would want to consider this when choosing but I do have friends and family in that area.

Meanwhile school A has a better CS department and a great lab on the field, but my advisor is new and I believe none of  his students have graduated yet. Therefore, I can not find out how his relationship with students is. But once again, the overall ranking and reputation of school A is considerably higher. And the location seems favorable when thinking about jobs after graduating.

Any suggestions on how to decide?

Edited February 10, 2018 by VanillaLattte

[Bayesian1701]

I am also an applicant in this cycle, but I think the advisor is a huge factor in the decision especially if you are going to be funded as an RA.  If the advisor at B has a good placement history than that may mean that you may be just as successful at getting a job at B than you might at A with a new advisor.   If you're happy with almost everything at B besides the ranking but you only like A because it's prestigious maybe you should go to B.  Ask your LOR writers what they think as well.  

[VanillaLattte]

Thank you for the advice.

I was just unsure because the difference is rating is about 30 places in US news report. I am planning to ask my LOR writers, however I am an international student, so they are not very familiar with the US situation.

[collegesista]

Does the advisor from school A have students from his former department or are they a new prof? You could try to get into contact with his current students and former students (if he has them). My general advice would be to go with the lab and not the school. You might be happy with the prestige, but if you're not doing research that you enjoy, is it really worth it?

Also, go to visit days to talk to as many people in their respective labs as you can.

[VanillaLattte]

The advisor from school A has no graduated students, but a couple current ones. I do find the research in school A very interesting as well, just worried that my advisor will not be as experienced and helpful as the one in school B.

I would love to visit, but unfortunately I am an international student.

[cabbysaurus]

I think, to some extent, ratings are overrated (no pun intended). Of course it is good to go to a reputable program, but ratings change from year to year. In addition, I would take the US News ratings (as all ratings) with a grain of salt since their methodology for rating is not well known. It is also difficult to rank on all of CS when there are so many subfields.

There are other rating sites you can look at such as CSRankings, QS, and Shanghai Rankings to get a more broad view of the way each department is viewed in academia and industry. Additionally, CSRankings lets you see the number of papers published per research area, which may be helpful for you.

I also wouldn't worry about the location for post-graduation. You may find that you would like a change of scenery after 5-6 years, no matter where you end up for school. 

I know it is tempting to just pick the highest ranked school you get into, but that doesn't mean that it's the best school or the best school for you. Since you cannot visit, I would recommend trying to Skype with as many people from each university as you can. In particular, try to talk to current grad students to see how they feel about the program and the advisor. You can also reach out to graduates from each program to see how easy it was for them to get the jobs they wanted.

Good luck! I know it is hard to decide (at least it is for me), but I think you will have a great time either way.

[VanillaLattte]

Thank you, that is very helpful. I will look at them.

I thought about contacting graduate students, but I am not sure if that will make a difference, as most probably everybody will suggest their own program.

Plus, California weather is very very appealing to me