When deciding between programs, what should be the biggest factor in the decision?

[Ilikekitties]

I'm thinking that fit/compatibility with your advisor is number 1 for making a decision, assuming that funding is similar. What do you think?

[waltzforzizi]

Retention Rates

Graduation Rates 

Job Placement Rates 

Cost of Living

combination of many things. I also heard that where you live should be another factor: will you be happy or not there for 5+ years?

Edited March 3, 2018 by waltzforzizi

[timetobegin]

I don't believe in safety schools, so going under the assumption that all schools you applied to have value to you and are good schools (in areas you wouldn't mind living in), my decision would go by:

1. Fit with a supervisor ALONGSIDE a base funding offer. If I'm going to spend 5 years working towards a PhD, I want some level of comfort that I get along with the prof, and that I won't have to leave a program halfway through due to lack of financial support.

2. But, if you reasonably get along with all your POIs, and you at least have a base funding offer... I'd mostly consider fit with the rest of the faculty and the students. Community is important to me, and I feel that networking during your PhD is as important as the research you conduct. If I only get along with my supervisor and don't feel a connection to the people in the program, I might reconsider. If the program is really small, or stagnant, or in an area that doesn't have lucrative networking connections, or a current student tells me to run...I might not go there. I would absolutely choose a lesser ranked school if it gave me a stronger sense of community and I saw more opportunity there.

 

Edited March 3, 2018 by timetobegin

[museum_geek]

@GameofLoans16 If you applied to MAs this cycle, then funding should be your top priority.

[Ilikekitties]

Ok, yes I forgot to mention that I didn't apply to PhD programs this round, so that makes a difference.

Edited March 3, 2018 by GameofLoans16

[hats]

Like @timetobegin says, I have an extremely good relationship with my chair. Socially, especially among the other students in my subfield, the situation is a bit "sad trombone." I find this to be a sustainable negative—think, students often find our location a bummer, not 'swamp of toxic drama and dysfunction'—especially because this was by far and away the best academic fit for me. If I could have the plusses without the negatives, though, I would absolutely do so. So my point is to agree that for PhDs, your chair shouldn't be so much your highest priority that it drowns out the student environment and less relevant faculty fit, because those are important, too.

In a master's program, though, funding should be pretty key, followed by vision of where you're going to take your degree. If the advisor at University A thinks you should be applying to PhDs in economic anthropology and the one at University B is more excited about your research in environmental anthropology, try to pick the one that supports the specialization you'll carry on into your PhD program. If you get it wrong, though, it's not that big a deal, since you'll have a chance to find a better fit soon enough. Another funding consideration is, if you can get FLAS or research/lab assistant funding rather than TA funding, if one or both of those are relevant for your topic, that will likely leave you more research/academic time than TAing.

[rising_star]

It all depends on what you mean by fit. Are you talking research fit, personality fit, or a combo of both? Because, for me, research fit was less important than making sure it was someone I could work with and whose students finished in a timely fashion.

[Ilikekitties]

On 3/4/2018 at 7:37 AM, rising_star said:

It all depends on what you mean by fit. Are you talking research fit, personality fit, or a combo of both? Because, for me, research fit was less important than making sure it was someone I could work with and whose students finished in a timely fashion.

Fit for me means research fit first and foremost, but obviously personality fit is also important.